Pamela Rosenkranz (born 1979 in Altdorf, Uri, Switzerland) is a Swiss multimedia artist who uses light and liquid to demonstrate her concepts along with performance, sculpture, painting, and

installation art Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...

. Her work explores ideas and concepts of what it means to be human, its ideologies, emptiness and meaninglessness, as well as

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...

and

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the su ...

. She is represented by Karma International, Zurich / Los Angeles; Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York; and

Sprüth Magers Sprüth Magers is a commercial art gallery owned by Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers, with spaces in London, Berlin, Los Angeles and offices in Cologne, Hong Kong, New York and Seoul. The gallery represents over sixty artists and estates, inclu ...

Berlin, London and Los Angeles.

Education and Career

Rosenkranz graduated from the

University of Zurich The University of Zürich (UZH, german: Universität Zürich) is a public research university located in the city of Zürich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 f ...

in 2005, and received her MFA from the Academy of Fine Arts, Bern, in 2010. In 2012, she completed an independent residency at the

Rijksakademie The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school support ...

in Amsterdam. Rosenkranz's aesthetic choices are often informed by her extensive research into fields ranging from marketing and medicine to philosophy and religion. Her use of use of glass, plastic water bottles, and liquid reflecting surfaces stems from her interest in physicality as evident in the 2015 exhibition ''Open Source: Art at the Eclipse of Capitalism.'' Shiny, reflective surfaces provide a way for Rosenkranz's work to establish physicality, and interact with their environments. The biological and medical implications of light are of importance to the artist, as light affects the human body. Water as a medium connotes purity and detoxification, however, more accurately the plastic bottles that deliver water harbor bacteria and colonies of hormones. Having collaborated with Robin Mackay and Reza Negarestani, Rosenkranz's work is often framed in relation to

Speculative Realism Speculative realism is a movement in contemporary Continental-inspired philosophy (also known as post-Continental philosophy) that defines itself loosely in its stance of metaphysical realism against its interpretation of the dominant forms of p ...

. Her institutional solo exhibitions in Geneva, New York, and Braunschweig were covered in a 2012 monograph entitled ''No Core''.

Exhibitions

While still a student at the Academy of Fine Arts, Bern, Rosenkranz participated in both the 5th

Berlin Biennale The Berlin Biennale (full name: Berlin Biennale für zeitgenössische Kunst, Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art) is a contemporary art exhibition, which has been held at various locations in Berlin, Germany, every two to three years since 1998. T ...

and

Manifesta Manifesta, also known as the European Nomadic Biennial, is a European pan-regional contemporary cultural biennale. History Manifesta was founded in 1994 by Dutch art historian Hedwig Fijen. The first edition took place in Rotterdam. One of t ...

7, in Trentino, Italy. In 2010, the same year that she graduated with a master's degree, Rosenkranz exhibited solo at Centre d’Art Contemporain Geneve, and at Germany’s Kunstverein

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

. Rosenkranz's first solo exhibition at Miguel Abreu Gallery in 2012, "Because They Try to Bore Holes," collapsed art into its material elements. In 2015, Rosenkranz exhibited ''Open Source: Art at the Eclipse of Capitalism.'' Later that year, she represented Switzerland at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

with an immersive installation of immaterial elements titled ''Our Product''. She exhibited ''Slight Agitation 2/4: Pamela Rosenkranz'' in 2017 at

Fondazione Prada Fondazione Prada, co-chaired by Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli since 1995, is an institution dedicated to contemporary art and culture. From 1993 to 2010, the Fondazione has organised 24 solo shows at its exhibition spaces in Milan, conceiv ...

, Milan. In 2018, Rosenkranz debuted ''Amazon Spirits (Green Blood)'' at Karma International in Zurich to explore the intersection between the

Amazonian rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

and

amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

, Inc. In her 2019 exhibition ''Evian Waters,'' Rosenkranz highlighted the chemical and natural components underlying notions of eternal youth and purity.

Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosenkranz, Pamela 1979 births Swiss installation artists Women installation artists Swiss contemporary artists Living people Women conceptual artists 20th-century Swiss women artists 21st-century Swiss women artists