ARIANE ROESCH 

V.I.P.

​

March 24 - May 26, 2018

 

VIP is an exhibition about the feeling of awe as a motivator and addresses issues of privilege, ambition, and risk. It is a social commentary on YouTube sensationalism, social media fanaticism, and the frantic display of one's importance to avoid fading into the ether.

 

The central piece in the exhibition is a floor-based, oval-shaped red carpet track titled “I am a very important person”. In order for a red carpet to work, one needs an audience. It denotes a sense of elevation and exclusivity (“getting the VIP treatment”), by providing a point of pause for admiration. This red carpet is its own feedback loop - you walk in a circle like a broken record.

 

VIP also features felt drawings from the series titled “Deadliest Climbs”, which portrays 10 of the deadliest mountains to summit. Mountains, a long held symbol for self-help and motivational posters, inspire a sense of awe through their vastness. A lonesome red phone will sit on a table, reading as an emergency communication device - a crisis or hotline. “Find your Calling” is a direct line to the top of the mountain and all you hear is the wind - nature’s static and silence.

 

A saddle-stitched zine of color photocopies is available as the footnote to VIP. Its free association doodles provide a child-like meditation on the red carpet track, turning the monumentality of the piece and its associated emotions of ambition, privilege, motivation, and awe upside down by infusing a sense of humor, a release to laugh at ourselves.

 

Ariane Roesch, a native of Germany, moved to Houston, TX, in 1996. She received a BFA from the University of Houston in 2007 and an MFA from the California Institute of the Arts in 2011. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently at the Galveston Arts Center and Till Richter Museum, Germany. She was a recipient of the IDEA Fund in 2008 and received a public art commission from the City of Houston in 2012.

 

Opening Reception on Saturday, 5 - 7 PM, March 24, 2018

Exhibition closes May 26, 2018.