The philosopher Leibniz had a theory of the so-called “separatrix,” the “between” two things that are contradictions. There’s always a line. On one side this is blue, and [on the other] this is red. In reality, red has embassies in the blue, and blue has embassies in the red. And Leibniz says fifty percent of this line, this structure “between,” is order, and fifty percent is anarchy.
—Alexander Kluge
Gagosian is pleased to present Separatrix, an exhibition of new paintings and works on paper by Katharina Grosse. This is her first solo exhibition in Rome. Separatrix coincides with Grosse’s major installation It Wasn’t Us, currently on view at Hamburger Bahnhof–Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin.
Grosse embraces the events that occur as she paints, opening up surfaces and spaces to chance. In massive in situ paintings—where she uses a spray gun to propel unmixed color over objects, rooms, buildings, and even entire landscapes—and autonomous works on canvas, paper, and sculptural supports, she stylizes gesture as a spontaneous mark of personal agency.
In July 2019, Grosse started working in a new purpose-built studio in a remote coastal area in northern New Zealand, where she spends several months each year. There, secluded in nature, she began a new body of work, imbuing the medium of watercolor with the directness and immediacy of her spray paintings.