Rosa Barba

Esther Schipper is pleased to present They Are Taking All My Letters, a presentation by Rosa Barba, who has had two solo exhibitions with the gallery. On view are a new kinetic sculptural work using celluloid and a work cast in steel.

Rosa Barba's practice merges films, sculptures, installations, live performances, text pieces, and publications that are grounded in the material and conceptual qualities of cinema. Questions of composition, physicality of form, and plasticity play an important role for the artist as Barba interrogates the industry of cinema with respect to various forms of staging by inviting the viewers to participate in her cultural observations.

A new wall-mounted kinetic sculpture, They Are Taking All My Letters, 2025, features 34 vertical strips of 70mm celluloid film that move across its rectangular surface, lit from the back. The 34 lines are in constant motion as a sequence of words in white printed letters on a black background scroll up and down. The fragments draw on texts by the American poets Susan Howe, Charles Olson and Robert Creeley, as well as on the artist's own writings. The excerpts are held together conceptually by themes of time, flickering light and language.