FEDERICO ROSA SUAZO- RISING UP RISING DOWN

FEDERICO ROSA SUAZO- RISING UP RISING DOWN

OPENING 3. NOVEMBER 2015, 19 Uhr
4.- 13. NOVEMBER 2015
Di-Fr 11-15 Uhr, Sa 12-16 Uhr und nach persönlicher Vereinbarung
SCREENING 6. NOVEMBER 2015, 19 UHR

Seit seiner Kindheit ist Federico Rosa (HON) mit der Gewalt auf den Straßen Tegucigalpas, bekannt für die höchsten Mordraten weltweit, konfrontiert, und thematisiert diese in seinen Arbeiten. In seinen Malereien übersetzt Rosa Tatortfotos, die er von einem befreundeten Pressefotografen noch vor ihrer Veröffentlichung bezieht.

Neben seinen künstlerischen und kuratorischen Tätigkeiten schreibt Rosa regelmäßig für die hondurianische Zeitschrift LA Tribuna und hat in den vergangenen drei Jahren im diplomatischen Dienst von Honduras in Brüssel und Berlin gearbeitet.

FEDERICO ROSA
Federico Rosa ist in Tegucigalpa geboren, wo er den unabhängigen artist space X3 Projekts gründete und Ausstellungen hondurianischer und internationaler KünstlerInnen organisierte. 2003 schloss er mit einem B.A. in Malerei an der London Art School ab und beendete 2005 sein Masterstudium Skulptur an der London`s Slate School of fine Arts. Neben Ausstellungen in Long Beach, Brussels, Tegucigalpa, und La Havana, kuratierte Rosa mehrere Ausstellungen, unter anderem in der National Gallery of Honduras und der Fundación para El Museo del Hombre. Er lebt und arbeitet seit 2013 in Frankfurt am Main.

Rising Up & Rising Down

Federico Rosa Suazo, born in Honduras, grew accustomed to living with some measure of violence in Tegucigalpa, the country’s capital. Yet, since 2009, when an unprecedented political crisis in which the President was ousted, the country’s already catastrophic economic and social situation worsened perpendicularly. By 2010, the country’s second largest city, San Pedro Sula, had the highest murder rate per capita outside of a war zone, and has since been in the most dangerous cities lists in the World. Adding fuel to the fire, drug Cartels from Mexico and Colombia moved inside the country’s northeastern coastline, known as “La Moskitia”, known for it’s inaccessibility, making it an ideal zone for improvised landing strips used for smuggling cocaine from South America to Mexico and the U.S. In addition, rival youth gangs, a rising problem for more than a decade, have now become a key factor in the country’s social strife. These groups are utilized as domestic movers of illicit drugs, and are often provided with weapons, and have entire neighborhoods under their dominion, charging a so-called “War Tax” from local businesses and public transport drivers. To add insult to injury, the national Police has been revealed to be one of the most corrupt in the region, and as such, has exposed the entire country’s social system to be destroyed from within. 2014 saw an unprecedented number of Honduran children trying to cross the border from Mexico to U.S. creating a humanitarian crisis and at the same time, forcing the U.S. to raise the stakes in the War on Drugs. The country’s future remains uncertain; because of this, many see fleeing north towards the U.S. as the only option for survival.

In the context of the present exhibition, “Rising Up & Rising Down”, Rosa Suazo borrows the title from a 3,000-plus page book of political anthropology written by William T. Vollmann, who intends to analyze violence in its different manifestations as moral and ethical decisions. For his purposes, though, Rosa Suazo uses the title as an entry point, a catalyst to imagine the of paradox of societies rising and falling; of violence as a means to useless ends, where only death is omnipresent.

Violence and it’s implications in Honduran society then, is the main focus of this particular body of work. Rosa Suazo makes his paintings by transposing (or re-interpreting) recent (2014-15) crime scene photographs of homicides, obtained from different journalists who work in the region. Rosa Suazo translates photographs into stark, dense images, painted in black and white. The images, while abstracted, retain a sense of uneasiness and tension. Images of dead bodies, painted in sharp, sometimes awkward styles, accentuate nature while simultaneously reducing figures to shapes within a landscape. This space leaves the works open to a multitude of reflections on the subject, which would be too vast to cover in single, coherent images. The artist is of the opinion that chaos is impossible to express as a social comment.

While much of the works are of people who will forever, as their killers, remain anonymous, a pair of paintings are intended as an homage to an acquaintance of the artist, who lost her son to local gang members that shot and killed him for unknown reasons. No one ever was ever accused or arrested for this crime. This is what the majority of Hondurans, who live far below the poverty line, are exposed to. In one painting, taken from a newspaper image, the weeping mother cries over her son’s body as she discovers it, dumped in an empty wasteland.

MIT FREUNDLICHER UNTERSTÜTZUNG DER BOTSCHAFT VON HONDURAS & WIEN KULTUR
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Durante la mayor parte de su vida, Federico Rosa Suazo (nacido en Honduras), se acostumbró a vivir con la violencia que colma las calles de Tegucigalpa, la capital del país centroamericano, la cual ha recibido, recientemente, notoriedad por tener, desde 2010, las tasas de asesinatos y homicidios más altas del mundo, fuera de una zona de guerra. Esto ha sido,un tema que ha enfrentado en sus obras más recientes. En sus pinturas, Rosa Suazo traduce fotografías inéditas de escenas de crímenes violentos, obtenidas a través de enlaces con fotógrafos de la prensa hondureña, e intenta representar de forma hiperbólica, aunque no menos crueles, ideas sobre la muerte. Su estilo agresivo, con paleta reducida y marcas expresivas, añaden a la ambivalencia e impotencia sobre este tema.
Además de sus actividades artísticas, Rosa Suazo escribe con frecuencia para el diario hondureño La Tribuna; es colaborador de la sección de arte de The Culture Trip, un sitio de artes y de entretenimiento basadas en la Web y además ha trabajado como profesor de arte, así como servir en el servicio diplomático en representación de Honduras tanto en Bruselas como en Berlín del 2011-13.
FEDERICO ROSA
Federico Rosa nació en Tegucigalpa, donde fundó el Espacio X, un espacio artístico independiente, donde organiza exposiciones con artistas hondureños e internacionales. En 2003 se graduó con una licenciatura en Pintura de City and Guilds of London Art School, y terminó sus estudios de maestría en Escultura en Londres, en la Slade School of Fine Arts. Además de exposiciones en Long Beach, Miami, Bruselas, Tegucigalpa y La Habana, Rosa Suazo ha también comisariado varias exposiciones, incluyendo en la Galería Nacional de Honduras en 2006, y de la Fundación para el Museo del Hombre en 2007 . Actualmente vive y trabaja en Frankfurt am Main.
CON GENTIL PATROCINIO DE LA EMBAJADA DE LA REPUBLICA DE HONDURAS & WIEN KULTUR
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For most of his life, Federico Rosa Suazo (born in Honduras), grew accustomed to living with violence on the streets Tegucigalpa, the country’s capital, which has recently received notoriety for having, since 2010, the highest murder and homicide rates in the world outside of a war zone. This has been thematically present in his recent works. In his paintings, Rosa translates crime scene photos, which he obtains from friendly press photographers, into almost abstract, though no less cruel, ideas about death in a starkly reduced palette with awkward, aggressive style.
In addition to his artistic activities, Rosa Suazo writes frequently for the Honduran newspaper La Tribuna, is a contributor to the arts section of The Culture Trip, a web-based arts and entertainment site,has worked as an art teacher, as well as served in the diplomatic service, representing Honduras in both Brussels and Berlin from 2011-13.
FEDERICO ROSA
Federico Rosa was born in Tegucigalpa, where he founded the independent artist space X3 Projects, where he organized exhibitions with Honduran and International artists. In 2003 he graduated with a B. A. in Painting from the City and Guilds of London Art School, and finished his Master studies in Sculpture at London`s Slade School of Fine Arts. In addition to exhibitions in Long Beach, Miami, Brussels, Tegucigalpa, and La Havana, Rosa has also co-curated and participated in several exhibitions, including in the National Gallery of Honduras in 2006, and the Fundación para El Museo del Hombre in 2007. He currently lives and works in Frankfurt am Main.
WITH THE FRIENDLY SUPPORT BY THE AMBASSY OF HONDURAS & WIEN KULTUR
Site: http://www.federicorosa.me/