Villa Clea Milan
’Together Apart - Spaces of Intimacy’

22.06.2024-26.06.2024
Villa Clea, Milan - Italy
solo show + residency

photograhy sculptures, video installation, photography prints

Texty by curator Allina Corbellini:

I invited Anna and Maria Ritsch to live with
Matteo and me, interpreting the spaces of this house, and they led me to reflect on the concept of relationship. The relationship of union and contact that we can have through an embrace, skin to skin. The sacredness of the boundary that the skin represents between the self and the other.
Cultivating awareness of this space, as the skin is both a point of contact and a boundary between each identity, helps me to invoke that sense of respect for the self and for the other, precisely by paying attention to the space between one and the other. In their work, I perceive this distance as indispensable to union, which is indeed the relationship.
The way Anna and Maria interpret the space to make us reflect on this is delicate and playful, which is the most difficult way to communicate but also the most respectful.
By dialoguing with the furniture I designed for the house, they chose to use the same material, aluminum, and interpret it to create surfaces for sculptures that, along with the images they support, are themselves skin, in a relationship of union that never becomes fusion. The house is populated by these skin-sculpture-images that are not static, but allow for a playful relationship of movements, interpretations, dialogues among themselves and between them and the inhabitants and visitors of the house. In these dialogues, there remains a sense of respectful and delicate playfulness, where the distance of the relationship becomes an affectionate game.
________Allina

Athens Photofestival
‘Together Apart’

06.06.2024-07.28.2024
Athens Photofestival at Benaki Museum / Pireos 138 Greece
group show

“Together Apart” delves into the profound themes of memory, perception, and experience, capturing the essence of togetherness and separation. “Together Apart” serves as both the title of the new photo book and the ongoing series by the Ritsch Sisters, reflecting the ever-changing nature of our society. Through its composition, arrangement, and content, the series engages with the fluidity and evolution inherent in our lives.

Anna & Maria Ritsch have intertwined their individual and collaborative works, blurring the boundaries of authorship to create a unified artistic expression. These series depict moments of connection and disconnection, featuring portraits, body shots, still lifes, and landscapes. The skin, a recurring motif, serves as both a boundary and a point of contact, symbolizing the intersection between our inner selves and the outside world. The images are thoughtfully arranged in a playful and unconventional manner. “Together Apart” serves as a meditative exercise, inviting readers to contemplate how memory and lived experiences shape our perception of the world.

‘ei, i: a dialogue with the self’

07.09.2023-10.09.2023
FAQ, Bregenzerwald (AT)
group show

ei, i: a dialogue with the self
Videoinstallation: 00:03:47

Das Ei und das ‘I’, das englische Ich. Ein Dialog mit dem Selbst.

Ein Video:
Eine Frau erlebt Momente mit ihrem Selbst - beobachtend, verspielt, ordnend, berührend und berührt. Wechselnde Bedeutungsebenen von Wahrnehmung und Vorstellung. Die Leere füllen, sich im Kreis drehen, etwas hinunterschlucken.
Eine intime Erforschung, Konfrontation und ein Dialog mit dem eigenen Selbstverständnis.
Wie sehe ich mich, wie werde ich gesehen?

Eine Rauminstallation:
Ein Raum im Raum, im Grundriss ein Ei.
Im Ei wartet ein Sitzobjekt aus alten Tischtüchern der alten Taube. Zu sehen, hören und erfahren ein Video - ich setze mich hin, ich beobachte, ich lese die Untertitel und ich lausche.
Was sehe ich, wie sehe ich, was höre ich?
Ein Moment der Irritation, ich erwarte Geräusche, höre aber nichts. Eine Umorientierung der Aufmerksamkeit findet statt: vom Hören zum Lesen, zurück zum Hören.

Die Installation spielt mit der Sinneswahrnehmung. Im Fokus steht das Verhältnis von Sehen und Hören in einem Dialog mit sich selbst.

‘DIALOG
dissolving forms’

13.12.2022-31.05.2023
Eos Kunstraum (DE)
curated by Theo Schneider

"Dissolving Forms" is a series by Anna and Maria Ritsch, exhibited at EOS.KUNST.RAUM as part of an exhibition together with sculptor Thomas Röthel.
It explores the intriguing interplay between photography and abstraction.
Departing from the conventional notion of capturing reality, the Ritsch Sisters employ photography to dissolve and transform specific products from EOS, the leading provider of industrial 3D printing technology. Through the camera's lens, these once tangible objects are abstracted into ethereal compositions of color and shape.
The resulting images, composed of elusive color fields and undefined forms, challenge viewers to reevaluate their perception and embrace the poetic potential of the intangible. By immersing ourselves in these works, we are compelled to question our expectations and delve into the enigmatic allure of the visual realm.
Guided by openness, curiosity, and a mastery of their artistic tools, the Ritsch Sisters have achieved a profound visual transformation that transcends reality and resonates with profound beauty. The artworks beckon us to explore alternative perspectives, inviting us to venture beyond the confines of the familiar and embrace the ineffable. Within the evanescent, meditative, and even therapeutic qualities of the "Dissolving Forms," we find a refreshing and thought-provoking artistic contribution amidst our data-driven and fact-saturated world. It is in their abstraction that the true strength of these works resides, offering a powerful counterpoint to the concrete and inviting us to embrace the beauty of the uncertain.

‘Foam Talent 2022’

2023 Deutsche Börse, Frankfurt, DE
group show / 17.2-14.5 2023
curated by Mirelva Berghout

This fall Foam proudly presents the work of a new generation of artists in the group exhibition Foam Talent 2022. The 20 participating artists look closely at both the world around us, and the one within - without shying away from discomfort or pain. Climate change, political conflict, discrimination, displacement, and social justice issues: the works address the pressing problems of our times and remind us that photography has the potential to capture the unspeakable. We are proud to present a selection that offers as much food for thought as beauty and innovation of the medium.

‘The Act of Sitting’

What would happen if we were forced to sit in isolation for an extended period of time? During the height of the pandemic, the Ritsch Sisters, who frequently explore physical, spatial, and emotional tensions, invited individuals to collaborate on their own interpretation of sitting. The resulting photographs, which were all captured via video chats around the world, reflect on how the act of sitting is transformed into a political and performative act.

‘Foam Talent 2022’

2022 Foam Forografiemuseum Amsterdam, NL
group show / on view till January 18th 2023
curated by Mirelva Berghout

This fall Foam proudly presents the work of a new generation of artists in the group exhibition Foam Talent 2022. The 20 participating artists look closely at both the world around us, and the one within - without shying away from discomfort or pain. Climate change, political conflict, discrimination, displacement, and social justice issues: the works address the pressing problems of our times and remind us that photography has the potential to capture the unspeakable. We are proud to present a selection that offers as much food for thought as beauty and innovation of the medium.

‘The Act of Sitting’

What would happen if we were forced to sit in isolation for an extended period of time? During the height of the pandemic, the Ritsch Sisters, who frequently explore physical, spatial, and emotional tensions, invited individuals to collaborate on their own interpretation of sitting. The resulting photographs, which were all captured via video chats around the world, reflect on how the act of sitting is transformed into a political and performative act.

‘New Arrangements’

2022 DWDS Gallery, Bregenz AT
solo exhibition / on view till October 29th 2022

In der fotografischen Installation New Arrangements verlassen die Ritsch Sisters die traditionelle Ausstellungskonvention des Bild-an-der-Wand. Sie führen uns stattdessen durch einen Erfahrungsraum, in dem der Form vollste Autonomie und Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt wird. Das fotografische Bild spielt hier buchstäblich eine Rolle, nämlich eine, die zu einem Spiel mit der Form einlädt. Wir werden Teil einer Choreografie, die der Sensibilität für die ästhetische Wirkung wandelnder Arrangements gewidmet ist. Alles bleibt in Bewegung, die Rollen dürfen sich verändern. Performativ kippt das Spiel der Formen aus den Bildern der Ritsch Sisters in den Raum des DWDS Schaufensters und schafft einen vielschichtigen Dialog zwischen Bild, Raum, Körper und Gruppe. Das Spiel der Intuition setzt sich mit 100 Couverts fort, die ausgewählte Prints der Künstlerinnen im Verborgenen halten. Ihren Inhalt können wir nur anhand der Bildtitel imaginieren, erwerben und letztlich neu arrangieren.

Text: Theophil Bousek

In the photographic installation New Arrangements, the Ritsch Sisters move away from the traditional exhibition convention of the ‘picture-on-the-wall’. Instead, they guide us through a “spatial experience in which form is given the fullest autonomy and attention. The photographic image plays a literal role here, one that invites us to play with form. We become part of a choreography dedicated to the aesthetic effect of changing arrangements.
Everything stays in motion, the roles are allowed to change. The Ritsch Sisters’ images play with form in a performative way, extending into the space of the DWDS window display, creating a multi-layered dialogue between image, space, body and group. The exhibition continues with 150 envelopes each holding a selected print that is kept hidden. We can only imagine, acquire and ultimately rearrange their content on the basis of the picture titles.

‘The Female Landscape: Rethinking the Body through the Photographic Image and Beyond’

2022 VBKÖ, Vienna AT
Foto Wien - group exhibition
curated by Paula Marschalek & Alexandra Steinacker C/20

Within the exhibition “The Female Landscape: Rethinking the Body through the Photographic Image and Beyond”, the female body as landscape is investigated through a feminist lens, exploring the various factettes and intermedial states of being a woman.
How we define what nature is today is pulled into question. The body is constantly interacting with its environment, being formed and defined by external factors such as those determined by society. As bodies are defined by their environments, in this way the environments are also defined by bodies. The body morphs into landscape, becoming a patchwork of cultures and relating to other environments in the process. Some artworks within the exhibition are photographic, but other works engage with photography in innovative ways, accompanied by sculptural, aural and moving-image works. This creates a more stimulating installation as well as furthers the discussion of rethinking the landscapes not only of the female body, but also of artistic practice and medium specificity within the arts.

The artist duo ANNA and MARIA RITSCH juxtapose human and nature in their photographs, investigating identity and the position of anthropomorphic presence within natural realms. They are primarily interested in the perception of bodies in the most varied of environments and blur the lines between body and landscape.

‘Made up Mostly of Water’ by Anna and Maria Ritsch

—an exercise on how we remember, categorize and experience what we see.

In this series we wanted to get intimate, be present in the moment, and let our subconscious guide us in what we see — to make the photographic act into a state of meditation, a form of ritual. We focused on what energizes us, what makes us ‘feel’ yet still makes us think, and critically rethink our own internalized stories. Revisiting our own relationship to nature and the connecting element of water in the urban ‘landscape’ we live in.

‘together apart’

2021 Flatz Museum Dornbirn, AT
solo exhibition
curated by Verena Kasper-Eisert

In ihrer Ausstellung „Together Apart“ stellen die beiden Fotografinnen und Schwestern, Anna und Maria Ritsch, erstmals in ihrem Heimatort Dornbirn ihre künstlerischen Arbeiten gemeinsam aus. Eigens für das Flatz Museum haben die Künstlerinnen eine Installationsform gewählt, die ihre fotografischen Arbeiten miteinander in Dialog setzt. Die individuelle Autorinnenschaft tritt dabei in den Hintergrund – aus dem „Apart“ wird ein „Together“.
Motive des, „Zusammen-“ und „Getrenntseins“ finden sich auch in den Inhalten der ausgestellten Fotografien. Motive des Berührens, im tatsächlichen und im übertragenen Sinn, können wir in den Portraits, Körperaufnahmen, Stillleben und Landschaftsaufnahmen beobachten. Die Haut der dargestellten Körper, vielfach bildführendes Element, markiert dabei jenen volatilen Moment bei dem „Innere“ auf das „Äußere“ trifft.
Ganz bewusst sind die Fotografien in einer verspielten, unkonventionellen Art gehängt. Mache sind gerahmt, andere direkt an die Wand gepinnt, in satten oder sanften Farben, auch in Schwarzweiß. Die Formate variieren, ebenso die Lichtstimmungen. Die einzelnen Bilder treten trotz der Unterschiede aber nicht in Konkurrenz. Ganz im Gegenteil, ergeben sie durch die gekonnte Hängung eine ganz besonders stilvolle und poetische Erzählkraft.
Ihre jüngste, gemeinsame Arbeit ist im Frühjahr 2020 entstanden, als sich weite Teile der Welt im Lock-down befand. Nachdem Maria Ritsch in Wien und Anna Ritsch in New York lebt, war in dieser Zeit eine physische Begegnung de facto unmöglich. In zahlreichen Videochats haben die beiden Künstlerinnen den Umstand analysiert, dass während dieser außergewöhnlichen Zeit dem Sitzen eine besondere Rolle zukommt. Mit befreundeten Künstler*innen und Bekannten haben Anna und Maria Ritsch in Folge dieser Überlegungen in einem kollaborativen Projekt an Videoportraits gearbeitet. Die beteiligten Personen wurden von den Künstlerinnen befragt, wie ihre persönliche Beziehung zum „Sitzen“ ist und welche Rolle es in ihrem Leben spielt. Die Serie „The Act Of Sitting" versammelt die Einzelvideos die in Häusern und Wohnungen in New York, Wien, Los Angeles, Mexiko-Stadt, Senegal und an anderen Orten der Welt entstanden sind und reflektiert den jeweiligen persönlichen, sozialen und kulturellen Kontext des Akts des Sitzens.
Kuratorin: Verena Kaspar-Eisert

‘the Act of Sitting’

2021 Künstlerhaus Bregenz, AT
group show / Neue Mitglieder

For the ‘new members’ exhibition at the ‘Künstlerhaus Bregenz’ we chose outtakes of our project ‘the act of sitting’ and created a site specifc installation.

‘#7abcdc #f5e40c’

2021 Künstlerhaus Bregenz, AT
group show / An Vogel

Die Fotografien, #7abcdc (blau) und #f5e40c (gelb), sind während des zweiten Lockdowns entstanden. Sie beschäftigen sich mit unseren kontrastierenden emotionalen inneren Dialogen, die durch die Einschränkungen des ‘drinnen bleibens’ in uns aufkommen sind.
Ein Spiel zwischen zwei sich gegenüber stehenden Emotionen.
Blau, das Stabilität, Ruhe, Vertrauen und sich nach Innen wenden hervorruft.
Gelb, das den Wunsch nach Optimismus, Freude, Spaß, Energie und sich nach Außen wenden hervorruft.

The photographs, #7abcdc (blue) and #f5e40c (yellow), were created during the second lockdown and play with our internal dialog of contrasting emotions that arose being confined to staying inside.
Blue as one evoking stability, calm, trust, turning inwards.
Yellow as one evoking the desire of optimism, joy, fun, energy and turning outwards.

anna—maria ritsch