Exhibition
in New York, NY / United States
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- Carol Rama: Untitled, 1968, glue and doll’s eyes on glossy black cardstock, 50 x 70 cm, 19 5/8 x 27 1/2 in, © Archivio Carol Rama, Turin
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- Carol Rama: Untitled, 1986, mixed media on pre-printed paper with previous handwriting (exercise of geometrical drawing) reinforced with canvas, 33 x 47.9 cm, 13 x 18 7/8 in, © Archivio Carol Rama, Turin
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- Carol Rama: Presagi di Birnam (Omens of Birnam), 1986, car inner tubes on metal easel, 180 x 131x 60 cm, 70 7/8 x 51 5/8 x 23 5/8 in, © Archivio Carol Rama, Turin, Photo Paolo Pellion di Persano
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- Carol Rama: La mucca pazza (The Mad Cow), 1997, Tempera, inner tube and leather on US mail bag (including the rope and metal cinch and grommets) mounted on wooden frame, 53 x 114 cm, 20 7/8 x 44 7/8 in, © Archivio Carol Rama, Turin, Photo Pino Dell’Aquila
‘I See You You See Me’ marks the gallery’s first exhibition dedicated to the work of radical Italian artist Carol Rama (1918 – 2015). Organized by Carlo Knoell, this focused presentation gathers key works from six decades of Rama’s career, bringing new focus to the nature of her wildly original experimentations in various mediums — paint, textile, sculpture and bricolage — from 1947 though 1998.
Rama’s non-conformist approach to artmaking was largely dismissed during her lifetime. However, her oeuvre has attracted new attention from critics and collectors in recent decades, exerting a noteworthy influence on generations of contemporary artists for whom Rama’s formal breadth and unfailing belief in visual art as a tool for liberation, are signposts. A pioneer who forged connections between desire, sacrifice, eroticism, repression and rebellion, Rama now is taking her rightful place at the center of current cultural dialogue.
Over more than seven decades, Carol Rama (b. 1918, Turin; d. 2015) developed a radical body of work that addressed connections between desire, sacrifice, eroticism and repression. Today, Rama is considered one of the most original and individualistic artists to emerge from the 20th Century. By constructing a visual cosmos where transgression leads to liberation, Rama countered assumptions about gender, sexuality and representation, offering a retort to the societal conventions and the prevailing far – right political ideologies that defined the fascist – dominated Italy of her youth. She set neither boundaries nor hierarchies between painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking, pulling all of these mediums into her image universe. ‘My self-assurance exists only across from a sheet of paper that needs to be filled in,’ Rama once declared. ‘Work is the only way to drive off my fears. My rebellion consists of painting.’
Gallery hours Tue-Sat 10 am – 6 pm
Exhibition Duration 12 May – 31 July 2026
Location:
Hauser & Wirth New York
548 West 22nd Street
10011 New York, NY
United States
