Monika Romstein
The crystal gazer
Installation Views

Installation view: Monika Romstein at Galerie Gilla Loercher 2009
Photo: Ute Schendel, courtesy Galerie Gilla Loercher
Press Release
/The exhibition “The crystal gazer“ at the Gallery Gilla Lörcher presents latest work by the painter Monika Romstein. The exhibition encompasses a series of small-scale paintings which were completed between 2007 and 2009. The juxtaposition of the works, intended as singular pieces, creates a dense atmosphere of the abysmal and the absurd.
The majority of the paintings display shadowy sceneries; they draw the eye to spaces and the individuals acting within them, who seem absorbed in almost magical or highly ritualized storylines. They resonate with references to the 19th Century, to magnetism, illusionism and evocation.
Monika Romstein’s work remains perpetually vague and suggestive – never tangible. It is due to this approach in her painting that she is able to achieve and convey incredible narratives, which remain never wholly told but rather continually strive to be reinvented.
The majority of the paintings display shadowy sceneries; they draw the eye to spaces and the individuals acting within them, who seem absorbed in almost magical or highly ritualized storylines. They resonate with references to the 19th Century, to magnetism, illusionism and evocation.
Monika Romstein’s work remains perpetually vague and suggestive – never tangible. It is due to this approach in her painting that she is able to achieve and convey incredible narratives, which remain never wholly told but rather continually strive to be reinvented.