Jo Rosenthal “Ode to Those I’ve Kissed”

Ed. Varie

This event has ended.

Ed. Varie presents Ode to Those I’ve Kissed, a solo exhibition with artist Jo Rosenthal.

What does it mean to be intimate? What does it mean to be in love? What does it mean to capture somebody? What does it mean to be enraptured? Rosenthal finds herself frequently investigating these questions and themes in her art practice. Conceptual artists of the 90s, such as Tracey Emin, and Felix Gonzalez-Torres, physically broke apart traditions in portraiture. Rosenthal sees this departure as a springboard to create portraits that do not conform to the figure, to show who, or what, they depict.

Ode to Those I’ve Kissed is a catalog of everyone Rosenthal has kissed since the age of 19. Drawn from memory, over 100 oil paintings on paper will hug the gallery walls in chronological order. Simple, raw, exposed, Rosenthal adds individual captions, a boiled down essence of the kiss with each person, furthering the honesty, closure or lack there of the relationship that formed from each kiss. In addition to the original artworks, a hand bound, full color edition of Ode to Those I’ve Kissed will also be available at the opening.

Rosenthal’s work often questions just how personal she can get with an audience by opening herself up as much as possible. Through oil paint, performance, book-making, and installation, Rosenthal communicates her own journey. Inviting her audience to understand that it is okay to be emotional and intimate—to want to laugh and cry and want more from their overall experience—and in the process, Rosenthal herself is uncovering what it means to be ‘Jo’ in the world today and tomorrow.

Jo Rosenthal, b. b. 6969 in Miami, Florida currently lives and work in Chinatown, New York City. She has a dual degree in Fine Arts and Non-Fiction Writing with an Art History minor from Parsons. Only about 0.85 of her is composed of potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium.