Rita Ackermann

Illustrated. A native of Hungary, Rita Ackermann moved to New York City in the mid-1990s.

She arrived to find a culture (and art world) in transition: rave and zine culture was in full swing collaborations between artists, musicians, and magazine and book publishers were pervasive and the dawning of the Internet age was upon us. Within a few short months after settling in New York, the artist received widespread attention for her work, particularly a group of canvases populated with figures inspired by the cult German film We Children from Bahnhof Zoo about the heroin subculture of the 1970s.

Her work forged a new visual language: paintings, drawings, and collages which telescoped between a virtuoso—and sometimes brutalistic—expressionism and taut, precise figurative drawing. Ackermann’s work explores the paradoxical relationship between fragility and violence, as she derives inspiration from literature, film, philosophy, and popular culture.