NOUS SOMMES ESPACE | AGATHE ROSA

Just because something is not visible to our eyes doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
This is the foundational concept on which Agathe Rosa (Annecy, 1987) develops her practice. The artist’s aim is to connect with the entities that occupy space, even if they are invisible and intangible, challenging the notion of emptiness, particularly in relation to a place.

Nous sommes espace is a diptych created in 2020, during the lockdown period caused by the pandemic. During that historical moment, each of us in some way underwent a change of perspective and perhaps questioned ourselves and our beliefs. What the artist did was delve into her own interiority, exploring an intimate place where she unexpectedly found new landscapes and characters. This reinforced the need to testify the existence of the invisible and the entities that do not manifest themselves.

The diptych Nous sommes espace consists of an image accompanied by a text written by the artist (fully reproduced in the original language at the end of this article). The image is a black and white photograph depicting the upper part – torso and head – of a human figure. This figure holds a light source in front of its face, obscuring the features and making it unrecognizable. Additionally, the simple clothing and neutral background make it impossible to contextualize the image.
The artist chooses light as an element of resonance in order to connect with the space: ‘light’ is indeed a word that encompasses various concepts, from the more practical and utilitarian one linked to electricity, to the symbolic one associated with hope and positivity. It is an element that is both visible and intangible.

Rosa’s practice is a deeply conceptual contemplative one, which can be defined in the research of an intimate dimension and a close connection with the very essence of the world.

“Autant que cela puisse sembler surprenant, il est nécessaire de se cacher pour re-devenir espace.
À la surface de l’être, existe une région où dialoguent l’intime et le manifeste. Des mouvements imperceptibles et oscillants y sont nombreux, si chargés d’hésitation entre ce qui souhaite se montrer et ce qui souhaite se cacher. Il en est de même pour chaque espace. Et invisible à la face du ciel et loin des solides cachettes de la Terre, l’intimité se situe dans les heures creuses, à la lisière de la matière ou lorsque notre regard se dérobe, dans l’ombre de notre dos. Pour entrer en résonance avec un espace, il est alors nécessaire de le devenir.”

Agathe Rosa
Nous sommes espace, 2020
Photography printed on paper Fine Art, 19 x 26,5 cm
Courtesy the artist and Société Interludio

Agathe Rosa, Nous sommes espace, 2020.
Detail of the exhibition “Les Communs”, 2020, curated by E22, La Chartreuse, Villeneuve-lez-Avignon (Fr). Photo: Agathe Rosa.

10/07/24