Rita Ernst

Swiss artist Rita Ernst (b.1956) has confronted the work of architect Mies van der Rohe’s in-depth in the last ten years. To this end, she translated floor plan, façade and room elevations of Mies van der Rohes buildings into a new visual language. Her colorful paintings consist of linear and surface structures that have the ordering principles of Miesian architecture as their theme. A comprehensive oeuvre comprising numerous paintings and drawings has meantime arisen in her studio, and is collectively of great appeal. Rita Ernst’s works provide an insight into contemporary art’s confrontation with the various art movements of avant-garde art of the 20th century.

Parts of her Mies van der Rohe project have already been shown in museum exhibitions, for example in 2010 at the Mies van der Rohe Haus in Berlin, in 2011 at the Meisterhäuser Schlemmer/Muche in Dessau, and in 2012 at Museum Ritter in Waldenbuch. The exhibition at Architekturforum Zürich will illustrate how very strongly architecture has influenced the imagery of contemporary artists.