Sherah Rosen thesis exhibition: 'Disillusion: The Search for the Sublime'

For her thesis exhibition Disillusion: The Search for the Sublime, Sherah Rosen (M.F.A. painting) presents contemporary renditions of 18th-century Romanticism, showcasing intense, figurative paintings that take after the historical movement’s dramatic style and its explorations of the “sublime.” Through her new body of work, Rosen posits that the Romantic sublime — or that which is otherworldly and transcends the everyday mundane — is an unfulfilled promise in postmodernity. She encourages her audience to consider the potential that the sublime is ultimately unattainable — a search that is always unsatisfying and endless, resulting only in disillusion. 

Rosen’s paintings meditate on themes of sex, seduction, wealth, and the aesthetic of the gothic. They feature hypersexualized scantily clad or nude figures of varying gender identities, all of whom bare piercing gazes and seem to invite an encounter of unknown sexual proclivity. The artist’s unsettling rendering of the figures evokes a sense of unhappiness, intimating their disenchantment.  

Tactile and effusively painterly, Rosen’s works leave behind raw, unresolved brushstrokes. The physicality of the paint evokes a psychological tension and bares an emotional volatility, inspiring a visceral experience for the viewer. The works’ distinct textures and color palettes reassert the Romantic belief that the aesthetics of the sublime are somber, dark, and more serious in nature, contrary to widely held, shallow, and Edenic perceptions of beauty.  

Opening reception: Thursday, Sept. 28, 5–7 p.m. 

Gallery hours: Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.