Rachel Rose Unveils 'Enclosure' at Gladstone Gallery
A cinematic reflection on how our reshaping of the environment can actually alter our state of mind.
Rachel Rose is an American artist best known for cinematic film installations that reflect on materiality, history and our changing relationship with the environment. She is currently showcasing the New York premier of a new film, dubbed Enclosure at Gladstone Gallery.
The film is set in 17th Century England at the dawn of the Enclosure Act — a series of legal maneuvers that seized communally used farmlands into private property. The fictional tale follows a group of mischievous travelers who call themselves the Famlee and go about scheming to steal land from unsuspecting farmers.
As people are torn from their homes, animals slaughtered and trees destroyed, the chaos is followed by the specter of a nebulous orb that shadows the village with a promise of cosmic doom. The orb reflects how the time period largely believed in magical forces, leaving nothing to chance and altering the consciousness of society, as a result.
Behind the fantastical veil of Enclosure is the haunting reminder of how our reshaping of the environment can actually influence our actions and state of mind. A reminder that has become all the more prevalent today. To accompany the film, Rose presents a number of paintings and Loops — a series of hybridized sculptures that meditate on the state of “becoming.” Enclosure is on view at Gladstone Gallery until February 26, 2022.
In related news, James Turrell meets Ad Reinhardt in “Color Out of Darkness.”
Gladstone Gallery
530 W 21st St.
New York, NY 10011
