Frame Time Open

Although this exhibition dedicated to the work of Rosa Barba (b.1972) is presented as a retrospective, this designation becomes tenuous as soon as one steps into the Gian Ferrari hall at MAXXI, Rome. There is no chronological sequence, nor a neat thematic reconstruction of Barba’s career. Instead, a sinuous metal structure runs the length of the long, narrow gallery, with works installed along its axis FIG.1. At either end, Barba has positioned two video projections, Solar Flux Recordings FIG.2 and Myth and Mercury FIG.3, which establish the temporal and conceptual spectrum of the exhibition. The former revisits her intervention at the Palacio de Cristal, Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, registering the passage of time through shifting light and shadow. The latter traverses Mediterranean landscapes – from the Biblioteca dell’Istituto Gramsci Siciliano, Palermo, to marine infrastructures and agricultural archives, tracing the region as a continually transforming space.