EVFA is pleased to present a revisiting of Rachel Roze’s solo show, We Were In Sicily, a selection of work from Il Pesce Pazzo. Here are a couple statements about this collection of works.
+The collection of photographs taken in the summer of 2011 and shot entirely in film showcases her 40-day trip in Sicily, Italy. An enticing invitation to her Italian peregrination, her works offer stills flooded with sexuality, nationality, and the naked truth of seductive youth. Voluntarily, the viewer joins Roze in exploring the female body, men, and a culture of lust and the content. Playfully pushing the boundaries between personal and shared, Il Pesce Pazzo infiltrates the viewer into a sea of curiosity while the heat of the city, the men, and the markets, shower the voyeuristic onlooker. Layers of affection and admiration meet a hot and sticky meat-market, and with religion on every wall and the nude on every floor, Roze beautifully appropriates the rediscovery and documentation of the illicit. The onlooker can’t help but join Roze in her escapades into the grainy crevices of sex, and Sicily.
- Elena Parasco
+Photographer Rachel Roze’s “We Were in Sicily” is not subtle at first glance, but take a longer look, because you are going to want to, and you will find layers upon layers in a singular composition. The work was all done on film, not Instagram, and has a quality that feels vintage, although it was made during a 40-day trip to Sicily, Italy, in the summer of 2011. The work has sexually charged overtones, while the muted tones give an old-world romance quality. However, I urge you to not only focus on the obvious ones. Roze views the city and her perspective offers a sense of familiarity and complete immersion that is unlike anything a tourist could accomplish.
- Kathy M.Y. Pyon, LA Times
About Rachel Roze:
“I have a lot of chameleon qualities, I get very absorbed in my surroundings”
River Phoenix
I grew up in an untraditional family in a traditional suburb outside of New York City; a place where artists were not appreciated and the norm was. Craving change, I packed my bags at nineteen and decided to move myself to California; I wanted to live “over the rainbow,” something about California was calling me. I arrived in California for the first time and quickly realized I had accidentally rented a room in a trailer park, not in an apartment, in a strange area known as Ojai. Living in that trailer park for almost a year, before later moving to LA, flipped my whole world around. I needed to capture everything, the vividness, the chaos; I needed to capture my surroundings. This is where I picked up photography. It was my way of holding on to the newness of this strange place, like keeping a visual journal. I spent the following years in LA developing my hobby into a profession, working with a handful of well-known photographers and artists, who helped guide my craft, and along the way graduated from Brooks Institute Of Photography with a Bachelors degree in Visual Communication. My work is a look into my life, capturing moments, people, and myself on a daily basis; I capture my surroundings.
Edgar Varela Fine Arts is dedicated to exhibiting compelling work from exciting emerging and mid-career artists as well as providing a platform for interaction and conversation about the contemporary art world. EVFA also curates and produces relevant cultural happenings that impact the perception on traditional art roles in society. The gallery space is open from Wednesday to Saturday from 12pm to 6pm and by appointment. For more information call Edgar Varela at 213-604-3634, e-mail at edgar@edgarvarela.com or visit www.EdgarVarela.com.
