June 20–July 18, 2020
Steve Turner is pleased to present Schadenfreude, a solo exhibition featuring recent work by Los Angeles-based Samantha Rosenwald. Schadenfreude, a German word that does not neatly translate into English, denotes the complex feeling of pleasure in witnessing another person’s misfortune. This cruel form of satisfaction relates to the Zanni—a clownish character of 16th century Italian Commedia dell’arte. A Zanni, a foolish, ignorant servant, through self-humiliation and idiocy, is always the butt of the joke, both to his onstage superiors and to the audience. The English word “zany” comes from this character.
Peepee, the comically rendered insect that is central to all of the works in the exhibition, embodies the meaning of schadenfreude and the spirit of the Zanni. The comedy and cuteness of her circumstances please her onlooker while her deeper pain, anxiety, and humiliation lurk just below the surface. In this way, Peepee is herself a Zanni—she provides comic relief as a foolish inferior who undergoes humiliation for the sake of the observer’s pleasure.
These non-stinging passive bugs, blown up in scale, cartoonized and given human traits, are Rosenwald’s self- portraits and serve as allegories of the pressure on women to perform, serve, and entertain. They also relate to the fetishized and idealized female at large, both past and present. The perfect woman is small. She is slight and sweet, cute and passive. The name Peepee originated as a nickname given to Rosenwald by her boyfriend. She describes it as the perfect name for her goofy caterpillar alter-ego, both absurd and embarrassing, yet also cute, especially at first read.
Samantha Rosenwald (b. 1994, Los Angeles) received her BA in Art History from Vassar College (2016) and her MFA in Fine Art from California College of the Arts (2018). Her work has been exhibited at MCLXVII, San Francisco; Eve Leibe Gallery, London and Zevitas Marcus, Los Angeles. This is her first exhibition at Steve Turner.
Samantha Rosenwald creates identity-based paintings that are inspired by her upbringing in glitzy body conscious West Los Angeles. She describes her youthful self as a frizzy-haired, comically chubby chicken nugget who was fixated with female beauty expectations and who developed a keen sense of humor as a mode of social survival. Comedy, strangeness, anxiety, and unnecessary overachievement define her work and identity. In formal terms, her work also harnesses these neurotic and comic tendencies. Rosenwald uses colored pencils, a small unsophisticated material associated with childhood, to obsessively complete her highly detailed works.
Born 1994, Los Angeles
Lives and works in Los Angeles
Education
2018
MFA, California College of the Arts, San Francisco
2016
BA, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York
Solo Exhibitions
2021
Exquisite Corpse, Steve Turner, Los Angeles (upcoming)
2020
Penis Envy, Annarumma Gallery, Naples, Italy
A Freudian Nightmare; An Onlooker Gasps, Ballon Rouge Club, Brussels
Schadenfreude, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
2019
Soft Opening, MCLXVII, San Francisco
Group Exhibitions
2020
Our World, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
NADA Art Fair (with JDJ | The Ice House), Los Angeles
This Sacred Vessel (Still Life), Arsenal Contemporary, New York
Enter Art Fair (with Eve Leibe Gallery, Copenhagen
No Time Like the Present, PUBLIC Gallery, London
All Dressed Up With Nowhere to Go, New American Paintings / Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston
Social Distancing, Plan X Gallery, Milan, Italy
Everything but the Kitchen Sink, La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles
Being Human Is Hard, Pt.2 LA, Los Angeles
2019
Comic Tendencies, Eve Leibe Gallery, London
Cruel Optimism, curated by Wow Project LA, Chewing Foil, Los Angeles
New American Paintings 2019 Pacific Coast Review, Zevitas Marcus, Los Angeles
21 Open, Mostyn Gallery, Wales
Whipped, CREAM Athens, London
Middleschool-ed, Junior High LA, Los Angeles
Morality/Mortality, Good Mother Gallery, Oakland, California
San Francisco Art Market, CULT Exhibitions, San Francisco
Graduation, Good Mother Gallery, Oakland
2018
Seattle Art Fair (with CULT Exhibitions)
Female Trouble, CULT Exhibitions, San Francisco
MFA Commencement Show, California College of the Arts, San Francisco
MFA Thesis Show, Minnesota Street Projects, San Francisco
Finale of a Generally Miraculous Nature, PS8, San Francisco
TFW, PS8, San Francisco
Awards
2018
Curator’s Award, California College of the Arts, San Francisco
Finalist for the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship Award, California College of the Arts, San Francisco
2016
Honors in Art History, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie
2012
Excellence in Visual and Performing Arts, Archer School for Girls, Los Angeles
Bibliography
2020
“What it’s Like to be an Artist in Quarantine,” The Art Gorgeous, April 7
2019
Davis, Olivia. “Samantha Rosenwald Leans into Her Sense of Humor as a Mode of Social Survival,” Art of Choice Advisory, December 30
New American Paintings, Pacific Coast Issue No. 139
“Good Mother Gallery Opens Latest Group Show – Morality/Mortality,” Juxtapose Magazine, May 10
2018
“Check Out Samantha Rosenwald’s Artwork,” Voyage LA, December 10
“Curated Selection of Works by Sara Maria Salamone and Tyler Lafreniere, Founders and Head Curators of Mrs. Gallery, NYC,” Summer Issue 8, Art Maze Magazine
“Samantha Rosenwald: Selected Illustration,” Volume 3, Fumetto Magazine
