For more than thirty years, Roni Horn has developed a body of work of concentrated visual power and intellectual rigor. Innovative in diverse mediums, her practice defies easy categorization. Although almost classical in their restraint and beauty, and virtuosic in their use and sensitivity to material, Horns pieces incite mental and conceptual engagement. Her subtle explorations of the complex relationship between object and subject have expanded the vocabulary of every medium in which she works. Creating situations in which the mechanisms of perception reveal themselves is one of her great achievements. This catalogue has been produced to accompany the most comprehensive overview of Horns work to date. Horn has developed the structure of this two-volume publication. The catalogue volume includes an insightful essay by Briony Fer as well as a plate section of works in the exhibition. The other volume, the subject index, is fully illustrated and includes texts on a variety of topics related to Horns work by a variety of prominent artists, critics, curators, and cultural figures.
In addition, the subject index also includes Horns own writing, which is illuminating and engaging for those with a longstanding interest in her work, as well as for people encountering it for the first time. Born in New York in 1955, Roni Horn achieved international recognition in the 1980s and her works have been the subject of numerous major exhibitions. In 2007 she undertook Artangels first international commission, creating Vatnasafn / Library of Water, a long-term installation in the town of Stykkisholmur, Iceland. She has had solo exhibitions at numerous leading art institutions, including Inverleith House, Edinburgh (2006), Fotomuseum Winterthur (2003), Art Institute of Chicago (2004), Folkwang Museum, Essen (2004), Centre Pompidou, Paris (2003), Dia Center for the Arts, New York (200102) and Museo Serralves, Porto (2001). A major touring exhibition of Horns works, organized by Tate Modern and the Whitney Museum of American Art, will take place in 2009 to 2010. It is co-published with Whitney Museum of American Art, New York and Tate Modern, London on the occasion of the exhibition Roni Horn aka Roni Horn.