Flash/Flood

Mark Römisch

Jewett Art Gallery

March 11 - April 19, 2019

white-walled gallery with wood floor; predominately black and white photographs are installed on all 3 visible walls; smaller framed photos at left and rear, large unframed photos at rear and right

Flash/Flood examines two intertwined aspects of American identity: patriotism and the use of weapons. Photographer Mark Römisch looks at the different uses of firearms while contemplating the current state of American society as viewed from the outside perspective of an immigrant through two bodies of work: Born on the 4th of July and Bulletproof... I Wish I Was.

Fourth of July celebrations are part of mainstream American culture, reflective of a nation that sees itself as the leader of the free world. Born on the 4th of July documents the experience of fireworks on that day, but without the typical presentation of vivid colors. Taking a documentary approach, shooting deliberately in black and white, Römisch focuses on the implicit political content of this series - a reflection on American self-image and America's image in the western world - over the aesthetic content of the images.

As a German immigrant belonging to the second postwar generation in Germany, Römisch grew up in an environment that encouraged reserve when it came to displays of national pride. Influenced by the life broadcast of nighttime shots of missile strikes on Baghdad in 1991, these works comment on the disintegration of America's image in parts of the world: the splendor, the radiance, and the multicolor have all faded away. The viewer is confronted above all with the force of violence. With the spectacular colors of the fireworks removed, the photographs emphasize their actual low-level explosive force, thus evoking connotations of war and man-made destruction. Following the narrative of the series, we see initial small detonations, the reign of complete violent chaos, followed by the losing of oneself in the vastness of space. Traumatic excesses of violence are juxtaposed with an American celebration of exceptionalism, calling into question both the interpretation of history and contemporary fears for the coming decades.

mostly black photograph with small white fireworks burst and smoke just off center to the right

black and white photo of explosion with smoke and scattered small bright white sparks

At first glance the largescale photographs in Bulletproof... I Wish I Was could be mistaken for a rough plaster facade; in fact, the images depict falling water. The many whitecaps, the spray, the drops and splashes that here make up the spectacle of the waterfall are, in each photograph, solidified into a wall of armored tips, ridges, and hooks. The hazy structures in the lower part of the frame may be seen as vaguely human silhouettes, buried under the water, contrasting in all their fragility with the powerful presence of the falls. It is left to the viewer to decide whether the wall of water serves as a protective force for these structures, or a destructive deluge.

The inspiration for this series is directly referenced in the title: the recurring school shootings in the US, and the fight of students against the power-raving lobby of the NRA, whose seemingly endless stream of money and influence overruns any resistance. In this series the literalized stream becomes an immovable wall. When considered from a different angle, hower, the rapidly swelling resistance slowly erodes the embedded structures of politics and lobbyists. In the process it helps form a wall and a deceptive feeling of invulnerability around the individual. The only thing that remains is the fact that humans are vulnerable - with or without a wall.

3 large unframed photographs of mostly white frothing water installed on a white gallery wall

two large vertical photographs of frothing water, white above and dark at bottom of frame, installed unframed on a white gallery wall

Flash/Flood was on view in the Jewett Art Gallery from March 11 - April 19, 2019.

This statement was written with contributions from Stefan Moll, PhD, Art Historian; Mark Römisch, Artist; and Samara Pearlstein, Gallery Director.

installation view of a row of 9 framed photos, mostly black with some gray/white explosion imagery, in a row on a white gallery wall; at right on the adjacent wall are 2 more photos in the same series

person bending to look closely at a large unframed photographic print of frothy white falling water hung on a white gallery wall

white-framed photo of explosion and smoke on black background

Mark Römisch

Mark Römisch lives and works outside of Boston, MA. He earned a Bachelor's equivalent in Drama at the Gmelin Conservatory for Acting in Munich, Germany and a Master's equivalent in Modern German Literature and Communication Science at the Ludwig Maximillian University in Munich. He received additional training with Joe McNally, Brian Smith, and Robert Searle in NYC and at the New England School of Photography. His award-winning work as a photographic artist has been shown internationally in the United States, Europe, and Japan.

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