Witness

In his debut solo exhibition, Witness, Rowan Booth (b. 2004) grapples with the emotional fallout of our current social and political unrest. A current senior at the Cleveland Institute of Art, Booth’s practice revolves around painting and various methods of printmaking, primarily copper intaglio and stone lithography.

In large-to-small-scale works, Booth presents the viewer with a surreal interpretation of the contemporary world. This portrayal comes in the form of two disparate viewpoints: one of wine glasses, opulence, and a callous and willful blindness; the other of despondent and paralyzed stares, isolation, and the moon. In formulating the work, Booth incorporates a broad range of material practices and symbolic vocabularies, including geometric pattern and Christian iconography.

In Susan Sontag’s 2003 essay, “Regarding the Pain of Others,” she posits that “Being a spectator of calamities taking place in another country is a quintessential modern experience … Wars are now also living room sights and sounds…” This reality is what informs Witness. Through this work, Booth challenges the viewer and their own response to this moment in history. As we witness genocide overseas and the rise of fascism in our own backyard, Booth’s work asks, “What do you feel in the face of this?”

“Are you a witness or are you complicit?”