Artist Roni Horn, 70, recounts being removed from a US-to-Germany flight after a dispute with a steward over her seat position, an incident she shares not for sympathy but to illustrate her experience as an androgynous person in Trump's America. She then traveled to London for her first solo exhibition in a decade, "Seizure of Hope" at Hauser & Wirth, featuring 80 graphite-and-wax-pencil drawings repeating the phrase "I am paralysed with hope," alongside a cast glass sculpture. The drawings, which Horn rearranges intuitively, explore themes of hope, horror, and repetition, inspired by comedian Maria Bamford's routine and the political climate.
This matters because Roni Horn is a major contemporary artist whose work consistently challenges binaries and authority, and this exhibition marks a significant return to London after ten years. The article offers insight into her creative process and the personal and political contexts that shape her art, highlighting how her work resonates with current societal tensions. It also underscores the ongoing relevance of intimate, small-scale works in an art world often dominated by large-scale productions.