The exhibition The Chemical Alphabet by Rita Ackermann at Hauser & Wirth in New York, United States, introduces a series of paintings that explore the tension between erasure and creation. Occupying the gallery’s Wooster Street space, the show presents a body of work where the artist’s signature gestures—simultaneously violent and delicate—transform the canvas into a site of chemical and physical reaction. Visitors encounter an environment where figures are not merely painted, but summoned through a process of subtraction.

The show focuses on large-format canvases where Ackermann applies oil, raw pigment, and chalk, only to vigorously scrub and wipe parts of the composition away. This technique, which she describes as 'un-painting,' leaves behind ghost-like silhouettes and translucent color fields. The works on display demonstrate a sophisticated interplay between the grit of the drawing materials and the ethereal quality of the washed pigments, creating a visual language that feels both ancient and contemporary.

This body of work is significant for its shift away from the narrative intimacy of Ackermann's earlier series toward a more elemental exploration of materiality. By stripping the image down to its essential marks, she reveals the struggle inherent in the painting process itself. Seeing these works together in the industrial scale of the SoHo gallery highlights the physical dialogue between the artist’s body and the canvas, marking a confident step in her career-long interrogation of the image.

A focused, rewarding stop for visitors interested in the physical process of painting and the tension between what is shown and what is hidden.

The exhibition is open Tuesday through Saturday with free admission; no advance booking is required for entry to the Wooster Street gallery space.