Sibylle Ruppert
Dancing in Darkness

The work of artist Sibylle Ruppert from Frankfurt unveils repressed desires and fears. Bodies threaten each other, tear and penetrate one another only to merge into novel, grotesque beings that transcend the boundaries of inside and outside, human and animal, or even between the sexes. Inspired by Marquis de Sade, the surrealist Georges Bataille and HR Giger, Ruppert creates visual worlds of dense, detailed drawings that unfold again and again like a labyrinth. Ironic breaks occasionally revealing comic moments in the unfathomable. Together with works from a private collection in Giessen, the exhibition also presents a facet of Ruppert‘s oeuvre that has received little attention to date: her work dealing with comics.
The exhibition has been realised in cooperation with the booster club for the cultural church St. Thomas Morus in Giessen, where additional works by the artist will be on display for the duration of the show.

At just 17 years of age, Sibylle Ruppert (* 1942 in Frankfurt am Main, † 2011 in Paris) began studying under Heinz Battke at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main. A year later she moved to Paris to train as a ballet dancer. Following a stay in New York, she ended her dance career and dedicated herself entirely to fine art. She taught painting at psychiatric hospitals, addiction clinics and prisons in both Frankfurt am Main and Paris. In 2011, she died in seclusion in Paris. Her works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions in France, Switzerland, Germany and the USA.


Content note:
The exhibition contains depictions of violence and sexually explicit acts.