STOP!! in the name of love...

El Museo de la Ciudad de Querétaro MEXICO 4/3-11/5 2008 ***Helena Roos' makes black and white painting that tell stories about love affairs, driving lessons, dreams about death and her dog's life. The stories are initially derived from her own diary, from music and poetry but she reworks these original events, blurring the line between fiction and truth. Sometimes insignificant moments become the starting point for a whole exhibition, on other occasions serious life events are reduced to small details in a painting. The installations often include thoughts about what has actually happened or what Roos would have liked to have happened. These thoughts are not always true but there is never the less an emotional intensity and courage to the work.In recent years, Roos has worked with plain acrylic carpets that she cuts into images and text and then paints. These are installed on the gallery walls and floors, becoming a kind of spatial painting in which the visitor can freely move. In the gallery Roos works like a set-designer using light and smoke to create an atmosphere of drama and tension. The impression of being on set and part of the story is heightened by the use of props: chairs, tables and in the exhibition Smack! a 1974 Fiat car. Even her invitation cards are an important part of the artwork. For instance, she has reproduced her drawings both in the form of transfer-tattoos which she intends visitors to wear to the exhibition and as air fresheners to be hung in their cars. These art multiples constitute “the first invitation to my world”. Roos also makes embroidered patches and works with ready-made objects such as panties, bras and shirts which she screenprints and decorates with drawings. These objects are not just exhibited but worn and literally mark the wearer with Roos' own fabricated history.Roos intention is that the images’ scale, material and presentation plunges the viewer into Roos' stories, involves or marks them. While the exhibitions and objects begin as personal stories Roos wants the visitor to be part of the story – to remember their own experiences and be touched be those of others.