The exhibition at the Scrap Metal gallery shows the second phase of the Sophie La Rosière project. It introduces the investigative and forensic work that reveals the hidden iconography underneath the mysterous "black paintings" found amongst Sophie La Rosière archives.

The investigation into Sophie La Rosière’s legacy includes x-rays of her “Blackened Paintings”, undertaken by the C2RMF laboratory (Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France), Paris, and the Michener Institute, Toronto. Thereby, from the outside still hidden underneath a thick black encaustic layer, - any original oil-painting elements executed with at the time common lead-white become visible. Now, this series of her work, dating around 1917, is visible to us through this analysis. What can be identified is an iconography of an erotic nature, that sparks further questions and investigations beyond Rosière’s work into her social and historic fabric. These works are catalogued and given inventory-numbers.

For a complete overview of the Scrap Metal exhibition and project visit the Sophie La Rosière website