Anne Wölk

Anne Wölk (born October 18, 1982) is a contemporary German painter who currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany.[1][2] Wölk is best known for her paintings of romantic starscapes and a recycling of popular culture, science fiction imagery hinting at ideas of a cosmic “life beyond Earth”.[2][3] Romanticism and utopia are key themes to her work and she is considered to be a part of the contemporary conceptual and figurative artists in Berlin.[3][2]

Early life and education

Wölk was born in 1982 and raised in Jena, former East Germany.[1][4] Jena was the center for optics technology and lasers in the former GDR, Germany.[5] Deciding from the age of 15 that she wished to be a painter, her interest in space landscapes began with the Jena Planetarium and their cosmic shows of night sky simulations [6],10]. Her work is now heavily informed by science fiction movies and books, such as Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson which predicts an inhabitable cyberspace.[5] Her grandfather encouraged her drawing from a young age which introduced her combination of West and East influences as her grandfather came from East-Prussian Königsberg, modern-day Kaliningrad.[7][5] Being raised in a generation of divide encouraged Wölk to imagine alternate realities. Her imagined space realities are reminiscent of the dreaming of freedom experienced by members of her family in Germany.

Wölk first received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Fine Arts Burg Giebichenstein Halle, Germany, in 2004. In 2006 she studied at Chelsea College of Fine Art and Design, London, UK, before returning to Germany. In 2007 she graduated from Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin, Germany with a Bachelor of Fine Arts.[1] By 2009, Wölk was awarded a Master in Fine Arts from The Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin, Germany.[8] Wölk’s career took a surprising kick-start at the age of 24 when her painting Dog Girl (2006) was purchased by Elgiz Museum and shown alongside well-established artists such as Cindy Sherman, Tracey Emin and Sarah Morris. Wölk is embedded in the contemporary art scene of Berlin, Germany while selling, exhibiting and working internationally.[5]

Work

Wölk works primarily with oil paints while also employing mixed media with acrylics and aerosol.[2] Her paintings are reminiscent of nocturnal landscapes and incorporate many visual features of science fiction films.[3][7] Her work captures cinematic landscapes with visually multilayered narrations with a fantastical interpretation of nature.[1] Her recognisable use of birch trees are informed by the Russian meaning for the tree as a symbol of virginal beauty which allows her to play with illusions and representations of reality.[9][2] Her sense of space creates an illusion of infinity through a sense of space travel or life beyond Earth [6] [1][10]

Wölk’s work is also strongly symbolic of the future of science and technology, using information from the advances of satellites and cameras.[3] Her series Planet Spheres, 2019, are three-dimensional paintings made with acrylic paint and styrofoam. These works are clear representations of astronomical influence, mirroring the shape of globes, the 360 view invites an interaction of telescopic imagery.[5] The most recent series Nebulae, 2020, are inspired by the aesthetic construction of gasses such as helium and hydrogen, combined to give birth to interstellar dust. The vastness of cosmic space in her work creates an unimaginable distance between human life and the possibility of “life beyond Earth”.[11] While her series Starscapes, 2018-2010 really pushed for a visual reality of what extraterrestrial colonies could look like: a lifestyle of starry skies, LED lighting and cinematic embrace.[6]

Wölk’s works are inspired by the astronomical works of Russell Crotty, as seen in her work Second Earth, 2019 (40cm sphere, Acrylic on Styrofoam). The hyperrealism night sky drawings of Vija Celmins enters Wölk’s inspirational realm in making use of telescopic imagery of space. The delicate nocturnal landscapes of Aert van der Neer have informed Wölk’s use of light in a very traditional sense, as seen in her work The Multiverse, 2018 (50 x 70 cm, acrylic on canvas).[6]

Career

Since 2009, Wölk has become well known for her works of colourful birch trees and science fiction landscapes.[1] Her work is identifiable by her omnipresent use of indanthrone blue to produce the depth and mystery of space and time.[6]

She has been nominated for an array of awards and scholarships.[3] Her awards include the national Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes scholarship and a See.me Category Award for the ArtPrize competition ‘Art Takes Paris’, judged by directors from The Andy Warhol Museum in New York, Lisson Gallery, and the Marianne Boesky Gallery. Wölk has been exhibiting in art fairs and private galleries alongside selling on the international market since the early 2000s, including Spain, Korea, Turkey, Austria and others.[3][8] She has been a part of a handful of residencies, including the Tag und Nacht at Werkstatt Plettenberg 2008, the 2012 Bodensee Art Fund Residency,[12] and the artist-in-residence grant in Goriska Brda, Slovenia awarded by the German Embassy, 2014.[8]

She has exhibited alongside other well known contemporary artists such as Robert Rasuchenberg, Johannes Wohnseifer, Azade Köker, and Stephan Balkenhol.[1] Wölk is currently represented by 5 Pieces Gallery, Bern, Switzerland [1] and Alfa Gallery, Miami, USA.[8] She has been also professionally recognised through offering workshops, lectures, featuring in podcasts and coordinating education programmes.[8] Since 2008 Wölk has been a senior teacher in the Painting Department at the Fine Art Faculty of Jugendkunstschule in Pankow, Berlin.[6]

Solo exhibitions

2020

  • Questions to Heaven. (December/upcoming), Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA Museum), Gimpo, South Korea (cat.).

2019

2016

2014

  • Paperworks. Art Circle – Art house Scurek, Goriska/Brda, Slovenia.
  • Artist in residence program. Art Circle – Scurek - Goriska/Brda, Slovenia.

2012

  • Feldforschung in situ. Anne Wölk, Bodensee Art Fund, Wasserburg am Bodensee, Germany.
  • Solo-Presentation. ( A. Wölk & M. Steckbauer) / Re: Rotterdam Art Fair - Rotterdam, Netherlands.

2010

2009

2008

  • Horizons. Gallery Adlergasse, Kulturverein riesa efau, Dresden, Germany.
  • Tag und Nacht. Kunstverein Werkstatt Plettenberg, Germany.

Group Exhibitions

2020

2019

  • 3D, Alfa Gallery Miami, FL, US.
  • SURPRISE X, The Project Gallery, Athens, Greece.
  • Contemporary Landscape, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA Museum), Gimpo, South Korea.
  • Color 2019, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA Museum), Gimpo, South Korea.
  • Urlaub in Berlin, Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany.
  • Dezentral, artspring, Planetarium, Berlin, Germany.
  • Postcard Salon II, Jarvis Dooney Galerie, Berlin, Germany.
  • Exposed, Art and Culture Center, Hollywood, Fl, US.

2018

  • Onyx, Alfa Gallery Miami, FL, US.
  • The Perennial Art / O’Tannenbaum, curated by Witte Wartena, Project Space Hermannstrasse 232, Berlin, Germany.
  • 20 years anniversary, Kunstverein Münsterland, Coesfeld, Germany.
  • Artist Statement #3, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA Museum), Gimpo, South Korea.
  • Artspring central, Museum Pankow, Berlin, Germany.
  • Postcard Salon, Jarvis Dooney Galerie, Berlin, Germany.
  • Monday Art Salon, Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany.
  • Exposed, Art and Culture Center, Hollywood, Fl, US.

2017

  • Smash & Grab, Locus Projects, Miami, FL, US.
  • The Upper Space-permanent collection, Alfa Gallery Miami, FL, US.
  • Berlinworksentoverbysuitcasekunstpräsentation: A Sammlung,curated by Joanna Mortreux, Nth. Space, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Exposed, Art and Culture Center, Hollywood, Fl, US.
  • Postcards from the Edge, Metro Pictures, New York, US.

2016

  • White on, Alfa Gallery Miami, FL, US.
  • Starz, Alfa Gallery Miami, FL, US.
  • Ambassador’s Residence, Ljubljana, Slovenia, UK.

2015

  • Painted Surface, Surface Gallery, Nottingham, UK.
  • XVII Call, Gallery Luis Adelantado, Valencia, Spain.
  • Stadtspaziergang ifa-Galerie Berlin, in cooperation with Elfi Müller,Gallery Weekend, Galerienrundgang Mitte.
  • The Antimatter Factory, Scotty Enterprises, Berlin, Germany.
  • Through the looking-glass, Pantocrator Gallery, Shanghai, China.
  • Small Faces Large Sizes, Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul, Turkey.

2014

  • In Response, Audrey Love Gallery, Bakehouse Art Complex, Miami, FL, USA.
  • PLAN.OPEN. Neo Craft, Arebyte Gallery, London, UK.
  • Final Residency Exhibition, Art Embassy of Germany, Goriska/Brda, Slovenia.
  • OBSESSION: Love, Ritual, Collection, Embassy Tea Gallery, London, UK, curated by Charlotte Meddings.
  • Auftakt-Prelude, Kunstsalon Villa Artista, curated by Georg Trivisas & Sascha Windolph, Hannover, Germany.
  • Art Takes Paris: Finalists Exhibition, see.me gallery space, 26-19 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, New York, USA.
  • The Sketchbook Project, Miami Beach, Botanical Garden, Miami Beach, FL, USA.
  • Gemeinsame Nenner Nr.1 Hanami, double show: Lada Cerar & Anne Wölk, Private View by Maja Skerbot.
  • Platform for Contemporary Art Projects, Berlin, Germany.

2013

  • The Fiction Project, Verse on Paper Project & a selection of the Sketchbook Project 2011, The Mobile Library at Brooklyn Night Bazaar, New York, USA.
  • Come home in Accra, Goethe-Institut, Accra, Ghana.
  • Betonrot Add one, arthouse SECONDroom, Antwerp, Belgium.
  • Wish You Were Here, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, the USA.
  • Desert Tavern Berlin, Atelierhaus Prenzlauer Promenade, Berlin, Germany.
  • Affordable Art, SPACEWOMb Gallery, New York, USA.
  • Kommen Sie nach Hause, curated by Steff Adams, Gereonswall, Cologne, Germany.
  • Alienation/ Estrangement, Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Elgiz Museum, Istanbul, Turkey.

2012

  • Plausible Dreams, Interesting Fears, Kreuzberg Pavillon, Berlin, Germany.
  • A Landmark & A Mission, best of Sketchbook Project mobile library tour; Pittsburgh Art Walk, Pittsburgh, PA; RoosRoast – Ann Arbor; Wade Oval,Cleveland, OH, USA.
  • This Is Hardcore, Shanghai Business Center, Potsdam, Germany.
  • Home Office of the Fan Fiction Empire, The Residence Gallery, London, UK.
  • Formation, PLAN.OPEN, Arbeit Gallery, London, UK.
  • Beautiful!, Private View by Maja Skerbot – Platform for Contemporary Art Projects, Berlin, Germany.
  • Re:Rotterdam, double show: Melissa Steckbauer & Anne Wölk, Netherlands.
  • Postcards from the Edge, Cheim & Read, New York, USA.

2011

  • Slideluck Berlin IV, .HBC, Berlin, Germany.
  • Snowball Effect, Kaleidoskop, Berlin, Germany.
  • Drawing Connections, Siena Art Institute, Siena, Italy.
  • On Painting, Ghyczy, BSA, Berlin, Germany.
  • Urlaub in Berlin, Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany.
  • Peep Show, Tape Modern, Berlin, Germany.
  • FITAX 1500, GRIMMUSEUM, Tupajumi foundation, Berlin, Germany.
  • The Sketchbook Project, Brooklyn Art Library, New York, Sketchbook Project mobile library tour; Austin Museum of Art, SPACE Gallery, The Granite Room.
  • Transformer Gallery Full Sail University, Form/Space Atelier, 111 Minna Gallery, USA.
  • Elemente, double show: Anke Gesell & Anne Wölk, Galerie Isabelle Lesmeister, Regensburg, Germany.
  • Lost, Galerie im Park, Bremen, Germany.

2010

  • A HARD RAIN’S GONNA FALL, BSA Showroom, Berlin, Germany.
  • Something For Everyone, Private View by Maja Skerbot: Platform for contemporary Art Projects, Berlin, Germany.
  • Participation in the New Museum editorial project, organized by Latitudes, “The Last -Newspaper”, New Museum, New York, USA.
  • D12/ Dirty Dozen, Alter Ego archive, invited by Despina Stokou, Grimmuseum, Berlin, Germany.
  • A Communist Gala, Cuchifritos Gallery, New York, USA.

2009

  • CHRISTMAS PALM, Freies Museum Berlin, the Absence of Art, Germany.
  • Young Art Promotion Project, Galerie Zulauf, Freinsheim, Germany.
  • Watchlist 10, JKB Temporary, Berlin, Germany.
  • Master's degree Show 09, Uferhallen, Berlin, Germany.
  • Zirkus Minimus, Walden Kunstausstellungen, Berlin, Germany.

2008

  • Kleinere Arbeiten, raum500, Munich, Germany.
  • Highlights of German Academies, Dina4 Projekte, Berlin, Germany.
  • Utopia of Space, Kyrgyz National Museum of Fine Arts, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republik.
  • Quotes – The Art of Allusion, Vonderbank Artgalleries, Berlin, Germany.

2007

  • Selection 2007, Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul, Turkey.
  • Signale, Ostrale, Dresden, Germany.
  • Zeichen und Zeichnung, Project Space Ackerstrasse 18, Berlin, Germany.
  • Night Ice, double show: Nadine Wölk & Anne Wölk, Linda, Kunst- und Kulturverein, Hamburg, Germany.
  • Life Spotting, Vonderbank Artgalleries Berlin, Germany.
  • Vier von Babylon, Galerie Bruckmühl, Bruckmühl, Germany.

2006

  • Open Source, raum 500, Munich, Germany.
  • Berlin Night, Super-Deluxe-Club, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Like my Fire, double show: Nadine Wölk & Anne Wölk, Freiraum05 Dresden, Germany.
  • Sculpture class of Gerald Wilson, Triangle Space, Chelsea College of Art, London, UK.

2005

  • Be careful in the Forest: Broken Glass and Rusty Nails, raum 500, Munich, Germany.
  • Inhaltsverzeichnis, Castle Lanke, Lanke near Berlin, Germany.
  • Mysterium Kunst, Nord-Art, Büdelsdorf, Germany.

Catalogues

2020

  • Swab Art Fair, Barcelona, Spain (upcoming October, with Pantocrator Gallery).
  • CICA Art Museum. Gimpo, South Korea
  • RoundTable5, Art Auction Catalogue (upcoming November).

2019

  • Contemporary Landscape, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA Museum), Gimpo, South Korea.
  • Color 2019, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA Museum), Gimpo, South Korea.
  • Finalists Exhibition, International Artist Juried Competition, Art Revolution Taipei, Taiwan.
  • RoundTable5, Art Auction Catalogue.

2018

  • Artist Statement #3, Czong Institute for Contemporary Art (CICA Museum), Gimpo, South Korea.

2016

  • Kunstwelten IV, Boesner GmbH, 616 pages, http://www.boesner.com/buecher/.
  • February, Artist Monograph, Anne Wölk, paintings & drawings, 52 pages.
  • German-English, 52 pages, epubli GmbH Berlin, ISBN 978-3-7375-2575-6

2014

  • Finalists Exhibition 2014, International Artist Juried Competition,Art Revolution Taipei, Taiwan.

2013

  • Love Will Destroy Us In The End, Art Suites Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey.
  • January, The New Collectors Book, New York, USA.

2012

  • I’M SORRY. I DID NOT RECOGNIZE YOU!, Port Art Gallery,Ankara, Turkey.
  • My Place, Kunstverein Münsterland, Coesfeld, Germany.
  • December, Lust auf Kunst, Jahresgaben Bodensee Art Fund, Germany.

2011

  • Realismus, orth für aktuelle Kunst, Aulich Merkle Stiftung,Offenbach am Main, Germany.
  • A drawback, curated by Witte Wartena, Atelierhof Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany.
  • Technology won't save us, Art Suites Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey.
  • On Painting, Ghyczy, BSA, Berlin, Germany.
  • Young European Landscape, Galerie Wolfsen, Aalborg, Denmark.
  • Krieg im Frieden, Kunstpavillon, Munich, Germany.
  • Young European Landscape, Collegium Hungaricum Berlin, Germany.
  • Realismus, Galerie Epikur, Wuppertal, Germany.
  • December, Art Takes Miami, 2011 edition, Artists Wanted New York, USA.
  • May, Edition S 36, DSV Kunst Kontor, Stuttgart, catalogue, page 30-31.

2010

  • Die Kunst der Natur ist die Natur der Kunst, Künstlerverein Walkmühle,Wiesbaden, Germany.

2008

  • Eberhard-Dietzsch Award, Geraer Bank eG, Gera, Germany.

Art fairs (selection)

2020

  • Swab Art Fair, Barcelona, Spain (upcoming October, with Pantocrator Gallery).

2019

  • Art Revolution Taipei, Taiwan (Finalist exhibition of International art prize).

2018

  • Art Revolution Taipei, Taiwan (Finalist exhibition of International art prize).

2012

  • Swab Art Fair, Barcelona, Spain.
  • Supermarket Art Fair, Stockholm, Sweden.
  • Re: Rotterdam, Netherlands.

2011

  • Art Karlsruhe, Germany.
  • AAF Milano, Italy.

2008

  • KIAF Seoul, South Korea.

2007

  • VIENNAFAIR, Vienna, Austria.
  • Contemporary Istanbul, Turkey.
  • KIAF Seoul, South Korea.

2006

  • Contemporary Istanbul, Turkey.

Grants

2014

  • Alpine Fellowship, residential art program, Aldourie Castle, Scotland, UK.
  • Art Embassy Artist-in-Residence grant in Goriska Brda, Slovenia awarded by the German Embassy, Ljubljana.

2013

  • Category Award, Art Takes Paris; hosted by See.me, New York, USA.

2012

  • Feldforschung in situ, artist in residence, Bodensee Art Fund, Germany.
  • Catalogue Grant from Union Investment Stiftung, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

2011

  • Grand Prize (1st Place), Papirmasse, Montreal, Canada.

2008

  • Artist in residence, Kunstverein Werkstatt Plettenberg, Germany.
  • Scholarship of Marianne Ingenwerth-Stiftung, Bonn, Germany.

2006

  • Erasmus scholarship, 4-month student exchange program, Chelsea College of Fine Art and Design, London.

2004-2008

  • Scholarship of Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, Bonn (National scholarship award), Germany.

2001

  • 1st Place Painting, 9th federal states exhibition of Thuringia, Erfurt, Germany.

Shortlisted awards

2019

  • Finalist, International Artist Juried Competition, Art Revolution Taipei, Taiwan.

2017

  • 9th ArtSlant Prize, Showcase Juried Winner in the painting category, international competition, USA.

2015

  • Finalist XVII Call F.Y.A., LUIS ADELANTADO Gallery, Valencia, Spain.

2014

  • Finalist, International Artist Juried Competition, Art Revolution Taipei, Taiwan.

2012

  • Finalist Jean-Claude Reynal Scholarship, Bordeaux, France.

2008

  • Shortlist. Eberhard-Dietzsch Award, Geraer Bank eG, Gera, Germany.

2007

  • Nominated for the artist in residence program at Kunsthaus Essen, Germany.

Collections
  • Proje 4L, Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul, Turkey.
  • CICA Museum, Gimpo, South Korea.
  • Collection of ArtSuites Hotel Group Istanbul/Bodrum, Turkey.
  • The Sketchbook Project, Brooklyn Art Library, New York, USA.
  • Adham El-Khalil Art Collection, Beirut, Lebanon.
  • Max Winzer Art Collection, Coburg, Germany.
  • Andreas Wagner Art Collection, Dresden, Germany.

Further reading

References
  1. "Anne Wölk". 5 Pieces Gallery - Contemporary Art & Photography. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  2. "Anne Wolk - Mini Interview". FECAL FACE DOT COM. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  3. pondersavant (2020-05-13). "Terraforming – Oil Paintings by Anne Wölk". Ponder Savant. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  4. Gmbh, GFDK-HBS Media Group. "Vergangenheit und Gegenwart im Hier und Jetzt von Anne Wölk". www.freundederkuenste.de (in German). Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  5. "INTERVIEW | Anne Wölk". Al-Tiba9 Contemporary Art. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  6. "Anne Wölk - Contemporary Painting". Anne Wölk - Contemporary Painting. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  7. "Anne Wölk Explores Space Travel and Science Fiction". artqol. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  8. "Anne Wölk CV". Alfa is an artist-run contemporary art space. Since its establishment more than a decade ago, Alfa has identified and cultivated the careers of an international roster of visionary and emerging artists. Our mission is to support artists by providing a p. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  9. "Featured Artist Interview: Get to Know Anne Wölk". hilite head. 2012-01-20. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  10. "tête presents Astral - a solo exhibition featuring the work of Anne Wölk". www.tete.nu. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  11. "/Anne Wölk/ — /neɪm/". /neim/. 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
  12. "BODENSEE ART FUND". bodenseeartfund.tumblr.com. Retrieved 2020-09-03.
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