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STATEMENT
ELKE DAEMMRICH
EXHIBITIONS Statement - My story in brief - by Elke Daemmrich, November 2011 I was born in 1964 in Dresden, East Germany. My father was a toolmaker, my mother a housewife. I made my first paintings and drawings on paper in my early childhood. The art museums of Dresden, with their collections of expressionist, impressionist and old masters, were my inspiration. When I was 20 years old I decided to dedicate my life to my art. My parents disagreed, so I took sole responsibility for my decision. From there on I was essentially on my own. In 1985/86, I could not attend formal art schools as I was barred from doing so because my parents and I had refused to belong to the communist party. That is why I went to drawing classes, subsidized by public organisations in Dresden. I also did research at the Saxon regional liberary, where it was possible to access art editions from all over the world. In this way I acquired my knowledge of art. In 1988 I had my first solo exhibition in Dresden, with colour paper works. In 1989 I painted my first oil painting, using the same method which I use today. After the fall of the wall, from 1990 to 1994 I took part in the artist group "Leipziger Blauer Reiter”, with Manfred Martin der Ältere, who is today an important contructivist in Leipzig. This organisation regrouped artists, who, during the regime of East Germany, worked in formalistic matter but were excluded from recognition. In 1993 I was awarded a grant from the foundation Kulturfonds Berlin for my project "The light of the south", which gave me the opportunity to work 6 months in Lacoste, Provence, in the south of France. Thus fulfilling my wish to live outside of Germany. On moving to France my constructive painting period, for which I had received the grant, took another direction. I became fascinated with landscapes, light and energy. The conditions of life, nature and culture of the Mediterranean Region became and remain the most important subjects in my art. In 1994 I moved to the southwest of France. Near Toulouse, I bought a medieval house, the birthplace of an archbishop of Albi, where I live and work today. In 1996 the first bull appears in my painting. For this work "The martyrdom of Saint Saturnin" I was awarded first prize in the art competition “De briques et des pierres” in Toulouse, France. The prize consisted of the purchase of the painting. Also in 1996 I experienced the ritual of bullfighting. There is a bullfighting arena in Vic Fezensac, near my place of residence. Because I didn’t understand this culture, my curiosity was aroused. In the same year I proposed an exhibition-project to the Goya Museum in Castres, a French National Museum, which was sub- sequently accepted. The director, Jean Louis Augé, requested that I also work on a series of etchings for the exhibition. That request lead to my first copper engravings. During the following two years I painted and did etchings and as well travelled to bullfights in Spain (eg. Seville, Madrid, Bilbao). Then in March 1999 I had my solo show “Los toros” in the Goya Museum in Castres, accompanied by a portfolio of 4 of my etchings in homage to Francisco de Goya “La tauromaquia” (one of the portfolios is the properity of the Bibliotheque Nationale de la France - Paris) and a catalogue (500 copies, 40 pages), financed by the french State Ministry of Culture. In the same year, I went to New York for two weeks after which I painted a series of New York paintings. That was followed by a series of paintings based on the act of terrorism on September 11, 2001. My large painting periods, have always been followed by etching periods : In 1999 I worked in Fuendetodos, Spain, the birth place of Francisco de Goya; for another series in homage to Goya. In 2003 I went to Erfurt, Germany, to the “Kartäuser Press”, where I created and printed a series of etchings. For the same reason in 2005, 2010 and 2011 I went to the “Grafikwerkstatt” in Dresden. In my graphical works I am not only inspired by the mediterranean region, but also by political situations like the war of Iraq “Irak”, in 2003 and “Fukushima” in 2011. In 2010 “Irak” was selected for the exhibition of the Saint Leopolds Friedenspreis, Stift Klosterneuburg, Vienna, Austria. During all my work periods I have also made selfportraits. Since 2003 I have been a member of the professional art organisation BBK in Germany. In the same year, I acquired my professional status in France and received my professional tax return number. Finally I could live from selling my artwork. I will follow with a describtion of my exhibition activity, because showing my art is crucial to me since I refrain from explaining my works. For me, a painting should stand alone on its own right, strong enough to not require an explanation. In 2007 and 2008 another project lead me to the Mediterranean Sea : I painted outside in the Costa Brava, Spain, in places such as the Cap de Creus. This work period was shown in three solo exhibitions in museums of Catalognia : in 2008 in the Museo de la Mediterrania in Torroella de Montgri and in the Modest Cuixart Foundation in Barcelona and in 2010 in the Museo del Cantir d'Argentona. Another project will take place in the Maritim Museum, Barcelona. To the present, I have had seven solo shows in Spain, in Bilbao, Zaragoza, Calatayud, Girona and Barcelona. Twice the government of Aragon financed the catalogue, which accompanied my exhibitions in the gallery of the Artschool in Zaragoza in 2002 and in the gallery of the UNED (university) Calatayud, Aragon in 2010. Also I regularly exhibit my artwork in France. Here are some examples : 1998 Villa Beatrix Enea - Anglet, 2000 Art Center Raymond Farbos, Mont de Marsan, 2002 Gallery des arches - Paris, 2006 Maison des arts - Bages, 2007 Museum of modern and contemporary art - Cordes sur Ciel, 2009 Art Center - Bédarieux, 2010 Gallery La tête d’obsidiènne - La Seyne-sur-mer (the Conseil Régional of the Var financed the exhibition catalogue), 2012 Salles muséales Jean Hélion - Issoire (with a catalogue project). Also in Germany : 1996 Gallery Kalinka - Dresden, 2004 Gallery am blauen Wunder - Dresden (catalogue), 2005 Gallery Schön - Bonn, 2005 Kurfürstliches Gärtnerhaus - Bonn, 2006 Gehagforum - Berlin, 2007 French Institut - Dresden, 2009 Art Museum - Eisenhüttenstadt, 2009 Gallery of Vattenfall - Gut Geisendorf - Neupetershain (the business company Vattenfall financed the exhibition catalogue), 2009 Gallery Finkbein - Dresden, 2010 Gallery am Domhof - Zwickau, 2011 Kunstfoyer Volksbank Bautzen eG. Recently from July to October 2011 the chemical company of BASF Schwarzheide GmbH, exhibited my artwork in their own gallery (53 oil paintings and 26 etchings from the last 15 years were shown in over 700 m2 of gallery space). The BASF GmbH financed the exhibition catalogue (800 copies, 132 pages, with a text from the art critic Christoph Tannert, Berlin). In 2012 I will have a solo exhibition in the Museum Junge Kunst in Frankfurt/Oder. There I will also have a contract for being the cocurateur of my own exhibition. Other important exhibitions took place in Europe in 2006 in the Gallery Spiren, Strassen Luxemburg and in 2008 in the BWA Gallery Design in Wroclaw, Poland. In 2008 I took part in two group shows in the USA : 1. Women in the arts at the Museum of the Americas in Doral, Miami, where I received an honorific mention for the best artwork on paper with my copper engraving “The lovers”, in homage to the literary work of George Bataille. 2. The International exhibition of contemporary art in museums in the Latino art museum in Pomona, Los Angeles, there I received the first prize for grafic artwork with my copper engraving “Los toros de Burdeos”. In summary during the last 24 years, from 1988 to 2011, I have had 70 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 70 group exhibitions. Ten of my solo shows included an exhibition catalogue. My work has been purchased for public collections in Germany such as Sächsischer Landtag, EADS, Museum of Zwickau, Helmholz-Zentrum Dresden, IFW Leibniz Institut Dresden, Volksbank Bautzen eG, Gesellschaft für Reaktor- und Anlagensicherheit Garching and Köln etc. and for private collections in Spain, France, Germany, Belgium and Canada. back Solo exhibitions 2012
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back Group exhibitions 2011
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From 1990 to 1994 group exhibitions with the artist group "Leipziger blauer Reiter". in Leipzig, Hamburg, Mönchengladbach, Wasserburg (Bodenseekreis), Germany (catalogue). back Awards and grants 1993
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back Corporate collections
Germany : Spain : Austria : USA : back Copyright by Elke Daemmrich |
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