Cornelia Baltes
Cornelia Baltes is a German artist known for her paintings and installations that stand on the edge of abstraction and figuration.
Corporeal elements such as hands and feet, part of a face, often captured in motion, are teased out of bold colour fields and gestural forms that combine to hint at a narrative in pictorial space.
In crystallising ‘moments’ that seem charged with intensity and dynamism, Cornelia Baltes invites us into a coherent world where spontaneity and playfulness are balanced with unexpected detail: both meticulous and specific, yet light and effortless. Although the work allows us to feel it could have exploded into being, the thoughtful use of material tells us otherwise.
Dense pigment is applied in a tightly controlled palette as solid fields or fine gradations which reveal or conceal the raw canvas, while 'spontaneous' brushstrokes are placed with care in spare but vibrant compositions. Tellingly, her approach to installation is a natural extension of this, anticipating lines of sight to allow the audience to feel the satisfying snap of creating a perfect composition.
This all signals a generosity to the viewer which also extends to the imagery in the work, which is open enough to invite us to overlay our own subjective experiences, morphing for each of us into a different narrative, into something personal and almost intimate while at the same time being open and universal in its ability to do so.
BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1978, Mönchengladbach, Germany
Lives and works in Berlin, Germany
Education
2011
MFA, Slade School of Fine Art, London, UK
2006
Folkwang University of the Arts, Essen, Germany
2003
Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany
Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2022
Waggle Dance, rodolphe janssen, Brussels, Belgium
Lazybones, Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles, CA USA
2021
Eigenbrötler, EIGEN + ART Lab, Berlin, Germany
2020
Tit for Tat, Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen, Denmark
2018
Teamwork, Frutta, Glasgow, UK
Wallpaintings, Chapter Arts Center, Cardiff, UK
Mingle Mime, Bolte Lang, Zurich, Switzerland
2017
Capri, Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen, Denmark
2016
Drunk Octopus wants to fight, Limoncello, London, UK
Gone Fishing, (duo with Jean-Phillipe Dordolo), Centrum, Berlin, Germany
Eclipse, @ung5 (curated by KubaParis), Cologne, Germany
2015
Tiny Dancer, Kunstverein Ulm, Ulm, Germany
Turner, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland, UK
2013
Schnick Schnack Schnuck!, Limoncello, London, UK
There’s a light and a whistle for attracting attention, DREI, Cologne, Germany
2012
HOOLOOVOO, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, UK
2010
The great Loop forward, Tank Gallery, London, UK
2005
Schon wieder Winter, Solaris e.V. Düsseldorf, Germany
Group Exhibitions
2022
State of Play, Canary Wharf outdoor exhibition curated by Brooke Benington, London, UK
Girl meets Girl, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Oslo, Norway
Neun Positionen der Jungen Malerei, Landesmuseum Detmold, Germany
Trio Feminin, Christine Köning Galerie, Vienna, Austria
2021
Jahresgaben Ausstellung, Kunstverein Reutlingen, Reutlingen, Germany
2020
Cadmium Lemon, (curated by Cristina Anglada) Galeria Pelaires, Palma, Mallorca, Spain
You can do better - Bad Painting, (curated by Laura Helena Wurth), Elektrohalle Rhomberg, Salzburg, Austria
Jetzt! Junge Malerei in Deutschlan, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
2019
Jetzt! Junge Malerei in Deutschland, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Museum Wiesbaden, Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany
2018
The Everyday and Extraordinary, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery / Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne, UK
2017
Schau 4, Kunsthaus Kollitsch, Klagenfurt, Austria
An eyefull of wry, Government Art Collection, Hull, UK
You see me like a UFO, Marcelle Joseph Projects, London, UK
Jump, Galleri Nicolai Wallner, Copenhagen, Denmark
Home is not a place, (curated by Marlene von Carnap, Coraly von Bismarck), German Embassy London, UK
Every Line tells its own story, Nathalie Halgand, Vienna, Austria
31 women, Breese Little, London, UK
Jump ball, Dio Horia, Mykonos, Greece
Cinque Mostre, American Academy in Rome, Italy
Jokes on Painting, Schau Fenster, Berlin, Germany
2016
Catherine Biocca, Cornelia Baltes, Rosalie Schweiker, curated by Louise Hobson, Mission Gallery, Swansea, UK
Double Acts, At Home Salon, curated by Marcelle Joseph, London, UK
Alice in Crisis, Dio Horia, Mykonos, Greece
New Adventures in Vexillology 2, curated by Valeska Hageney, Kunstverein Amrun, Geramny
Life Eraser, curated by Domenico de Chirico, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy
Your Swath, My Jab, DREI, Cologne, Germany
Inflatable Aesthetics, Hawaii-Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
True Love Over Physics, Coma Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Wilhelm screams, The Landing Strip, Berlin, Germany
Gestalt and Werden, Feldbusch Wiesner Rudolph, Berlin, Germany
2015
Women’s Art Society II, MOSTYN, Wales, UK
Oh, of course, you were berry picking, DREI, Cologne, Germany
Feel the discourse, (curated by Christina Ramos), Guest Projects, London, UK
2014
100 Painters of tomorrow, Book Launch, Christie’s/Beers Contemporary London, UK
Off the wall, Kunsthalle Nuremberg, Nuremberg, Germany
East London Painting Prize - shortlist show, Bow Arts, London, UK
VitalArts (Commission), The Royal London Hospital, UK
Apples and Pears, DREI, Cologne, DE
2013
Curiosity and Method, Less is More Projects, Paris, France
Carousel, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, UK
Nur was nicht ist ist möglich - Malerei im Raum, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germnay
Zero Gravity, Less is more projects, Paris, France
2012
Chimera Q.T.E., Cell Project Space, London UK
P/N/7 The summary show, Project Number, London, UK
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy London, UK
Curatorial Spotlight, FordProject, New York, NY USA
Young British Art II, (curated by Ryan Gander and Christina von Rotenhan), Dienstgebäude, Zurich, Switzerland
2011
Crash Open Salon Show, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London, UK
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2011: In the Presence, ICA, London, UK
Postgraduate Printmaking Exhibition 2011, Clifford Chance, London, UK
Helter Skelter, UCLH Arts, London, UK
Jealous Graduate Print Prize, Jealous Gallery, London, UK
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2011, Site Gallery/ S1 Artspace, Sheffield, UK
MA/MFA Show 2011, Slade School of Fine Art London, UK
2010
John Moores Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK
Istanbul was Constantinople, Hush Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
Slade Interim Show, Woburn Research Center, London, UK
Art in Focus: Black and white Flower painting, St. Mary‘s Hospice, London, UK
Threads, Tank Gallery, London, UK
Exhibitionism, Eastwing 9 The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, London, UK
2008
3 in 1, Kunsthaus Essen, Germany
Große Kunstausstellung NRW, Museum Kunst Palast Duesseldorf, Germany
2007
Love Stories, GAM – Galerie am Museum, Essen, Germany
Ches Nouz, Kunsthaus Essen, Germany
2006
Enface, diploma exhibition, Forum for Art and Architecture Essen, Germany
Pentiment - Show, Summer Academy, Hamburg, Germany
Ruhrpuls Music and Art Festival, Bochum, Germany
Herrengedeck, Gallery Brave Lotte, Duisburg, Germany
2005
Sichtwerk, University Duisburg - Essen, Germany
Außenstelle No.2, Forum for Art and Architecture, Essen, Germany
Residencies, Grants and Awards
2020
Neustart-Kultur, Kunstfonds Bonn e.V., Bonn, Germany
2016
Working Grant, Kunstfonds Bonn e.V., Bonn, Germany
2015
Project Grant, Kunststiftung NRW, Germany
2014
Marianne Defet Painting Fellowship (selected by Kunsthalle Nürnberg), Nürnberg, Germany
Public Art Commission, VitalArts, London, UK
2011
Graduate Printmaking Prize Winner, Jealous Gallery, London, UK
2010
Finalist, John Moores Painting Prize, Liverpool, UK
2009-2011
Hartmut und Lore Schuler-Stiftung, Wuppertal, Germany
2006
Scholarship, Pentiment Academy Hamburg, Germany
Collections
Government Art Collection, UK
Arts Council Collection, London, UK
V+A Collection, London, UK
UCL Collection, London, UK
Deji Art Museum, Nanjing, China
Private Sammlungen im In-und Ausland