Verena Schöttmer
Heavy visual language offsets light poetic association
The soft surface of Verena Schoettmer’s blue velvet paintings are rich with symbolism, though their minimal first impression melts away upon reflection. Stretched velvet offsets a shimmering steel frame, while rich blues is marked by the bleached lines, to reveal something hidden behind the surface. Always we are drawn to the very edge and teeter there, looking into... what? Here a door, there a precipice, such liminal spaces can be two way boundaries but not always; a window onto artistic taste and a portal to the viewer's own trail of thought. There is a suggestion of the floating world across the misted veil, glimpses of eastern influence coded into the soft fabric of a kimono, and striking colours that echo woodcuts. Schoettmer pivots around these otherworldly themes while remaining rooted in traditional craftsmanship, with her own injection of humour. The artist threads popular culture and societal critique into rich tapestries, literal woven works of art that exist as paintings with deeply sculptural elements.
Repealing culture written through textures and textiles, solids and void
The artist's sculptures are often presented as pairs, two unique bodies that stand distinct yet lean upon one another to inform and illuminate, though they do not give up secrets easily. Two massive bricks are combined with delicate silk to form a contrast of texture and function in Latschen (2015). This unlikely duet resembles the 'geta' sandals worn since the Chinese Han dynasty. The work relates to the impossible challenge of navigating the world while encumbered by such burdens and bindings. Serviette & Citron (2021) is composed of familiar fabrics, removed from everyday ritual and woven to highlight the ancient designs and tight prints that elsewhere blend into a bathroom background. Here, an acidic hyaluron mask parallels the acid wash and chlorine bleach found through Schoettmer’s practice, while to the side, a spectacular and traditional French 'Citron' soap is affixed to the wall and invites the viewer to consider the impossible, and touch the art. Moving from the minutiae of the everyday, Schoettmer also addresses generational change. The denim jackets and reclaimed fabrics that form many of Schoettmer’s paintings are deeply associated with youth cultures, harnessing teens’ burning drive to mark the world as belonging to them. The series Ghostwritings uses an acid bleach to permanently mark the denim, in a reductive process that shows beauty is not only built by a process of addition, but through distillation.
Text by Jonathan Ferguson
Biography Verena Schöttmer
born 1980
Education
2012 Diploma in Fine Arts HFBK Hamburg, Germany
Exhibitions (selection)
2023
You too! Take care!, Galerie Mathias Güntner, Berlin, Germany
2022
Spring, CCA Andratx Mallorca, Spain
2021
Schleicher, In the Box, Künstlerhaus Sootbörn, Hamburg, Germany (SOLO)
2020
New Viewings online, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin, Germany
Art Basel by Berlin analog, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Berlin, Germany
2019
Waves, Art Center 18th Street, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, United States
2018
Ghostwritings (Snippet), Il Caminetto, Hamburg, Germany (SOLO)
2017
Turn a page, sing a line, form a sheet, Griffiths Arts Center, Canton, New York, United States
2016
Europa, Künstlerforum Bonn, Germany (SOLO)
2015
Trust the Ditch, Hamburger Kunstverein, Germany (SOLO)
2014
unto void fulfills this place, „das weisse Haus“, Vienna, Austria
2009
Der bohemistische Leichnam, Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, Hamburg, Germany
Prizes/Residencies/Scholarships
2023
Artist in Residence at 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, Los Angeles
2022
Artist in Residency CCA Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
Dorothea Erxleben Grant (Ministry of Culture Niedersachsen), Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig, Germany
2021
Sponsorship of ministry of culture and media of City Hamburg, Germany
2020
Working Grant, Foundation Stiftung Kunstfonds, Germany
2019
Artist in Residence Art Center 18th Street, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, United States
2018
Sponsorship of ministry of culture and media of City Hamburg, Germany
Artist in Residence Eastside International, Los Angeles, United States
2018
Studio grant Foundation of Culture Sparkasse Stormarn, Germany
2016
Residency / grant of Foundation of Culture Sparkasse Stormarn, Germany
Nominated for: Kunst am Bau Staatsoper Unter den Linden (Opera of the State) Berlin, Germany
Nominated for: Kunst am Bau Stadthöfe Hamburg, Germany
Nominated for: Church St. Elisabeth Kassel, Germany
2014
Artist in Residence das weisse haus, Vienna, Austria
Working stipend of of ministry of culture and media of City Hamburg, Germany
2013
Georg-Meistermann grant, Germany
2009-2012
Stipend of Cusanuswerk, Germany
Works by Verena Schöttmer
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For M.S. (Mary Shelley, 1797-1851) (from ongoing series 'Ghostwritings')
2018 / Chlorine bleach on denim, stainless steel frame / 170 x 140 cm / 66.9 x 55.1 in (framed)
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Paris
2015 / Collage, silk painting, silk, scarf / 60 x 70 cm / 23.6 x 27.6 in
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Sunset Strip
2012 / Ceramics, platinum glaze / 160 x 80 cm / 63.0 x 31.5 in
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Ribbon
2020 / Chlorine bleach on blue velvet, stainless steel frame / 61 x 46 cm / 24.0 x 18.1 in (framed)
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Do You have a Problem in Life?
2020 / Chlorine bleach on blue velvet, stainless steel frame / 61 x 46 cm / 24.0 x 18.1 in (framed)
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∞
2020 / Chlorine bleach on blue velvet, stainless steel frame / 61 x 46 cm / 24.0 x 18.1 in (framed)
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Falsches Zeichen
2020 / Chlorine bleach on blue velvet, stainless steel frame / 61 x 46 cm / 24.0 x 18.1 in (framed)
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Schleicher
2020 / Chlorine bleach on blue velvet, stainless steel frame / 61 x 46 cm / 24.0 x 18.1 in (framed)
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Latschen
2015 / Bricks, silk / Dimensions variable
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Serviette & Citron
2021 / Towels, soap, yogamat, hyaluron mask, stainless steel frame / 170 x 140 cm / 66.9 x 55.1 in (framed)
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÷ (connecting studies), ongoing series
2019 / Ceramics, styrodur / Dimensions variable
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Palms (waiting)
2022 / Diverse fabrics, plastic fabrics / 240 x 140 cm / 94.5 x 55.1 in
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Kessel
2017 / Ceramics, outdoor sitting pad / 44 x 21 cm / 17.3 x 8.3 in
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Heartbreaker
2017 / Ceramics, winter jacket / 79 x 80 x 50 cm / 31.1 x 31.5 x 19.7 in
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For R.E. (from ongoing series 'flowers to lovers in acid washed jeans')
2017 / Chlorine bleach on denim, stainless steel frame / 170 x 140 cm / 66.9 x 55.1 in (framed)
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For A.G. (from ongoing series 'flowers to lovers in acid washed jeans')
2017 / Chlorine bleach on denim, stainless steel frame / 170 x 140 cm / 66.9 x 55.1 in (framed)
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E.P. (Eusapia Palladino)
2018 / Chlorine bleach on denim jacket, size M (oversized) / Dimensions variable