Andreas Blank
Untitled (2006) 32 x 30 x 15 cm serpentinite
Monument 4 (2008) 35 x 27 x 13 cm marble, basalt, alabaster
Still Life 10 (2010) 73 x 33 x 33 cm alabaster, limestone, marble, sandstone
Installation View Shadows of Words Spoken (2010) Gallery Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin
Installation View Shadows of Words Spoken (2010) Gallery Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin
Installation View Shadows of Words Spoken (2010) Gallery Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin
Box with Military Boots (2010) 56 x 55 x 38,5 cm limestone, serpentinite
Untitled (2009) 70 x 50 x 72 cm alabaster, serpentinite
Untitled (2013) 80 x 39 x 30 cm alabaster, marble, slate
Installation View Anatomy of Words (2013) Gallery Choi & Lager, Cologne
After a conversation 1 (2013) 32,5 x 24,5 x 3 cm marble, basalt
Box with brackets 2 (2011) 24 x 21 x 15 cm marble, sandstone, soapstone
Untitled (2011) 30 x 38 x 5,5 cm serpentinite
Installation View Anatomy of Words (2013) Gallery Choi & Lager, Cologne
After a conversation 5 (2014) 32,5 x 24,5 x 3 cm marble, basalt After a conversation 6 (2014) 32,5 x 24,5 x 3 cm onyx, basalt The Imprint of the Space Someone Used, Gallery Christian Ehrentraut
Untitled (2014) 102 x 47,5 x 35 cm slate, serpentinite
...seeing things that are too big to see 2 (2014) 79,5 x 79,5 x 245 cm sandstone, limestone, quartzite, marble, basalt
Andreas Blank Born 1972 in Ansbach Lives and works in London and Berlin
Education 2001 - 2006 2007 2008 - 2009
Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe with Prof. Harald Klingelhöller Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg, guest student with Andreas Slominksi Royal College of Art, London
Grants and Awards 2013 2010 2009 2008 2007 2005
Residency, Trafo Center for Contemporary Art, Stettin The Catlin Prize, London Finalist, New Sensations 2009, London Land Securities Studio Award, London Conran Foundation Award, London Scholarship for Great Britain, Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes Residency, Stiftung Vorwerk, Hamburg Scholarship Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes
Solo Exhibitions 2014 2013 2012
The Imprint of the Space Someone Used, Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin hors-champ, Junge Kunst, Wolfsburg Landscape Metaphor, Benrimon Contemporary, New York Shadows of Words Spoken, Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin Anatomy of Words, Choi&Lager Gallery, Cologne
Group Exhibitions 2014 2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
Kolibri. Neue Tendenzen an einem aus der Zeit gefallenen Ort, Ballhaus Kolibri, Berlin Aus dem Fundus der botanischen Semantik, Cruise & Callas, Berlin Always Crashing in the Same Car, Galerie Knecht und Burster, Karlsruhe Tresholds, Trafo Center for Contemporary Art, Stettin Oh, Plastiksack!, Musée de design et d´arts appliqués contemporains, Lausanne The Scene Changes to an Empty Room, De Fabriek, Eindhoven Carving in Britain from 1910 to Now, The Fine Art Society, London Recasting the Gods, Sumarria Lunn Gallery, London Ein weißes Feld, Sammlung FIEDE, Aschaffenburg Memory. International Contemporary Sculpture, Palazzo Arti Napoli (PAN), Naples Oh, Plastiksack!, Gewerbemuseum Winterthur Stillstehende Sachen aus der Sammlung SØR Rusche, Museum Abtei Liesborn, Wadersloh-Liesborn 13, Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin Stressing Spiritual Needs Even When Selling Ice Cream, DNA-Galerie, Berlin Memory, Rosenfeld Porcini Gallery, London Please Write, Posted Projects, London Transcending, LARMgalleri, Copenhagen New German Art/Neue Deutsche Kunst, German Embassy, London Cocktail, Galerie Frank Schlag, Essen Keep Me Posted, Posted Projects, London The Land Securities Studio Awards 2010, SW1 Gallery, London Christian Achenbach, Andreas Blank, Nicola Samorì, Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin We Can Understand the Meaning Better Without, St. Pancras Parish Church Crypt, London New Sensations, Rochelle School, London Galerie Alfred Knecht, Karlsruhe Abschied und Ankunft, DB Museum, Nuremberg Afghan Embassy, Berlin Optimism, Hannah Barry Gallery, London Basement Project, Fred Gallery, London Allen & Overy, London Lichtfeld 8, Basel Regionale 7, Projectspace 54, Basel Lichtfeld 7, Basel Sculptureproject, Osterburken
At first glance, Andreas Blank’s desk appears to be like any ordinary desk. On top, some paraphernalia are neatly displayed; a half-full cup, a box and a documentation folder. The desk could be found in any artist’s studio or any workspace for that matter. However, upon closer inspection, each element (including the trestle table itself) has been meticulously hand carved from a variety of precious stones, sourced from quarries from all over the world. In this way, the work relates to the history of stone carving within art history and sculpture, where materials such as marble, alabaster and limestone were traditionally used to sculpt objects of political or religious significance. Blank, however, plays tricks with our expectations and perceptions. By treating mundane objects in a similar traditional and precise manner, he provides the everyday with a monumental status. For example the crumpled A4 white sheet of paper, in a black frame, that modestly occupies a spot on one of the exhibition walls. Upon closer inspection it is actually carved from white marble (the paper) and black alabaster (the frame). From a distance, this work could be viewed as a pun on modernist nihilism, but up close, reveals a material sensibility that goes beyond a simple juxtaposition of abstraction and reality. (Text by Laurie Cluitmans)