ASTRID KÖPPE
ASTRID KÖPPE
FABULÖSE
FIGMENTS
MAYA FRODEMAN GALLERY
FABULÖSE FIGMENTS
Astrid Köppe is a German artist who explores the beauty of unknown and mysterious organic shapes through the lens of her own inventive mind. This exhibition presents large scale vitreous enamel works alongside the intimately scaled drawings Köppe has been creating since she completed her studies at the Braunschweig University of Art in 1999. Her work has been described as “unabashedly graphical,” and is often difficult to define, which is her intention. Köppe produces a cognitive dissonance in her viewers by complicating both the identification of the object as well as the aesthetic aspects of the work. She enjoys playing with the boundary of the beautiful and exploring the concept of the distasteful. Her drawings often depict shapes that are impossible to classify or name. Plant, animal, mineral, or some strange, hybridized combination of these, each work defies classification.
Twenty years ago, Köppe, a trained painter, grew frustrated with the forced layering of oil painting, where every composition felt required to incorporate a foreground and background. Her drawings were accepted as they were— precise renderings in mixed media (graphite, watercolor, pen and ink, colored pencil and pastel), occupying the center of a European standard A4 size white sheet of drawing paper. But with paintings, she was constantly challenged –critics wanted to know why she had “forgotten” to paint the background. In order to recreate her preferred composition, a subject on a white plane, in a larger scale and on media other than paper, she turned to experimentation. Researching alternative processes, Köppe ultimately discovered the process of vitreous enamel on steel, which dates back to the first century CE and was utilized by the Egyptians and the Romans.
With vitreous enamel, Köppe could achieve both the larger scale she sought, and push the medium to completely new heights. According to Köppe, working with the luminous glass colors and textures of vitreous enamel work felt as though “we found each other – everything just worked.” She was able to create her signature biomorphic shapes in unique colors and textures on the flat white plane she sees in her mind’s eye. Ultimately, in her words, with both her drawings and enamels, the artist is seeking “the balance between the precision of the rendering and the openness of interpretation.”
Köppe’s artwork is inspired by landscapes, animals, or objects that she has seen; however, the goal is always this openness. In Köppe’s creations, one never knows quite what they are looking at. The compositions she finds the most satisfying are those that are “settled and unsettled at the same time.” While Köppe was at a residency in South Korea in 2011, the region experienced a severe monsoon that covered the area in a mold. Torn between disgust and fascination, Köppe found the textures and patterns growing all around her too exciting to ignore. This experience profoundly affected her art and inspired her to blur the definition of aesthetically pleasing objects. Often there are hair and mold-like protrusions in her drawings that force the viewer to reconcile society’s definition of unrefined or gross qualities with the artistic shape before them. Köppe’s technical perfection creates an illusion in the viewer’s mind that the unique image in front of them exists in our universe. Her drawings are reminiscent of detailed illustrations in biology textbooks and provoke the viewer to create a novel taxonomy of her mysterious forms. It is this struggle to rationalize the unfamiliar that engages us with Köppe’s work and asks us to reflect on our conception of unusual shapes.
Astrid Köppe was born in Köthen, Germany, in 1974. She studied a Braunschweig University of Art, Brunswick, Germany, where she earned her diploma in Fine Art with Meisterschüler honors in 1999. Köppe completed many residencies, including those at Lost Generation Art Space / Goethe-Institut, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2010, 2011-2012), and at the Young Eun Museum for Contemporary Art, Gwangju-si, South Korea (2011). She is widely exhibited in Europe and Asia. Recent solo exhibitions include Seizan Gallery, New York, USA, Gallery Sekiryu, Matsumoto, Japan, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany, Arte Giani, Frankfurt/Main, Germany, Galerie Inga Kondeyne, Berlin, Germany, and Maya Frodeman Gallery (formerly Tayloe Piggott Gallery), Jackson Hole, USA. Her recent group exhibitions include Art Osaka, Nakanoshima, Japan and Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany. Köppe’s work can be found in the public collections of Kupferstichkabinett Berlin, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany, Berlinische Galerie – Museum of Modern Art, Berlin, Germany, and the collection of Young Eun Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwangju-si, South Korea, among others. She is the recipient of the Junge Akademie, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany scholarship. Köppe lives and works in Berlin.
UNTITLED (#190) , 2024
63 x 47 1/4 inches
Vitreous enamel on steel
, 2024
Vitreous enamel on steel
Edition of 12
11 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches
#E12
UNTITLED (#147) , 2016
Vitreous enamel on steel
59 x 43 1/4 inches
UNTITLED (#174) , 2020
Vitreous enamel on steel
59 x 43 1/4 inches
UNTITLED (#171) , 2020
Vitreous enamel on steel
59 x 43 1/4 inches
UNTITLED (#180) , 2021
Vitreous enamel on steel
59 x 43 1/4 inches
UNTITLED (#173) , 2020
Vitreous enamel on steel
43 1/4 x 59 inches
UNTITLED (#187) , 2024
Vitreous enamel on steel
39 1/2 x 39 1/2 inches
ASTRID
KÖPPE
German artist, born in Köthen/Anhalt, Germany in 1974
Lives and works in Berlin
EDUCATION
1992–99
Braunschweig School of Arts, diploma Fine Art and Meisterschüler degree
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 Paramnesia, Gallery Sekiryu, Matsumoto, Japan
Fabulöse Figments, Maya Frodeman Gallery (formerly Tayloe Piggott Gallery), Jackson Hole, USA
Paramnesia, Gallery Sekiryu, Tokyo, Japan
Flora Fantastica (with Sujin Kim), Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
2023 Pretty Shiny Stuff, Arte Giani, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Pretty Shiny Stuff, Seizan Gallery, New York, USA
Look deep into Nature – backstage, Galerie Inga Kondeyne, Berlin, Germany
Concrete Matters (with Susanne Piotter), Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
2022 Pretty Shiny Stuff, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson Hole, USA
Pretty Shiny Stuff, Galerie Inga Kondeye, Berlin, Germany
2021 Von Eierschneidern und Fischwimpern (with Miriam Zadil), Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
2020 konfabulasi, Gallery Sekiryu, Tokyo, Japan
konfabulasi, Gallery Sekiryu, Matsumoto, Japan
Spontaneous Paradise, Galerie Inga Kondeyne, Berlin, Germany
2019 konfabulasi, Arte Giani, Frankfurt/Main, Germany untitled (untitled) (with Lukas Troberg), LAGE EGAL, Berlin, Germany
pretty shiny stuff, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
konfabulasi, LostGens Art Space, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Berlin – New York (with Vicki Sher), Galerie Louis Gendre, Chamalières, France
2018 pretty shiny stuff, Fata Morgana Galerie, Berlin, Germany
2017 Fusiforme, Galerie Louis Gendre, Chamalières, France
2016 Fusiform, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
Fusiform, Arte Giani, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Astrid Köppe – New Work, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, USA
Fusiform, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Berlin, Germany
2014 Pareidolia, Arte Giani, Frankfurt, Germany
2013 Pareidolia, galerie weisser elefant, Berlin, Germany
shape up, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
2012 Drawings, Gallery DAM, Seoul, South Korea
Bakemono, fruehsorge contemporary drawings, Berlin, Germany
Galerie Michael Sturm, Stuttgart, Germany
Annexe Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2011 100 Drawings, Young Eun Museum for Contemporary Art, Gwangju-si, South Korea
Malaysian Species, Arte Giani, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
2010 Weiße Ware, Kunstverein, Heppenheim, Germany
Galerie Friebe, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Malaysian Species, whitebox@MAP, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
it’s a flat world, fruehsorge contemporary drawings, Berlin, Germany
1 a flachware, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
2009 brandneu, galerie weisser elefant, Berlin, Germany
Arte Giani (with Conny Bosch), Frankfurt/Main, Germany
2008 ein bißchen weniger (with Gabriele Jerke), fruehsorge contemporary drawings, Berlin, Germany
Tastschärfe (with Reinhold Engberding), Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
2007 Galerie Carolyn Heinz (with Grit Richter), Hamburg, Germany
2006 Schöne Ausstellung, galerie weisser elefant, Berlin, Germany
2004 INTRO Gallery, Vilnius, Lithuania
2002 Kunstförderverein Schöningen, Germany
Kunstkreis Kloster Brunshausen, Bad Gandersheim, Germany
2001 Künstlerhaus Meinersen, Meinersen, Germany
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Lines, Lost&Found by FUKT Magazine, Berlin, Germany
Nature Unlimited, Museum Art.Plus, Donaueschingen, Germany
Everyone but Caspar, Kunsthalle Niendorf, Hamburg, Germany
2023 Ornament und Verbrechen 6, LAGE EGAL, Berlin, Germany
2022 Wall of Sound, LAGE EGAL, Berlin, Germany
Meet us on Jupiter, Galerie Carolyn Heinz/Jupiter, Hamburg, Germany
Anonymous Drawings 2022, Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, Germany
Three Tales of Plants, Gallery Sekiryu, Tokyo, Japan
Three Tales of Plants, Gallery Sekiryu, Matsumoto, Japan, In a Dream, the Journey is Within Reach, Centpure, Higashikawa, Japan
Images in Fashion – Clothing in Art, Berlinische Galerie – Museum of
Modern Art, Berlin, Germany
2021 Chaosmos 6 – Into the Silent Spring, Sakura City Museum of Art, Sakura, Japan
2020 ARTvent, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
Spektrale 9, Luckau, Germany
2019 small matters, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
L’Artiste et les Commissaires, LAGE EGAL, Berlin, Germany
SEER – European Painting and Drawing, Gallery Punto, Tokyo, Japan
Not so a white cube 2, LAGE EGAL, Berlin, Germany
Weltenwechsel oder: wesentlich gewesen, galerie weisser elefant, Berlin, Germany
Sense of White, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
2018 Anatomie der Melancholie, Zagreus Projekt, Berlin, Germany
Sehnsucht, Arte Giani, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Anonymous Drawings 2018, Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, Germany
2017 Ende Neu, LAGE EGAL, Berlin, Germany
Turning Point, Galerie Jens Walther, Berlin, Germany
If this then that (2), LAGE EGAL Off Site at Reinbeckhallen, Berlin, Germany
Zeichnung 17, Galerie Michael Sturm, Stuttgart, Germany
Paradigmes indécis, Goethe Institut Paris, France
2016 papierverliebt #2, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
papierverliebt, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Berlin, Germany
Zeichnungsräume/Drawing Rooms, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Extending Ideas, Muzium & Galeri Tuanku Fauziah, USM, Penang, Malaysia
Extending Ideas, Feeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2015 Die Spur des Anderen, galerie weisser elefant, Berlin, Germany
Anonymous Drawings 2015, Kunstverein Tiergarten, Berlin, Germany
ArtQ13, Rome, Italy
Galerie Geyso20, Braunschweig, , Germany
Prolog – Heft für Zeichnung und Text, Pavillon am Milchhof, Berlin, Germany
2014 Joy!, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, USA
The Drawer, Paris, France
Lust auf Linie, Arte Giani, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
Anonymous Drawings – based in Berlin, Pavillon am Milchhof, Berlin, Germany
Thinking Drawing, Galeri Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
2013 Vielleicht sehe ich auch zu tief in die Dinge hinein, Overbeck-Gesellschaft, Lübeck, Germany
Line, Color and Form, Gallery Joe, Philadelphia, USA
Itinéraires, espace despalles, Paris, France
Stopover, fruehsorge contemporary drawings, Berlin, Germany
Young Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwangju-si, South Korea
KL Triennial: Barricade, whitebox@MAP, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
2012 at the parkhaus, Parkhaus Projects, Berlin, Germany
FUKT Magazine for Contemporary Drawing, Kunstnerforbundet, Oslo, Norway
Berlin Status (1), Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
Anschlüssel London – Berlin, Centre for Recent Drawing, London, UK
WEISS, Arte Giani, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
2011 Zwaan Kleef Aan, Nieuwe Vide, Haarlem, the Netherlands
Tekenend voor Diepenheim, Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, the Netherlands
Terra Incognita, Altana Galerie/Universitätssammlungen Kunst + Technik, TU Dresden, Germany
Anschlüssel London – Berlin, fruehsorge contemporary drawings, Berlin, Germany
Die Linie überschreiten. Eine Zeichnungsausstellung, Westwendischer Kunstverein, Gartow, Germany
Die Linie überschreiten. Eine Zeichnungsausstellung, Schau Fenster. Schauraum für Kunst, Berlin, Germany
drawn to drawing, Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
2010 Generationen II – abstrakt konkret gegenstandslos, Kunsthalle Brennabor, Brandenburg, Germany
Zeichnung 10, Galerie Michael Sturm, Stuttgart, Germany
Hand Joy, Centre for Recent Drawing, London, UK
Facebook, Patrick Heide Gallery, London, UK
2009 junger westen 2009, Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Germany
2008 In 7 Feldern. Stipendiaten der Akademie der Künste 2007, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany
2007 Zeichnung – Aktuelle Positionen, Kunstraum Düsseldorf, Germany
2006 Gärten – über die Ordnung der Natur, falschgelb* raum für kunst, Berlin, Germany
2005 Zeichnung, falschgelb* raum für kunst, Berlin, Germany
Damenwahl, Galerie Karin Friebe, Mannheim, Germany
2003 Zeitgenössisch! Kunst in Berlin, KPM-Quartier, Berlin, Germany
2002 Mitten ins Herz, Galerie Tammen&Busch, Berlin, Germany
2000 art prize of Gifhorn county, Objekte zwischen Kunst und Design, Schloß Gifhorn, Germany
1999 art prize of Gifhorn county, Kunst am Wasser, Künstlerhaus Meinersen, Germany
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Museum of Prints and Drawings, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany Museum of Prints and Drawings, Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig, Germany Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany
Berlinische Galerie – Museum of Modern Art, Berlin, Germany
Museum of Prints and Drawings, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany Museum Art Plus, Donaueschingen, Germany
Young Eun Museum for Contemporary Art, Gwangju-si, South Korea
PRIZES
AND RESIDENCIES
2011-2012 Residency, Lost Generation Space/Goethe Institut Kuala Lumpur
2011 Residency, Young Eun Museum for Contemporary Art, Gwangju-si
2010 Residency, Lost Generation Space/Goethe Institut Kuala Lumpur
2007 Stipend Junge Akademie, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
2000 Residency, Künstlerhaus Meinersen
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
2021 Pretty Shiny Stuff. exhibition catalog Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg, Germany
2016 Zeichnungsräume/Drawing Rooms. Ausstellungskatalog/exhibition catalog Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany (group show)
Extending Ideas. exhibition catalog Goethe Institut Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (group show)
2014 Thinking Drawing. exhibition catalog Galerie Serdang / Goethe Institut, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (group show)
2012 Berlin. Status (1). exhibition catalog Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany (group show)
2011 Zwaan Kleef Aan. exhibition catalog Nieuwe Vide, Haarlem, the Netherlands (group show)
Tekenend voor Diepenheim. exhibition catalog Kunstvereniging Diepenheim, the Netherlands (group show)
Terra Incognita. exhibition catalog Altana Galerie / Universitätssammlungen Kunst + Technik, TU Dresden, Germany (group show)
2009 junger westen 2009. exhibition catalog Kunsthalle Recklinghausen, Germany (group show)
Astrid Köppe: brandneu. exhibition catalog galerie weisser elefant (with a text by Mark Gisbourne and an interview with Sven Drühl), Berlin, Germany
2006 Astrid Köppe: Emaillen. exhibition catalog galerie weisser elefant, Berlin, Germany (with a text by Klaus Honnef)
2001 Astrid Köppe: Zeichnungen. exhibition catalog Künstlerhaus Meinersen, Germany (with a text by Horant Fassbinder)
TEXTS IN ENGLISH
Achim Drucks: The Beauty of Mold, 2018
Stephanie Buhmann: Interview with Astrid Köppe, in: Berlin Studio Conversations, Berlin, 2017, S. 196 ff.
Barbara Soyer: Interview with Astrid Köppe, in: The Drawer, Volume 7 – Le Rire, Paris, 2014, S. 47
Christoph Tannert: Interview with Astrid Köppe, in: FUKT drawing magazine, issue #10, Berlin, 2011, S. 11 ff.
Charlotte Lindenberg: Interview with Astrid Köppe, in: Idealist, issue #1 – Kampfgeist, Berlin, 2011, o. S.
