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Andrea Esswein Main Profile Image

Toni Montana Studios

Andrea Esswein

Wiesbaden, Germany

Collage, Photography, Video • Born in Germersheim, Germany • Studied at Landau, Germany/ Vienna, Austria

Published  20/02/2017   |   Updated  22/08/2022

Copygraphs: The Tool of Light

“Copygraphs” is the name Andrea Esswein has chosen for her works of art she has been producing with the help of photocopiers since 1998. With the photocopier serving as her photographic gadget she first fabricates the original copies. To this end objects, animals and people are put on the copier by her. Esswein then creates a new picture by making a collage out of the separately photocopied pieces as she is putting them together along a...

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“Copygraphs” is the name Andrea Esswein has chosen for her works of art she has been producing with the help of photocopiers since 1998. With the photocopier serving as her photographic gadget she first fabricates the original copies. To this end objects, animals and people are put on the copier by her. Esswein then creates a new picture by making a collage out of the separately photocopied pieces as she is putting them together along a rectangular line like the pieces of a puzzle. The interfaces and overlaps between the individual pieces still remain visible after the ensuing work process. In doing so the artist’s interest focuses on the construction of a new reality far-off from our usual viewing habits. The stark contrasts produced by the copying process and the following manufacturing techniques make Esswein’s objects emerge from beneath a layer of gloss paint
and synthetic resin like from a three-dimensional darkness and sanctity in a rather spherical way. It seems as if the depicted objects were withdrawn from the viewer’s attention and positioned at an imaginary distance hovering there. The convincing pictures tell their story with an exaggerated expression and passionate gesture. Intense colours or, on the other hand, strong chiaroscuro effects intensify their emotional impact upon the viewer. This way a new series of black-and-white copygraphies at the same time interprets the dramatic art of composition of the Spanish naturalist Jusepe de Ribera (1591-1652) as much as it demonstrates the vividness of Andrea Esswein’s own expertise with which she is mastering the field of the copygraphic medium. By lacquing with glosspaint and synthetic resin the works gain a sense of depth and it lends them the bearing of classical paintings.

Andrea Esswein
Studio Moment (Foto: Kira Jakobi)

Studio Moment (Foto: Kira Jakobi)

Exhibition View PORT 25, Mannheim 2016 (Foto: Toni Montana Studios)

Exhibition View PORT 25, Mannheim 2016 (Foto: Toni Montana Studios)

Exhibition View PORT25, Mannheim, 2016. Ribera Tytos, Copygraph (Foto: Toni Montana Studios)

Exhibition View PORT25, Mannheim, 2016. Ribera Tytos, Copygraph (Foto: Toni Montana Studios)

Exhibition View PORT25, Mannheim, 2016 (Foto: Toni Montana Studios)

Exhibition View PORT25, Mannheim, 2016 (Foto: Toni Montana Studios)

Studio Moment (Foto: Kira Jakobi)

Studio Moment (Foto: Kira Jakobi)

Studio Moment (Foto: Kira Jakobi)

Studio Moment (Foto: Kira Jakobi)

Studio View (Foto: Kira Jakobi)

Studio View (Foto: Kira Jakobi)

Side-face (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Side-face (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Copygraph on Woodbody, Ressin, 50x80x5cm, 2016 (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Copygraph on Woodbody, Ressin, 50x80x5cm, 2016 (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Copygraph on Woodbody, Resin, 125x40x 5cm, 2016 (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Copygraph on Woodbody, Resin, 125x40x 5cm, 2016 (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Side-face (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Side-face (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Bale of Straw, Copygraph on Woodbody, Ressin, 180x180cm, 2000/2001 (Foto: Wolfgang Detering)

Bale of Straw, Copygraph on Woodbody, Ressin, 180x180cm, 2000/2001 (Foto: Wolfgang Detering)

Ballonstrauss, Copygraph on Wood, Ressin, 120x90cm, 2013 (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Ballonstrauss, Copygraph on Wood, Ressin, 120x90cm, 2013 (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Jungfer im Grün, Copygraph on Wood, Ressin, 110x60cm, 2011 (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Jungfer im Grün, Copygraph on Wood, Ressin, 110x60cm, 2011 (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Achterbahn, Coygraph on Wood, Ressin, 45x95cm,2001 (Foto:Ann Schuhmacher)

Achterbahn, Coygraph on Wood, Ressin, 45x95cm,2001 (Foto:Ann Schuhmacher)

Monika&Saskia, Copygraph on Wood, Ressin, 70x102cm, 2000 (Foto: Wolfgang Detering)

Monika&Saskia, Copygraph on Wood, Ressin, 70x102cm, 2000 (Foto: Wolfgang Detering)

Exhibition View Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, 2010 (Foto: Christian Lauer)

Exhibition View Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, 2010 (Foto: Christian Lauer)

Exhibition View Naussauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, 2010 (Foto: Christian Lauer)

Exhibition View Naussauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, 2010 (Foto: Christian Lauer)

Exhibition View Kunsthalle Mannheim 2016 (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Exhibition View Kunsthalle Mannheim 2016 (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Installation Kunsthalle Mannheim, Zwischen Existenz und Exzellenz, Fotos and Video (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Installation Kunsthalle Mannheim, Zwischen Existenz und Exzellenz, Fotos and Video (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Installation Kunsthalle Mannheim, Video Zwischen Existenz und Exzellenz, Detail Annegret Soltau (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Installation Kunsthalle Mannheim, Video Zwischen Existenz und Exzellenz, Detail Annegret Soltau (Foto: Andrea Esswein)

Studio View (Foto: Arndt Theuer)

Studio View (Foto: Arndt Theuer)


EXHIBITIONS

SOLO

2018

COPYKISSING, Haus am Werderplatz, Heidelberg

2017

COPY & PASTE, Schloss Kleinniedesheim, Fotofestival OFF//FOTO Mannheim

2015

KOPIGRAPHIEN, Strümpfe-The Supper Artclub, OFF-FOTO Festival, Mannheim (Germany)

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GROUP

2017

PAGE ART - Ein Sammler Projekt, Galerie Mariana Grützmacher, Frankfurt (u.a. mit Herbert Brandl, Jonathan Meese)

NY ANTIPODES ARTISTCOLLAPS - EAT YOUR COPY, Collaboration mit Brandstifter, Residency Unlimited, NYC

DUKTUS 2.0, Galerie Halverscheid, München

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WORKS IN COLLECTIONS

Deutsches Tanzarchiv/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne

Grafische Sammlung der Staatsgalerie Stuttgart

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PUBLICATIONS

AWARDS

2020 HEINRICH - VETTER - PREIS, Mannheim (nominated)

2018 MAINZER - STADTDRUCKER - PREIS, Gutenberg Museum Mainz (nominated)

2014 ISCP - International Studio & Curatorial Program, Residency, New York

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