SANDRA MEISEL
Kathrin Rank
Berlin / Germany
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Berlin / Germany
Published 29/07/2016 | Updated 14/02/2023
People in the foreground – in front of landscapes, city panoramas, campfires. Kathrin Rank paints silhouettes in what seems like idyllic back light situations. But why does the observer feel an increasing twitch? Is it the airport’s window, which could be scattered by a plummeting airplane at any time, the dog staining a perfect picture by urinating against the wall, dark characters ganging up? Or is it the surface of free painting, which...
Read morePeople in the foreground – in front of landscapes, city panoramas, campfires. Kathrin Rank paints silhouettes in what seems like idyllic back light situations. But why does the observer feel an increasing twitch? Is it the airport’s window, which could be scattered by a plummeting airplane at any time, the dog staining a perfect picture by urinating against the wall, dark characters ganging up? Or is it the surface of free painting, which embeds the figures, outshines them, but at the same time dissolves them again and makes them invisible? The observer stands before the painted figures, looking into the distance with them and wanting to tell them "Watch out, there’s something wrong!" But there is no sequence to follow. The image is the perfect moment, carrying beauty and the eerily at the same time.
Art always possesses a high level of symbolic power. Ranks works are mainly based on the expressive power of the signified and are therefore closer to allegory than to the mere image. In her paintings, she welds the passing moment into a very subtle harmony of the ephemeral moment. It is a development of a specific poetry of the everyday, which allows new insights into seemingly profane subjects. Urban Berlin life poses as a backdrop and influence but also the artistic argument with an exaggerated materialistic world plays an important role.
Kathrin Ranks paintings reveal insights and outlooks. They play with shadow and light. Backlight turns figures into silhouettes. The background pushes forward and embeds the silhouettes in colour. The superficial resigns and is put into relation to the painted surroundings. Objects fade through surface and contour. The accidental gains importance through colour. Colour is perceived as an abstract and sensual art which transforms into something pictured. The outside is a gateway for the inside, outside landscape turns to inner landscape.
Sarunas P. Kaiba, Riga
What is it about your studio space that inspires you?
after painting is before painting
What is your favourite material to work with? How has your use of it evolved throughout your practice?
oil or charcoal on canvas
What themes do you pursue?
painted suspense
What advice has had the biggest impact on your career?
why should we not be able to paint the sunset? The question is: how?
If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be?
Meeresstille by Arnold Böcklin
If you weren´t an artist, what would you be doing?
there is no alternative, I always wanted to be a painter
What are your favourite places besides your studio?
the studio of my husband, the painter Mirko Schallenberg ;-)
Beisheim Stiftung München
Bertelsmann, Washington
Dafen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
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Galerie ARTAe, Leipzig | http://www.artae.de/kuenstler/kathrin-rank
Südwestgalerie, Hüttlingen | http://www.suedwestgalerie.de/kuenstler/rank-kathrin-3#kunstwerke
Galerie Noah, Augsburg | https://www.galerienoah.com/kuenstler/kathrin-rank/
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INDIVIDUAL CATALOGES: “Bilder“, Gallery bs15, Brunswick, 1999, text: Kathrin Rank / “Bildzeichen“ Kunstverein Meinersen, 2002, text: Matheos Pontikos / “Zwischenraumklang“, Gallery Konvention, Berlin, text: Kathrin Rank / “fossile Augenblicke“, 2008, text: Timo Kaabi Linke, Verlag Art In Flow Berlin, ISBN 3-938457-03-01 / GROUP CATALOGES: Kunsthalle Braunschweig, 1996, text: manifestos of the Painters Group Konvention / MMI Akademie Riddagshausen, Brunswick, 1996 / BAG, Köln, 1996 “Bilder“ / Gallery Eichenmüllerhaus, Lemgo, 1997 / “Gemälde“ Pelikan-Viertel, Hanover, 1997 / guesthouse Petersberg, Königswinter, "5. exhibition to promote young artists from the Federal Republic of Germany", 1997, text: manifestos of the Painters Group Konvention / municipal art collection Salzgitter, Salon Salder, 1998 / 1st Edition of the Artist’s Newspaper "Konvention", 2000, text: manifestos of the Painters Group Konvention / second Edition of the Artist’s Newspaper "Konvention", 2001, text: manifestos of the Painters Group Konvention “ /Augenblick, verweile doch, du bist so schön" Wilhelm-Fabry-Museum, Hilden, 2006, text: Dr. Wolfgang Antweiler “ / 20 Jahre Künstlerhaus Meinersen“, 2009, text: Ernst Posselt, Dr. Rüdiger Rodloff, Lutz Stratmann / “naturANSICHTEN“, Gallery Alte Schule Adlershof, Berlin, 2010, text: Matheos Pontikos / “Delikatessen“ urban gallery Altötting, 2012, text: conversation between Dr. Alfred Gunzenhauser, Uta Reinhardt and Oliver Gröne / “Part3“, Kunstmarkt Petershagen, 2013, Text: Joachim Flintzak und Jacek Barsk Künstlermagazin / RUW! Issue 1 - ordinary madness, 2013, Verlag Art In Flow Berlin, ISBN: 978-3-938457-22-1 / Künstlermagazin RUW! Issue 2 - von Kleist, 2014, Verlag Art In Flow Berlin, ISBN: 978-3-938457-24-5 / Künstlermagazin RUW! Issue 3 - nach dem Danach, 2015, Verlag Art In Flow Berlin, ISBN: 978-3-938457-28-3 / Künstlermagazin RUW! Issue 4 - Kannibalen wie du und ich, 2016 / Künstlermagazin RUW! Issue 5 – the text, 2016 / Künstlermagazin RUW! Issue 6 – Arbeitsunfall, 2018, J.K. Verlag Berlin, ISBN: 978-3-942847-98-8 / R U W - a limited edition artist publication, Objekt-Magazine, Icon Verlag, München, 2018 ISBN: 978-3-928804-83-7 / The Album of the first Dafen International Oil Painting Biennale 2018, Clapnet Verlag, ISBN: 978-7-5190-4096-3 / Künstlermagazin RUW! Issue 7 – Don´t eat the yellow snow, 2019, J.K. Verlag Berlin, ISBN: 978-3-942847-97-1 / Gallery TNT, Dafen, Shenzhen, China "flower power"/ Artists of the Gallery Cyprian Brenner / Künstlermagazin RUW! Issue 8 - Walle! walle, J.K. Verlag Berlin, ISBN: 978-3-942847-96-4 / the album of the 2nd Dafen International Oil Painting Biennale 2020, ISBN: 978-7-5494-2327-9 / Städtisches Museum Schloss Salder, Salzgitter „30. Salon Salder” / Gallery Schmalfuss, Berlin "H2O" / Künstlermagazin RUW! Issue 9 – No. 9
