ALICE IRWIN
Olaf Kühnemann
Berlin
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Berlin
My name is Olaf Kühnemann. I am a painter based in Berlin since 2009. I have a German name and citizenship but was raised in Switzerland and Canada and most of my life lived in Israel, where I am still often working as an artist. I have always been focused on painting and drawing. I see it as a beautiful and fascinating language, with endless possibilities and ideas. The theme of Negotiated identity is an integral part of my work as an artist....
Read moreMy name is Olaf Kühnemann. I am a painter based in Berlin since 2009. I have a German name and citizenship but was raised in Switzerland and Canada and most of my life lived in Israel, where I am still often working as an artist. I have always been focused on painting and drawing. I see it as a beautiful and fascinating language, with endless possibilities and ideas. The theme of Negotiated identity is an integral part of my work as an artist. My primary interest is in exploring what it means to make a painting today: how to balance art history, contemporary practices and the current overwhelming visual culture to find a distinctive path amidst it all. With Autobiography as my main subject, I compose versatile paintings that shift from large-format scenes with an illustrative flair, to muted portraits marked by colour and spatial contrast.
Time lapse Künstlerhaus Bethanien 2016
What is it about your studio space that inspires you?
it is a space for me to work think play listen to music
What sounds, scents and sights do you encounter while in your studio?
whatever i am listening to while working, the childrens voices from the Kita next to my studio' , the smell of linseed oil and paint.
What is your favourite material to work with? How has your use of it evolved throughout your practice?
paper is my favourite in the past years, it is intimate immediate and gives me freedom and courage.
What themes do you pursue?
Houses, Boats, Moons, Day, Night, Bicycles, free association , sea scape, land scape, family.
If you could install your art absolutely anywhere, where would that be?
Mishkan Museum of Art- Ein Harod, Israel.
If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be?
an Alice Neel painting.
If you weren´t an artist, what would you be doing?
carpentry, bicycle building design and repair.
What are your favourite places besides your studio?
My Home with my family
2018
Bicycle Temple / Haifa Museum of Art - Haifa, Israel
2017
Small, Das Kleine Format / Upstairs Gallery - Oldenburg, Germany
2016
Contemporary Visions VI, BEERS London, London, United Kingdom
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2018
Where have all the flowers gone? / Alexander Ochs Private - Berlin, Germany
Day & Knife / CIRCLE1 - Berlin, Germany
Body Talk. The Scar the Scheme the Sketch and the Scratch, Body representations in 70 years of art from Israel / Circle 1 Gallery - Berlin, Germany
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Anette Bollag-Rothschild collection, Switzerland
Bank Hapoalim collection, Israel
Givon Gallery collection, Israel
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2014 Jurors’ Pick in the 100 Painters of Tomorrow book published by Thames & Hudson publishing House.
2008 Isracard Award, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Israel.
1994 Scholarship for Arts, Parsons School of Design Manhattan NY, USA.
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1990-1992 NY Studio School, Manhattan NY, USA.
1992-1994 MFA, Parsons School of Design, Manhattan NY, USA
