The island of stars we call home, Casa de Cultura Jaime Lobo e Silva, Ericeira | Mafra, Portugal
Posted on May 25, 2024
Anne Wölk
For the first time, Portugal hosts an exhibition by an award-winning German artist.
For the first time in Portugal, renowned German artist Anne Wölk will present her exhibition „The island of stars we call home“ at Casa de Cultura Jaime Lobo e Silva, Ericeira, from June 15 to July 14, 2024.
Internationally renowned, Wölk has exhibited in places such as Spain, Great Britain, South Korea and the United States.
Nature and Technology in Art
With works that blend nature and technology, the exhibition includes series such as Nebula, Planet Spheres and Extraterrestrial Horizons. Using techniques from the old masters and digital culture, Anne creates multidisciplinary paintings that question our relationship with the universe. She explores contrasts between outer space and human colonizing and scientific activities, using oils, graphite and acrylics on three-dimensional spheres.
„Although my approach to compositions stems from Romanticism and Photorealism, I subvert these traditional methods of landscape painting through conceptual representations of light and fluid color gradients that allude to digital photographic media that capture popular images of space; my works depict photographic aberrations, digital information gaps and compression artifacts caused by the technical limitations of telescopic observations and mechanical photography,“ she explains.
Urban exploration
One of the series stands out for its urban exploration of abandoned spaces in Eastern Europe, reflecting the contemporary trend of documenting forgotten places and their histories. Anne seeks to capture ephemeral nature and memory, questioning architectural legacy and the essence of time and place.
„Through painting, the viewer can catch a glimpse of the ephemeral nature and memory of ourselves and our surroundings and preserve them before they are lost in time and space. The artworks raise the question: What do architectural legacies convey about society when we let them drift away? What is the essence of time and place?“ says the artist.
The exhibition is curated by Pedro Ramos.
About the artist
Anne Wölk, born in 1982 in Jena, Germany, is a figurative painter influenced by contemporary realists Vija Celmins and Russel Crotty. Her paintings, which predominantly depict the night sky with galaxies, reflect a multicultural fusion of German, Baltic, and American elements, resulting from her intense interaction with international artists. Internationally recognized, Wölk has won a category
award for painting in the art competition ‚Art Takes Paris‘ in 2013 and a scholarship award from Stiftung Kunstfonds in 2022. She also took part in the finalists‘ exhibition of the Art Revolution competition.
Casa de Cultura, Ericeira