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THE ARTISTS | Bořivoj Hořínek, Ostrov nad Ohři

Bořivoj Hořínek

 

Bořivoj Hořínek was born in 1948 in Vilemov in the Czech Republic. After his studies in Graphics in Prague in 1968, he went to the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he earned his Master’s Degree in Photography in 1977.

 

 

His artistic competence stretches from Photography to Video Art, to Installations and to Performance. Bořivoj Hořínek lives and works in Ostrov nad Ohři.

In his work with photography, Hořínek experiments with the manipulation of space, with perception and perspective. The artist works with the the principle of randomness and uses digital technology to record light trails and camera movements used in creating his art. He describes his photographic works with the word “recording” (creating an account) to describe the constructive dillemma when one observes the same thing several times, yet has a different perceptual experience every time.

Hořínek concentrates on installations as well as on photographic works.

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THE ARTISTS | Roman Woerndl, Berg

Roman Woerndl

 

Roman Woerndl, born in 1957 in Prien am Chiemsee, studied Architecture at Rosenheim College in 1986. From then, he worked as an independent sculptor in Munich. 2010/11 and 2012/13 he was an Artist in Residence in Yogayakarta in Indonesia. Roman Woerndl lives and works in Berg am Starnberger See.

 

Roman Woerndl’s sculptures often reflect dissonance with the landscape from which they originate: a hill at the east bank of the Starnberger Lake. His works seem to force the landscape into being depicted by geometric patterns. The observer seems to get the impression that the way we see nature is not “natural” but rather a product of culture.

Roman Woerndl’s installations and video projects are an expression of his theoretical grappling with topics such as the hubris of human beings.

The artist has two video installations on display in Wunsiedel as well as a kinetic object.

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THE ARTISTS | Alex Heil, Bergheim

Alex Heil (Foto: Dirk Behlau)

 

Alex Heil, born in 1970, studied Communication Science, Psychology, and Art Science in Essen and Liberal Arts in Darmstadt and Cologne. Today she is a Lecturer for Painting. Alex Heil lives and works in Bergheim, close to Cologne.

The artist specializes in Fine Arts and Realism and deals almost exclusively with the element of “Water”.

 

Alex Heil is fascinated by water, the antagonism and complement of motion and power. The way that water breaks up and diffuses light; “a complex aesthetic not reproducable in reality.”

The continuous thread in her compositions is the contrast between the strict geometry of a swimming pool and the organic, fluid motion of water, which distorts all shapes and straight edges into playful figures and creates a unique aesthetic which cannot be reproduced in real life. In painting, however, this limitation does not exist, and this is how Alex Heil, through her work, preserves these fleeting moments. Central elements are random, almost ornamental patterns that one would recognize, yet hardly notice.

Alex Heil secures these multi-faceted moments with her pictures, without really putting the focus on a specific object. She leaves enough leeway for one’s own interpretation, yet distances herself from it at the same time. “There is no deeper message in my works, it’s all about the aesthetic. That sounds superficial and is also meant to be so.” Look at the art, observe it, immerse yourself in it. That is what it is all about.

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THE ARTISTS | Gilbert Geister, Köln

Gilbert Geister

 

Gilbert Geister, born in 1973 in Bochum, studied Fine Arts at the College of Arts in Berlin from 1996-2000. Afterwards he received teaching appointments at the Protestant University of Applied Sciences and at the Alanus College in Alfter. In 2014 he won the Art Award from the Association of German Architects in Dortmund.

Gilbert Geister lives and works in Cologne.

 

Gilbert Geister presently concentrates on Object Painting and Drawing, with emphasis on portraits. A traditional portrait, however, becomes revised and modified through both focused and deliberate elemental ommisions, removal of parts of the medium, or through the use of LEDs, lumenescent material or kinetic elements.

Geister’s connection to painting is maintained through such projects as painting through the use of remote-controlled helicopters, machines, or balloons, which, like other spatially-concerned installations, he builds himself.

Geister incorporates audience participation in interactive projects such as his turf slingshot, a line generator, and a cable car.

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THE ARTISTS | Feng Lu, Berlin

Feng Lu

 

Feng Lu was born in 1979 in the Peoples’ Republic of China. Between 1995 and 2007, he studied visual and graphic arts in Harbin/China, Berlin, Mainz, and Halle. He also successfully completed studies at the University of Arts in Berlin with distinction. Feng Lu lives and works in Berlin.

 

 

Contextual shifts, metamorphoses, and transferrals of meaning are all Feng Lu’s specialty. No social topic is spared when he distorts human actions with angry irony. Feng Lu does not create narrations but combines fragments of situations, memories, and contemporary issues into a critical perspective on society and on being human.

His plastic figures, handmade to perfection, are witty and colorful, playful and frivolous. At the same time, he deals with a variety of motifs and pictures which are not abstract, but allow themselves to be seen from several perspectives. He combines contradictions into singularities that seem self-evident and defies natural science by crossing dimensions or cloning strange creatures.

Feng Lu is a painter as well as a sculptor and ingeniously combines both disciplines in plastic, which he creates out of clay and epoxy resin.

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THE ARTISTS| Matthias Berthold, Hamburg

Matthias Berthold

 

Matthias Berthold, born in Lübeck in 1964, studied Enthnology and Illustration in Hamburg. A graphic and visual artist since 1992, he received a grant from the Robert Bosch Company and was a guest artist in Ireland and Iceland, among other places. He increased his public artistic activities in 2005. Since 2007 he has developed collaborative art projects in cooperation with Andreas Schön.

 

The artist creates and executes his projects and actions from a critical social perspective. He finds that contemporary and modern art must close the gaps in social rifts instead of deepening them.

The goal is the creation of positive connections – between people, groups, places and art. Berthold’s works fulfill certain social responsibilities by being available and accessible for all people.

Liveliness and changeability are aspects of his artistic works, which bestow a human dimension to the places in which they are located. The directives that he established for the Wunsiedel Water Games are difficult to ignore.

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THE ARTISTS | Helga Lang, Hamburg

Helga Lang

 

Born in Bremen in 1961, Helga Lang studied at the College for Art and Music in Bremen from 1983 to 1988 and graduated with a degree in Free Art, Graphics and Film. From 2003 to 2013 she was a lecturer at the Academy for Fashion and Design in Hamburg.

Helga Lang lives and works as an independent artist in Hamburg. Her works can be seen individually as well as in groups.

The artist devotes herself to water as a motif in painting, photography, and space installations. Her paintings are characterized by the structure of water, sometimes calm, sometimes rough and turbulent. She employs a very special technique in recreating the water’s surface.

In searching for just the right shade of blue, Helga Lang always discovers new nuances in color. She can recreate water surfaces by dabbing enamel in a way that mimics the water’s sparkle. Depending on how the light falls, her paintings look different, just as water would, which gives off a different color blend depending on the positioning of the light source and surrounding colors.

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THE ARTISTS | Albrecht Fersch, Berlin

Albrecht Fersch

 

Albrecht Fersch, born in 1970 in Schweinfurt in Unterfranken, studied at the Academy of Art in Munich from 1993 to 1995. Between 2005 and 2006 he completed the “Essential Theater” training program in Berlin. He lives in Berlin and works as an art therapist and independent artist.

Along with various grants and scholarships, Albrecht Fersch has also received the “Kunstpreis Östliches Sauerland”.

Albrecht Fersch is a performance, kinetic and installation artist from Berlin. He switches back and forth among the different disciplines and also enjoys working with poetry and musical media. Whatever he came up with one day could be discarded by the next morning: beauty comes from daring. Things that currently exist are defined anew, things that are found are treated and used like those that were custom-made. Many of his works are also temporary and exist now only as documentation.

His artistic universe is a large archive in the middle of which a spring of whimsical ideas continuously bubbles. Despite the artist’s ever-changing look, recognizable motif patterns remain, such as networks, connections, agglomerations, the separation of identities, chaos and order. His intention is to create and show relationships and associations, bringing them together into an encyclopedic spiderweb, arranged not only alphabetically but also as he pleases.

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The response to the competition was overwhelming

The element of Water as art motif and theme

Works from all artistic directions were accepted under this motto. The deadline for submissions was Wednesday, January 31, 2018.

200 artists from all over Germany, as well as from the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Hungary, Poland and South Korea submitted entries.

The submissions represent a wide spectrum of contemporary art: photography, painting, sculpture, installations, poetry, sound installations, performances, video projects, textiles, compositions, kinetic sculptures, street art, glass art…

We are overwhelmed by the variety, the creativity, the sheer amount of submitted entries. A big “Thank you!” to all applicants!

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THE ARTISTS | Dana Widawski, Berlin

Dana Widawski

 

Dana Widawski, born in 1973, lives and works in Berlin. The artist studied Textile Design at the Burg Giebichenstein College for Art and Design in Halle/Saale from 1995-2000 and then afterwards studied Art in Context from 2004 to 2006 at the University of Arts in Berlin.

In 2011, Dana Widawski won the Art Award of the City of Schwabach, in 2001 a grant from the Wilhelm-Lorch-Stiftung, and in 2000 a grant from the HKD Burg Giebichenstein.

Dana Widawski paints tiles. Tiles like those found in every bathroom, tiles like those that were painted with colbalt blue in Delft hundreds of years ago, to remind one, with the world’s beauty, of the impermanent nature of earthly existence.

In her works, Dana Widawski calls to mind classic ornaments from different cultures and epochs. She extends and defamiliarizes these structures with contemporary illustrations and makes something look decorative at first glance. When one takes a closer look, however, one perceives a confusing and ironic layer under the surface, one that addresses societal clichés and paradoxes and calls them into question.