Cornelia Thomsen Solo Exhibition, Unfolding Ratio

Dates｜               August 27 (Sat) to September 24 (Sat), 2022
                                *Closed on Sun & Mon, Open on Public Holidays
Venue｜              √K Contemporary （Root K Contemporary）
Admission｜      Free
Organizer｜       √K Contemporary
Co-Operation｜Luca Scandinavia
Support｜           Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Japan

Opening August 27 (Saturday) on through September 24 (Saturday), the artist’s third solo exhibition in Japan will present the New York-based German artist’s late to early works, from Thomsen’s iconic Stripes, to her minimalist monochrome GR series and her portraits, which will make their first exhibition in Japan.

Born in East Germany during a period when Realism was the sole aesthetic, Thomsen discovered Abstraction following the unification of East and West Germany. While the artist began her career as a figurative painter, she subsequently pursued abstract modes of expression and developed her representative Stripes series, transforming natural scenes into abstracted, minimalist works.

Although best recognized for her abstract works, Thomsen’s recent portrait series marks the artist’s return to figuration. In contrast to her early works, this series melds figuration with the “light” present within Thomsen’s abstract paintings and offers a novel aesthetic. Whilst the series draws inspiration from nature and the self, a common thread throughout Thomsen’s production remains in the way she confronts notions of femininity, whilst maintaining an innate sense of strength and vulnerability.

In addition to her portraits, Unfolding Ratio will present Thomsen’s minimalist black-and-white GR series, her watercolor Garden series, oil on copper works as well as her NFT work, offering a diverse display of Thomsen’s multifaceted oeuvre.

 

 

| Cornelia Thomsen x Luca Scandinavia Collaboration｜

To mark this occasion, √K Contemporary will collaborate with the 20th-century Scandinavian furniture and décor specialist, Luca Scandinavia (Tokyo) on a special art co-ordination display.

At √K Contemporary, Thomsen’s works will be presented alongside Luca Scandinavia’s hand-selected curation of luxury Scandinavian antique furniture. Exhibited within the futuristic space of the gallery, Thomsen’s works and Luca Scandinavia’s luxury furniture will both be available for purchase.

In addition, a curated selection of Thomsen’s works will also be on display at Luca Scandinavia from August 27 (Saturday) to September 10 (Saturday) 17 (Saturday).*
Please take this opportunity to view both displays.

*Due to popular demand, the special exhibition has been extended.

Cornelia Thomsen, Unfolding Ratio Special Exhibition

Dates｜　   August 27 (Sat) to September 10 (Sat) 17 (Sat), 2022
Venue｜　  Luca Scandinavia
Address｜  1F, 1-9-6 Chuo-ku Ginza Tokyo Japan 104-0061
Tel｜　       03-3535-3235
Hours｜　  12 pm to 7 pm (Closed on Wednesdays)
Website｜   https://www.luca-inc.com/
Instagram｜@lucascandinavia

※ Opening dates and times are subject to change. Please be sure to check the Luca Scandinavia website prior to your visit.

 

 

Unfolding Ratio

Each of my series, from the abstract Stripes paintings to the Garden watercolors and my recent portraits, meditates on a distinct moment in a complex professional, psychological, and political journey.

Composed of vertical lines that vary in color and width, the Stripes paintings are executed on canvases that seem hard-edged at a distance yet on closer viewing reveal subtle tonal gradations. 

My Garden paintings traverse the tonal range of a single color, or at most two different basic colors, applied in arrays of soft brushstrokes with no outlines that fill the entire pictorial space. The watercolor forms coalesce, disperse, and merge again, expressive of an inward struggle for meaning and resolution.

My most recent subject is Anna, a young woman. Anna’s gaze, typically directed at the viewer, identifies her as a person of the present day, self-assertive and defying our judgment. Growing up acutely aware of the consequences of my actions and words, my intense, hypnotic Anna portraits epitomize the present-day ethos of optimistic independence tempered by watchful resilience.

 

Cornelia Thomsen

 

 

| Events |

Exhibiting artist Cornelia Thomsen will host a gallery tour where she will discuss her works. Please take this rare and valuable opportunity to learn more about Thomsen and her oeuvre!

To celebrate this occasion, we will also be opening and serving German wine in the bar located on the 2nd floor of our gallery.

 

< Gallery Tour >
Dates & Times: September 2 (Friday) from 5 pm
September 3 (Saturday) from 3 pm, 4 pm, and 5 pm

Free Admission / Approx. 20 minutes per tour

<Gallery Bar>
Opening Times: September 2 (Friday), 5 pm to 7 pm
September 3 (Saturday) from 3 pm to 7 pm

 

 

※Depending on the state of COVID-19, business days and hours are subject to change.

Please check updates on the √K Contemporary website, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter periodically for updates.

IMAGES

  • Stripes Nr. 102+103（2016）

  • Stripes Nr.125 (2020)

  • Stripes Nr. 121 (2018)

  • Stripes Nr. 126 (2021)

  • Stripes Nr. 141 (2019)

  • GR - Nr. 06 (2021)

  • Anna c02 (2021)

  • Anna c03 (2021)

ARTISTS

Cornelia Thomsen

Cornelia Thomsen is a contemporary artist living and working in New York since 2006, best known for her abstract paintings. Cornelia Thomsen began her career in 1990 as an artist at the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen near Dresden after a 4-year apprenticeship in the company, where she was trained to paint baroque patterns onto porcelain. In 1994 she moved to Frankfurt where she enrolled in the University of Art and Design in Offenbach/Frankfurt. She turned to abstraction and developed her Stripes painting series in 2008 after a subsequent move to New York. The original idea of the series was based on her observation of the ocean, with its fluctuating colors and luminosity. Initially she painted the works in a horizontal format but soon decided to flip the orientation to a vertical format to detach the stripes from their reference to nature. The Stripes paintings consist of vertical bands of irregular widths that reach to the very edges of the canvas. They are a result of subtle differences in width, color and intensity. The Stripes produce a flickering sensation imbuing the overall composition with an optical effect, which is created by using strong contrast of dark and light colors and the juxtaposition of blurred and sharp lines.

The drawings are an intrinsic, if not intimate persuasion of a light that verges on a kind of drifting. The strokes of the ink pen are not punctuated but move quietly, yet intensely, from one area of concentration to another. The result in the larger works on paper is a kind of ephemeral surface and in the smaller ones a more purely abstract composition. 

Cornelia Thomsen’s abstract work is primarily concerned with formal matters and deal with basic questions about color and line. She also engages with postwar German history through figurative paintings, drawings and watercolors. One example is the series Role Models, which consists of 10 paintings of East German officials who were active when she was growing up in East Germany. The Meissen Propaganda Dishes are a cynical look back into her time at the Meissen Manufactory and consist of 12 paper dishes with original Meissen flower decorations combined with ideological slogans. Figurative works are the focus of Cornelia Thomsen’s work during the past two years and show her interest in psychological studies. With her distinctive body of work Cornelia Thomsen keeps abstract and figurative work in tension, finding inspiration from the rich history of abstract art and from her upbringing in former East Germany.

Cornelia Thomsen was born in Rudolstadt in the German Democratic Republic in 1970. After the reunification of Germany she moved to Frankfurt and received BA and MFA degrees from the University of Art and Design in Offenbach/Frankfurt, Germany. She currently lives and works in New York City.

Cornelia Thomsen

Cornelia Thomsen is a contemporary artist living and working in New York since 2006, best known for her abstract paintings. Cornelia Thomsen began her career in 1990 as an artist at the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen near Dresden after a 4-year apprenticeship in the company, where she was trained to paint baroque patterns onto porcelain. In 1994 she moved to Frankfurt where she enrolled in the University of Art and Design in Offenbach/Frankfurt. She turned to abstraction and developed her Stripes painting series in 2008 after a subsequent move to New York. The original idea of the series was based on her observation of the ocean, with its fluctuating colors and luminosity. Initially she painted the works in a horizontal format but soon decided to flip the orientation to a vertical format to detach the stripes from their reference to nature. The Stripes paintings consist of vertical bands of irregular widths that reach to the very edges of the canvas. They are a result of subtle differences in width, color and intensity. The Stripes produce a flickering sensation imbuing the overall composition with an optical effect, which is created by using strong contrast of dark and light colors and the juxtaposition of blurred and sharp lines.

The drawings are an intrinsic, if not intimate persuasion of a light that verges on a kind of drifting. The strokes of the ink pen are not punctuated but move quietly, yet intensely, from one area of concentration to another. The result in the larger works on paper is a kind of ephemeral surface and in the smaller ones a more purely abstract composition. 

Cornelia Thomsen’s abstract work is primarily concerned with formal matters and deal with basic questions about color and line. She also engages with postwar German history through figurative paintings, drawings and watercolors. One example is the series Role Models, which consists of 10 paintings of East German officials who were active when she was growing up in East Germany. The Meissen Propaganda Dishes are a cynical look back into her time at the Meissen Manufactory and consist of 12 paper dishes with original Meissen flower decorations combined with ideological slogans. Figurative works are the focus of Cornelia Thomsen’s work during the past two years and show her interest in psychological studies. With her distinctive body of work Cornelia Thomsen keeps abstract and figurative work in tension, finding inspiration from the rich history of abstract art and from her upbringing in former East Germany.

Cornelia Thomsen was born in Rudolstadt in the German Democratic Republic in 1970. After the reunification of Germany she moved to Frankfurt and received BA and MFA degrees from the University of Art and Design in Offenbach/Frankfurt, Germany. She currently lives and works in New York City.

EVENT

  • Cornelia Thomsen Gallery Tour

    Dates & Times: September 2 (Friday) from 5 pm
    September 3 (Saturday) from 3 pm, 4 pm, and 5 pm
    * Free Admission / Approx. 20 minutes per tour

    【Gallery Bar】
    Opening Times: September 2 (Friday), 5 pm to 7 pm
    September 3 (Saturday) from 3 pm to 7 pm

    2022.09.02 (fri) - 2022.09.03 (sat)

UPCOMINGEXHIBITIONS

Cornelia Thomsen

Cornelia Thomsen is a contemporary artist living and working in New York since 2006, best known for her abstract paintings. Cornelia Thomsen began her career in 1990 as an artist at the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen near Dresden after a 4-year apprenticeship in the company, where she was trained to paint baroque patterns onto porcelain. In 1994 she moved to Frankfurt where she enrolled in the University of Art and Design in Offenbach/Frankfurt. She turned to abstraction and developed her Stripes painting series in 2008 after a subsequent move to New York. The original idea of the series was based on her observation of the ocean, with its fluctuating colors and luminosity. Initially she painted the works in a horizontal format but soon decided to flip the orientation to a vertical format to detach the stripes from their reference to nature. The Stripes paintings consist of vertical bands of irregular widths that reach to the very edges of the canvas. They are a result of subtle differences in width, color and intensity. The Stripes produce a flickering sensation imbuing the overall composition with an optical effect, which is created by using strong contrast of dark and light colors and the juxtaposition of blurred and sharp lines.

The drawings are an intrinsic, if not intimate persuasion of a light that verges on a kind of drifting. The strokes of the ink pen are not punctuated but move quietly, yet intensely, from one area of concentration to another. The result in the larger works on paper is a kind of ephemeral surface and in the smaller ones a more purely abstract composition. 

Cornelia Thomsen’s abstract work is primarily concerned with formal matters and deal with basic questions about color and line. She also engages with postwar German history through figurative paintings, drawings and watercolors. One example is the series Role Models, which consists of 10 paintings of East German officials who were active when she was growing up in East Germany. The Meissen Propaganda Dishes are a cynical look back into her time at the Meissen Manufactory and consist of 12 paper dishes with original Meissen flower decorations combined with ideological slogans. Figurative works are the focus of Cornelia Thomsen’s work during the past two years and show her interest in psychological studies. With her distinctive body of work Cornelia Thomsen keeps abstract and figurative work in tension, finding inspiration from the rich history of abstract art and from her upbringing in former East Germany.

Cornelia Thomsen was born in Rudolstadt in the German Democratic Republic in 1970. After the reunification of Germany she moved to Frankfurt and received BA and MFA degrees from the University of Art and Design in Offenbach/Frankfurt, Germany. She currently lives and works in New York City.

Cornelia Thomsen

Cornelia Thomsen is a contemporary artist living and working in New York since 2006, best known for her abstract paintings. Cornelia Thomsen began her career in 1990 as an artist at the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory in Meissen near Dresden after a 4-year apprenticeship in the company, where she was trained to paint baroque patterns onto porcelain. In 1994 she moved to Frankfurt where she enrolled in the University of Art and Design in Offenbach/Frankfurt. She turned to abstraction and developed her Stripes painting series in 2008 after a subsequent move to New York. The original idea of the series was based on her observation of the ocean, with its fluctuating colors and luminosity. Initially she painted the works in a horizontal format but soon decided to flip the orientation to a vertical format to detach the stripes from their reference to nature. The Stripes paintings consist of vertical bands of irregular widths that reach to the very edges of the canvas. They are a result of subtle differences in width, color and intensity. The Stripes produce a flickering sensation imbuing the overall composition with an optical effect, which is created by using strong contrast of dark and light colors and the juxtaposition of blurred and sharp lines.

The drawings are an intrinsic, if not intimate persuasion of a light that verges on a kind of drifting. The strokes of the ink pen are not punctuated but move quietly, yet intensely, from one area of concentration to another. The result in the larger works on paper is a kind of ephemeral surface and in the smaller ones a more purely abstract composition. 

Cornelia Thomsen’s abstract work is primarily concerned with formal matters and deal with basic questions about color and line. She also engages with postwar German history through figurative paintings, drawings and watercolors. One example is the series Role Models, which consists of 10 paintings of East German officials who were active when she was growing up in East Germany. The Meissen Propaganda Dishes are a cynical look back into her time at the Meissen Manufactory and consist of 12 paper dishes with original Meissen flower decorations combined with ideological slogans. Figurative works are the focus of Cornelia Thomsen’s work during the past two years and show her interest in psychological studies. With her distinctive body of work Cornelia Thomsen keeps abstract and figurative work in tension, finding inspiration from the rich history of abstract art and from her upbringing in former East Germany.

Cornelia Thomsen was born in Rudolstadt in the German Democratic Republic in 1970. After the reunification of Germany she moved to Frankfurt and received BA and MFA degrees from the University of Art and Design in Offenbach/Frankfurt, Germany. She currently lives and works in New York City.

［Solo Exhibitions］

2014: “Landscape and Abstraction: Cornelia Thomsen,” Friedrich-Froebel Museum, Bad Blankenburg, Germany

“Cornelia Thomsen: Hypocrisis, Pressures, and Ironies of Life in Communist East Germany,” German Consulate NYC, New York

2015: “Cornelia Thomsen: Stripes and Structures,” Kashima Arts, Tokyo

2016: “Cornelia Thomsen: Strokes,” Leslie Feely Gallery, New York

2017: “Cornelia Thomsen,” Felix Ringel Gallery, Duesseldorf, Germany

2018: “Cornelia Thomsen: Stripes and Structures II,” Kashima Arts, Tokyo

2022: “Cornelia Thomsen: The Collective Self,” 1014 Space for Ideas, New York

“Cornelia Thomsen. Garden: Urgency and Resilience,” Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson, Wyoming

［Group Exhibitions］

2008: “Fragile Diplomacy,” The Bard Graduate Center, New York, 2008

2010: “Etchings and Prints,” Manhattan Graphics Center, New York

2015: “Testing Testing: Painting and Sculpture since 1960 from the Permanent Collection,” Ackland Art Museum, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

2016: German Consulate, “Make Your Mark,” Northside Festival’s Williamsburg Walks, Brooklyn

2018: Zurich 18 Art Fair, Felix Ringel Galerie, Zürich

2019: The Felix Ringel Gallery, Duesseldorf Germany

2021: “√K Collection Summer 2021“, √K Contemporary by Kashima Arts, Tokyo

2022: “The Joy of Blue,” Leslie Feely, New York

“Quieter than Silence,” Venetia Initiatives, New York

 

[ Publications ] 

Cornelia Thomsen: Works on Paper, The International Art and Design Fair, New York, 2005

Cornelia Thomsen: Garden, Erik Thomsen Gallery, New York, 2011

Cornelia Thomsen: Stripe Paintings, Erik Thomsen Gallery, New York, 2011

Cornelia Thomsen: Stripes and Structures, Leslie Feely Gallery, New York, 2014

Cornelia Thomsen: Stripes and Structures, Kashima Arts, Tokyo, 2015

Cornelia Thomsen: Strokes, Leslie Feely Gallery, New York, 2016

Cornelia Thomsen. Garden: Urgency and Resilience, Tayloe Piggott Gallery, Jackson, Wyoming, 2022

 

[Public collections]
Ackland Museum, Chapel Hill, NC
Fairfield University Art Museum, Fairfield, CT
Friedrich Fröbel Museum, Bad Blankenburg, Germany
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, CA
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia), Minneapolis, MN
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ

Link: Hyperallergic review by Robert Morgan
http://hyperallergic.com/155437/cornelia-thomsen-tactile-sensations-borrowed-from-nature/

Link: Cornelia Thomsen Website
http://corneliathomsen.com/about/