Cornelia Schleime
Ohne Lippen sind die Zähne kalt
27 April – 1 June 2024
Works
Von hier nach dort verliert sich der Ort
2020
Acrylic, shellac and asphalt varnish on canvas
200 × 340 cm
Einen Sinn entdecken – alles lässt sich ketten
2022 – 2023
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
210 × 360 cm
Der Nachthelle
2017
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
200 × 160 cm
Blauer Dunst
2020
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
220 × 180 cm
Veronese Blau
2020
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
220 × 180 cm
Ohne Lippen sind die Zähne kalt
2020
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
220 × 180 cm
Show more works
Mutter
2023
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
180 × 160 cm
Sphärentrichter
2022
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
220 × 180 cm
Pechstolz
2024
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
160 × 140 cm
Wenn Mein ist Dein
2020
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
180 × 210 cm
Wenn der Ostwind weht
2016
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
220 × 360 cm
Würgeengel
2023 – 2024
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
180 × 320 cm
Windsbraut
2024
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
100 × 80 cm
Der Nacht geschuldet
2014 – 2019
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
100 × 80 cm
Die Versteifte
2024
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
100 × 80 cm
Was oben springt – unten zerbricht
2024
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
100 × 80 cm
Kanonenfutter
2024
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
100 × 80 cm
Fingerhut
2024
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
160 × 140 cm
Messers-Stich
2024
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
180 × 160 cm
Die Wächterinnen
2023 – 2024
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
220 × 180 cm
Morgengraben
2012
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
200 × 180 cm
Mitternachtsschwester
2012
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
200 × 180 cm
Why Not
2021
Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas
210 × 180 cm
Von hier nach dort verliert sich der Ort 2020 Acrylic, shellac and asphalt varnish on canvas 200 × 340 cm
Einen Sinn entdecken – alles lässt sich ketten 2022 – 2023 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 210 × 360 cm
Der Nachthelle 2017 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 200 × 160 cm
Blauer Dunst 2020 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 220 × 180 cm
Veronese Blau 2020 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 220 × 180 cm
Ohne Lippen sind die Zähne kalt 2020 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 220 × 180 cm
Mutter 2023 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 180 × 160 cm
Sphärentrichter 2022 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 220 × 180 cm
Pechstolz 2024 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 160 × 140 cm
Wenn Mein ist Dein 2020 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 180 × 210 cm
Wenn der Ostwind weht 2016 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 220 × 360 cm
Würgeengel 2023 – 2024 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 180 × 320 cm
Windsbraut 2024 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 100 × 80 cm
Der Nacht geschuldet 2014 – 2019 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 100 × 80 cm
Die Versteifte 2024 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 100 × 80 cm
Was oben springt – unten zerbricht 2024 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 100 × 80 cm
Kanonenfutter 2024 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 100 × 80 cm
Fingerhut 2024 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 160 × 140 cm
Messers-Stich 2024 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 180 × 160 cm
Die Wächterinnen 2023 – 2024 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 220 × 180 cm
Morgengraben 2012 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 200 × 180 cm
Mitternachtsschwester 2012 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 200 × 180 cm
Why Not 2021 Acrylic, asphalt varnish and shellac on canvas 210 × 180 cm
Text
Cornelia Schleime, who turned 70 in 2023, is the Grande Dame of German painting. She is the great observer and storyteller par excellence, who light-footedly merges reality and fantasy into visually powerful compositions, pursuing German Romantic traditions in a way that is as clever as it is aesthetically pleasing. Since the 1990s, she has predominantly portrayed compelling, imaginary characters in her paintings, whose presence and expressiveness easily fill pictorial spaces of her mostly large works. The figures are always self-confident, independent and unbending and thus speak out against heteronomy, egalitarianism and oppression. There is usually also a hint of defiance in their eyes. It is the legendary “oppositional gaze” of Schleime’s characters. And it is also a manifestation of the artist’s own oppositional gaze, who once said that she always paints her figures as alter egos. The artist’s first solo exhibition at Galerie Judin is dedicated to such portraits, all created during the last 10 years.
Cornelia Schleime was born in East part of Berlin in 1953, where she trained as a hairdresser and make-up artist before she took up her studies in painting in Dresden. Her interest in revealing the different “faces” of people is apparent from an early stage and were to become a common thread in Schleime’s work. The intense spying and harassment she endured from the GDR regime, before she was finally allowed to leave for the West in 1984, sharpened her sensitivity towards the individual in the field of tension of its social and political conditions. The portraits at the center of this exhibition present themselves as lessons learned from these experiences. Ultimately, each of Schleime’s works revolves around the uniqueness, dignity and sovereignty of the individual. The artist can now look back on an oeuvre that is not only of art-historical but also of political significance.
Continue reading
On the occasion of Schleime’s first solo exhibition at Galerie Judin, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König will publish the first volume of her catalogue raisonné, which compiles the photographs that document the artist’s performances, along with Super 8 films shot between 1978 and 1984 – all created in the GDR as protest against the SED regime.