Wiebke Dreyer @ Broomhill
We have asked the artist to provide a statement about their work, an edited personal history, and a selection of exhibitions and commissions. The content here is entirely their words and selection. Works illustrated here have been chosen by the artist.
Wiebke Dreyer is on show in Painters@Broomhill in 2005.
The works shown on this page are not necessarily on display at Broomhill.
The Artist Speaks
About the artist
Wiebke Dreyer, originally from Hamburg, decided very early to become an artist, it was always a kind of fact for her, starting painting and drawing at an very early age. She never wrote a diary, for example, but always painted one.
Aged 12 she hit the headline of a local newspaper for being the youngest member of a watercolour art group, showing their works at a local exhibition in Germany.
Later on she trained with a former art college tutor in Hamburg to prepare a portfolio for Central St Martin's College in London, where she did her Foundation Course.
She gave up music for art, her other passion, because she could stop rehearsing an instrument but not a painting till it was the way she wanted it to be. She always had her own mind about her paintings which lead to a strong sense for art.
At the age of 19 she started her formal art training, which included a BA in Barcelona and a lot of time spent in south of France (Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier) and finally a MA at Wimbledon School of Art, graduating in 2000 ('the millenium masters').
Artists that inspire her are Gerhard Richter, German Expressionism and Mediterranean folk art. But most of her paintings are the result of long walks in parks and travelling where she relaxes and clears her mind and let impressions of light and colour come to her.
About the work
Wiebke's work reflects the subtle and complex tradition of painting light. Another strong aspect of the artist's work combines painting as a medium to communicate as a language. She is interested in the way in which languages change the perception of colour, and as colour is all around us, perception in general. The artist is fascinated by language and communication, she speaks four languages fluently.
Returning to the north and choosing multicultural London as the base for her work as a painter and printmaker, she started her series about colour, exploring different aspects, such as writing and techniques from oil painting and monoprints to silkscreen printing.
Constant travel keeps her in contact with the luminosity and strength of Mediterranean light she needs for her vibrant abstract paintings and monoprints.
Recent travelling to Morocco introduced a new aspect to her artistic practice, the use of texture and mixed media. Sand and pigments are at the heart of her series "desert paintings', drawn from the experinces of some time spent in the Sahara desert, whilst in Morocco. She now continues the theme of texture and the use of mixed media in a new series inspired by walks In Hampstead Heath and images of paths and ways, which show similarities to textures found in the Moroccan desert. Equally these new paintings refer back to the first series as their are both inspired by nature.
Profile
Wiebke Dreyer, originally from Hamburg, has spent a significant time in the Mediterranean which has had a very strong influence on her work. In Barcelona, during her BA, her work and research of colour began, taking initial inspiration from Mediterranean landscapes and architecture.
Wiebke's work reflects the subtle and complex tradition of painting light.
Returning to the north and choosing multicultural London as the base for her work as a painter and printmaker, she started her series about colour, exploring different aspects, such as writing on the canvas, and techniques from oil painting to monoprints and silkscreen printing.
She is also interested in the way in which languages change the perception of colour, making this her research for her MA in Fine Art at Wimbledon School of Art. The artist is fascinated by communicating, she speaks four languages fluently.
Recent travelling to Morocco introduced a new aspect to her artistic practice, the use of texture. Sand and pigments are at the heart of her latest series "desert paintings' and the following 'earth' series, drawn from the experiences of some time spent in the Sahara desert and lately from walks in her local park, whose paths resemble the sandy surfaces of the desert.
The artist likes to work in series, believing her work to be not only individual paintings or small series, but one.
Education
2000: July: Gradution from Wimbledon School of Art, London, with the Masters Degree in Fine Art
1999: May: Graduationfrom the Byam Shaw School of Art with the Post-Graduate Diploma in Fine Art
1998: May: Graduation from Escola Massana, Barcelona with the Fine Art Diploma (BA equivalent), after four years Fine Art course
1998: January: two month placement at Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Montpellier in South of France
1996/97: Five month exchange with the Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Montpellier
1994: Foundation course at Central St Martins, London
Shows
2004: December: "Out of the Blue' group show, Art at Five Gallery, Brighton
2004: September/October: "OnThe Wall' art fair, Olympia, London
2004: May: Show with Cheyenne Art 3 Yang at the Great Expectation Gallery, London
2004: May: Battersea Contemporary Art Fair, London
2004: April: Competition showcase 'My World' a The Waterloo Gallery, London
2004: April: Foyer show at The Chocolate Factory, London
2004: February: Artist in residence at the Güttler Music Festival Hitzacker, Germany
2003: December: Competition showcase 'Fusion' at Gallery 47, London
2003: June: Show at Siemens Headquarter, Nürnberg
2003: May & November: Battersea Contemporary Art Fair
2002: December: Participation in The Café Gallery Projects Open, London
2002: November: Battersea Contemporary Art Fair
2002: November onwards: Work at the Scottish online gallery Blink Red
2002: September: 'Seeing colour', Show at Arcola Theatre, London
2002: May: Show at Broomhill Art Hotel, Devon
2002: February: The Affordable Art Fair, London
2001: October: Show with Raw Canvas in Aldwych Station, London
2001: August: Show at Kreative Köaut;pfe, Düsseldorf, constant contact and display of work in Düsseldorf
2001: August: 'Of colour and words' at The Shed@The Old Dairy, London
2000: December: First annual Open Studios at The Chocolate Factory
2000: September: Show at Innovas Gmbh, Hamburg, work sold to the collection
1998: April: 'La imatge de la Memòria' group show, part of the 9th Barcelona Spring of Photography, La Casa Elizalde, Barcelona
1998: March:'Contactos', group show at Sala dıArte de Josep Bages, El Prat de Llobegrat, Spain
1997: March: 'La Donna Artista' group show at C.S.P. Erasme Janer, Barcelona
