Ivo Ringe
Ivo Ringe’s concrete abstractions are fields composed of interactive colors and harmonic forms, applied using pigmentations produced from scratch and universally dictated by the golden ratio and other proportions.
His process is that of a biologist or mathematician. He applies axis points throughout the picture plane, at first achieving a tenuous balance, then renders each a point of convergence until the entirety forms an interconnected force of nature – a molecular dance that is both structurally sublime and free of symmetry, finite yet flexible. In that sense, the lines that bind the points are not necessarily random or even multidirectional, but all part of a singular event, a proliferation of cells rapidly evolving into an organism.
Alongside Ringe’s morphic structural compositions his Field paintings are large geometric abstractions composed of complementary color fields and a singular form floating in space. Rounding out this body of work will be a selection of paintings in which both approaches are combined, laying morphic structures atop geometric fields, thus creating the exhibition’s namesake. In seeking the creation of a positive proportional balance in every plane, Ringe affixes the golden section as well as other proportions as the stable and ruling element in an otherwise combustible formula.
In the artist’s words, “When you look at waves crashing or a fire burning, the individual forms get lost in the motions, and those vibrations elicit a chemical response for the viewer. The patterns and proportions become what we experience, all these life forces coming together as one, and that space becomes a habitat for the subconscious.”
Ivo Ringe(born 1951, Bonn, Germany) lives and works in Cologne. He studied sculpture and graphic arts with Josef Beuys and Rolf Sackenheim at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in the 1970s. He has exhibited in various group and solo exhibitions throughout Europe for nearly quarter of a century. Ringe lectures regularly on color theory, free drawing, and painting techniques in his native Germany, and since 2014 has served as Artistic Director of the Ateliers Fine Arts, Rheinische Friedrich‐Wilhelms, University of Bonn.
Born 1951 in Bonn. Lives and works in Cologne.
| 1972-74 | Studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dusseldorf as a student under Prof. Joseph Beuys. |
| 1974-77 | Studied graphics as a student under Prof. Rolf Sackenheim, 1977 as a master student. |
Private Collections (Selection)
Aalenburg, Germany
Alfes, Germany
Behr, Germany
Belik, Turkey
Bergerhoff, Germany
Blanke, Germany
von Buttlar, Germany
Diers, France
Esfandiary, France
Felder, Germany
Hagedorn, Germany
Hartzheim, Germany
Hohlfeld, Germany
Hörster, Germany
Judith, Germany
Larsson, Germany
Liberty, USA
Rupf, Germany
Scharf, USA
Sreckovic, France
Sypplie, Germany
Trah, Germany
Vogt, France
Wolff, Germany
Wolff, Italy
Zimmermann, Germany
Public Collections (Selection)
artothek, Cologne
Bodenstaff/Gontrum, Werl
SK Stiftung, Cologne
Nederlandse Waterschaps Bank, The Haag, Niederlande
NeueRäume, Cologne
Museum Katharinenhof, Kranenburg
Solo exhibitions
| 2023 | IVO RINGE - SÜDLICHT, Muzej – Museo Lapidarium, Novigrad-Cittanova, Croatia |
| 2022 | JOE BARNES / IVO RINGE - VISIONS (duo show), Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg |
| 2021 | JOAQUIM CHANCHO / IVO RINGE - RESONANZEN (duo show), Galerie Floss & Schultz, Cologne |
| 2019 | IVO RINGE – SIMPLE PRESENT, Galerie Floss & Schultz, Cologne |
| 2018 | IVO RINGE: ...or burst out from its confines and radiate..., Tremenheere Sculpture Gardens Penzance, Cornwall, UK |
| 2016 | MORPHIC FIELDS, Claudia Weil Galerie, Friedberg |
| 2015 | WISSE DAS BILD, Kunsthaus Rehau (cat.) |
| 2014 | STRUKTUREN, Kunstkontor Galerie Ulf Larsson, Cologne (with Joaquim Chancho) |
| 2011 | NEW MOMENT, Schaltwerk Kunst Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg |
| 2010 | ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA, Kunstkontor, Galerie Ulf Larsson, Cologne |
| 2009 | ...DENN DA IST KEINE STELLE..., Neue Galerie Landshut |
| 2008 | Galerie Cornelia Kamp, Keitum/Sylt (with Joe Barnes) |
| 2007 | Galerie Marina Wolff, Milan |
| 2006 | McBride Fine Art, Antwerpen |
| 2005 | Galerie Cornelia Kamp, Sylt |
| 2004 | Projektraum 150 Kubikmeter Largus, Cologne (with Joe Barnes) |
| 1999 | Second Sunday Salon, Cologne |
| 1994 | Galerie Mickan, Wiesbaden |
| 1993 | Galerie Thorigny, Paris |
| 1992 | Galerie G. Apicella, Cologne |
| 1991 | ART EXHIBITION PALACE, Vilnius, Lithuania (now CAC, Vilnius) |
| 1990 | Goethe Institut Bonn |
Group exhibitions
| 2023 | QUADRATUR DES KREISES, Galerie im Barockschloss Königshain |
| 2022 | RUČNA PRTLJAGA/ HANDGEPÄCK, Anita Kontrec Foundation, Zagreb, Croatia |
| 2021 | HIER UND JETZT, Stadtmuseum Hattingen WUENSCH COLLECTION, Museum Lapidarium & Gallery Rigo, Novigrad-Cittanova (HR) KALEIDOSCOPE, Museo Irpino Carcere Borbonico, Avellino (I) EST ist was IS war, EST art foundation, Leiden EDITIONS AND SMALL FORMATS, Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg MULTI LAYER, Raum Schroth at Museum Wilhelm Morgner, Soest and Schloss Plüschow (cat.) TRIO (with Rupert Eder and Jo Schöpfer), Städtische Galerie Speyer |
| 2019 | SIXTY NIFTY, Augsburg-Contemporary, Augsburg |
| 2017 | PAINTING BLACK, Raum Schroth im Museum Wilhelm Morgner, Soest (cat.) |
| 2016 | THE PATTERN REVEALS ITSELF, Claudia Weil Galerie, Friedberg |
| 2015 | 20 JAHRE KUNSTGRUPPE, Kunstgruppe Cologne |
| 2014 | STRUKTUREN: BRITISCHE UND DEUTSCHE KUNST IM DIALOG. With works by Ian McKeever and Ivo Ringe, Günther Förg, Michael Jäger, Tim Allen, Mark Francis, Andrew Bick and Miro Zahra, Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Penzance, Cornwall |
| 2013 | RETICULATE, McKenzie Fine Art, New York City |
| 2012 | LESS IS MORE, Kunstkontor Galerie Ulf Larsson, Cologne |
| 2011 | ORNAMENTAL, Städtische Galerie Lippstadt (with Min Clara Kim, Hugo Boguslawski) |
| 2010 | ARBEITEN AUF PAPIER - WORKS ON PAPER, with Rupert Eder, Jon Groom, Christian F. Kintz, Ian McKeever, Schaltwerk Kunst, Hamburg (now: Galerie Nanna Preußners) |
| 2009 | SUMMERTIME, Kunstkontor, Galerie Ulf Larsson, Cologne |
| 2008 | NOW!, Museum Katharinenhof, Kranenburg (with Joe Barnes, Claudia Desgranges, cat.) |
| 2007 | WATERCOLOURS, Galerie König, Hanau/Frankfurt |
| 2006 | UNO SPAZIO SU MISURA 5, Marina Wolff, Milan |
| 2005 | AT THE MOMENT, Studio 18 Gallery, New York |
| 2004 | ES GEHT UNS GUT UND DANKE FÜR DEN FISCH, Projektraum 150 Kubikmeter Largus, Cologne |
| 2003 | DIE ACHTSAMKEIT DES AUGENBLICKS - 5 MALER, Neuer Kunstverein Aschaffenburg, Galerie Cornelia Kamp, Sylt (with Joe Barnes, Claudia Desgranges, Jon Groom, Jerry Zeniuk, cat.) |
| 2002 | SCULPTURE 2002, Conny Dietzschold Gallery, Sidney, Australia |
| 1995 | QUINTESSENZ: MADE FOR AROLSEN 1995, Museum Bad Arolsen (with Tony Clark, Jon Shelton etc., cat.) |
| 1994 | ROT SEHEN, Galerie Mickan, Wiesbaden |
| 1993 | Descouvertes, Grand Palais, Paris |
| 1992 | Descouvertes, Grand Palais, Paris |
| 1991 | Galerie G. Apicella, Cologne |
