Nikola Irmer
Nikola Irmer is an artist who works on specific themes over long periods of time, involving extensive research into her subject matter. She is a painter whose interest in a theme tends to begin as a visceral response to a visual impression, which then evolves into an obsessive investigation into her subject. For this she engages in thorough research into its intellectual background and history, but most importantly it involves an elaborate work process, from various stages of study – small pencil sketches, dense drawings, colour studies, oil sketches up to large scale paintings. Her focus is on things whose use value has apparently diminished and whose status as relic opens up avenues for alternate interpretations to the artist. These objects often straddle the contradiction of being at one and the same time alluring and seductive whilst also implying darker hidden meanings. Her body of work “Promethean Boldness” with which she was invited to be part of dOCUMENTA 13, addresses the ambivalent nature of Natural History Collections.
In her current work “Playpens”, she delves into the world of the miniature. The paintings are of toy worlds, parallel universes that are often associated with innocence, domestic comfort and play. Dollhouses in particular are vessels of coded meanings that are profoundly gendered whilst also serving as models of order and family privacy. Yet lurking beneath this veneer of suburban middle class bliss, the world of play can turn to shadow areas and be threatened by suddenly irrupting chaos. Thus notions of domestic safety and control are subtly undermined through disjunctions in scale, outrageous colour choices, surreal juxtapositions and dark humour. Spaces in paintings are on the verge of tipping into the absurd, others have trespassers from outside that subvert their logic and unity. All these originate in and tap into deeply ambivalent memories and imaginations of childhood. In painting miniature worlds, Irmer is also investigating a more puzzling conundrum: Everyday recognizable objects at reduced scale solicit handling and interaction yet leave us confounded because they do not serve their implied purpose. Here a gap opens up for reflecting on objects whose outward appearance and function are at extreme variance. As painting from life is at bottom always a puzzling over appearance’s ontology, this proves very fertile ground for painting.
Since she began exhibiting in 1999, Irmer has had numerous exhibitions in the US, Britain and Europe. She was a participant at dOCUMENTA 13, Worldly House. Recent solo shows were at Schlossmuseum Schloss Friedenstein Gotha, Mewo Kunsthalle, Memmingen, Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg and Neue Galerie Landshut. Recent group shows were at Brennan and Griffin, New York, galerie weisser elefant, Berlin, Projektraum Deutscher Künstlerbund, Berlin and Galerie Julia Garnatz, Cologne.
Born 1970 in Starnberg. Lives and works in Berlin.
Education
| 1992-93 | San Francisco Art Institute |
| 1993-95 | Glasgow School of Art (Bachelor of Fine Arts) |
| 1995-98 | Hunter College, City University New York (Master of Fine Arts) |
| 2010 | 3-month study residence in Florence |
| 2013 | 6-month study residence in Florence |
Awards and Promotions
| 2013 | Support for artist's catalogue for E-book Promethean Boldness, Design Transfer Bonus, Senate Administration for the Economy, Technology and Women's Issues |
| 2003 | work scholarship, foundation for Funding Culture |
| 1999 | Support for artist's catalogue,Thuringian Ministry for Science, Education and Culture |
| 1997 | Travel Grant, Hunter College, New York |
| 1995 | Landscape Drawing Prize, Glasgow School of Art |
Bibliography
| 2017 | Jeremias Heppeler, "Formen in Formaldehyd", in: Thurgaukultur |
| 2016 | Titus Arnu, Nikola Irmer. Zoo der lebenden Toten, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung No. 216, 17./18. September, page 52 |
| 2014 | Heim_Spiel Mitte, exhibition catalog, Frauenmuseum Berlin & galerie weisser elefant, Berlin |
| 2013 | Promethean Boldness, e-book, Kunst Editionen, Berlin |
| 2012 | Nikola Irmer, Promethean Boldness, in: „Bildende Künste und Dynamiken der Natur, Kritische Berichte, Vol. 40, Nr. 3 |
| 2010 | Guido Schlimbach (editor), Blickwechsel, exhibition catalog, Galerie Julia Garnatz, Cologne |
| 2009 | basis Wien (eiditor), Mal was Deutsches, exhibition catalog, Vienna |
| 2008 | Maureen Ward, Nikola Irmer: Horst, in: a-n magazine, September Issue, page 17, UK |
| 2007 | Wilhelm von Werthern, Artist of the month: Nikola Irmer, in: LE MONDE diplomatique, December |
| 2006 | Happy Birthday, exhibition catalog, Kunsthaus Erfurt |
| 2005 | K4 galerie (editor), Nikola Irmer, Personals, bruno dorn verlag, Berlin |
| 2002 | Times Square Gallery (editor), Second Sight, exhibition catalog, New York City |
| 1999 | Tely Büchner (Hg.), Nikola Irmer, exhibition catalog, Galerie im Kunsthaus Erfurt |
Teaching, Talks:
| 2017 | Lecturer, University Konstanz: Exhibition! A curatorical dialogue between Art History and Contemporary Painting |
| 2016/17 | Lecturer, University Konstanz: Exhibition! A curatorical dialogue between Art History and Contemporary Painting |
| 2008 | Visiting Lecturer, Camberwell College of Arts |
| 2003-05 | Lecturer, Summer Academy Neuburg |
Solo exhibitions
| 2023 | Birds, Haus der Natur, Salzburg Traces, Galerie Belleparais, Munich Behind the Scenes, curated by Maria and Natalia Petchatnikov, Panda Platforma, Berlin |
| 2022 | Nikola Irmer, Traces, Kunstverein Konstanz Admont Guests: Works by Nikola Irmer at Natural History Museum, Stift Admont, Austria |
| 2020 | Figmens and Clues, Neue Galerie Landshut, Verein für aktuelle Kunst e.V. |
| 2017 | Animalerisch, Kunstraum Kreuzlingen, Switzerland |
| 2015 | Leben im Verborgenen, Schlossmuseum Gotha, Ekhof-Galerie |
| 2014 | Stilled Lives, Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg |
| 2013 | A Bird a Mouse and a Piece of Heart..., Neue Galerie Landshut, Verein für aktuelle Kunst e.V. |
| 2011 | Promethean Boldness, Hemingwayart, Oxford |
| 2010 | Blickwechsel, Galerie Julia Garnatz, Cologne (with Rupert Eder, cat.) |
| 2009 | Thickets, Foyer Space Gallery, Camberwell College of Arts, London |
| 2008 | Horst, apartment, Manchester |
| 2007 | Boys, axellappprojects, Berlin |
| 2005 | Mauerpark, project space, Art Frankfurt |
| 2004 | Far From Home, Kunsthaus Erfurt |
| 2003 | Far From Home, Ungarische Botschaft, Berlin |
Group exhibitions
| 2024 | Aktuelle Kunst in alten Mauern: Aspekte der Sammlung Gegenwartskunst des Stiftes Admont, Museum Gegenwartskunst, Admont, Austria |
| 2023 | "Sieh einmal die Schönen Blümen", Galerie Jägerschere, curated by Nick Crowe |
| 2022 | Admont Guests, Nikola Irmer at Naturhistorisches Museum, Stift Admont, Austria Unternehmerinnen IV, Galerie Belleparais, Munich |
| 2021 | imPERFEKT, MEWO Kunsthalle, Memmingen Unternehmerinnen III, Belleparais - Raum für Kunst, Munich |
| 2020 | Seltene Gewächse, Belleparais - Raum für Kunst, Munich |
| 2018 | 100, Galerie Axel Obiger, Berlin |
| 2017 | Mindscapes, Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg (with Peter Sköld and Flora Whiteley) |
| 2014 | Heim_Spiel Mitte, galerie weisser elefant, Berlin |
| 2013 | Best Of, Künstler der Galerie, Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg |
| 2012 | Promethean Boldness within the framework of the exhibition "The Worldly House. An Archive Inspired by Donna Haraway’s Writings on Multi-Species Co-Evolution", dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel |
| 2009 | Mal was Deutsches, Salzburg |
| 2008 | Menschen und Orte, 150 Jahre Kunstverein Konstanz |
| 2007 | Review, axellappprojects, Berlin |
| 2006 | Das Große im Kleinen, K4 galerie, Saarbrücken |
| 2005 | Aus der Serie, K4 galerie, Saarbrücken |
| 2003 | Why Can't I be You? Galerie Paula Böttcher, Berlin |
| 2002 | Second Sight, Times Square Gallery, New York (cat.) |
| 2001 | Three Painters, Intermedia Gallery, Glasgow |
| 1999 | Portrait, AU Base Gallery, New York |
