Cornelia Baltes — À propos — Slash Paris

In Baltes’s works, daily life becomes a subject of constant wonder. She has a light touch and a keen eye for everything that is surprising and sometimes ridiculous in our world.

Her photographs document mundane things like lit windows at nighttime Dark Knight (2012), or a plastic chain hanging from a stack of logs that looks like a smile. Her paintings use the medium in unexpected ways: Some protrude from the frame Teaparty for Michael (2011), others use murals as part of a painting installation. In There You Are!, (2010), a large hand painted on a wall points to a painting that hangs there. Simplicity and not overworking — these, she says, are the things “I need to nurture most: keep it light and tight. Also, giving up on a misplaced investment in ‘painting’ has freed me to do as I feel.”

Beyond the fact that the works are witty and subtle, they also show a real interest in composition, color, and texture, which makes them quite beautiful.

Exhibitions

2013
CURIOSITY and METHOD, Less is More Projects, Paris, FR
Carousel, Aspex Gallery Portsmouth
Nur was nicht ist ist möglich — Malerei im Raum, Museum Folkwang, Essen, DE
There’s a light and a whistle for attracting attention, DREI, Cologne, DE (solo)
ZERO GRAVITY, Less is more projects, Paris, FR
Schnick Schnack Schnuck! Limoncello, London, UK (solo)

2012
SUNDAY, Limoncello, London, UK (solo)
Chimera Q.T.E., Cell Project Space, London UK
P/N/7 The summary show, Project Number, London, UK
Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy London, UK
Curatorial Spotligh, FordProject, New York, US
Young British Art II (curated by Ryan Gander and Christina von Rotenhan), Dienstgebäude, Zurich, CH
HOOLOOVOO, Aspex Gallery, Portsmouth, UK (solo)

2011
Crash Open Salon Show, Charlie Dutton Gallery, London, UK
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2011: In the Presence ICA, London, UK
Postgraduate Printmaking Exhibition 2011, Clifford Chance, London, UK
Helter Skelter, UCLH Arts, London, UK
Jealous Graduate Print Prize, Jealous Gallery, London, UK
Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2011 Site Gallery/ S1 Artspace, Sheffield, UK
MA/MFA Show 2011, Slade School of Fine Art London, UK

2010
John Moores Painting Prize, Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, UK
The great Loop forward Tank Gallery, London, UK (solo)
Istanbul was Constantinople, Hush Gallery, Istanbul, TUR
Slade Interim Show, Woburn Research Center, London, UK
Art in Focus: Black and white Flower painting St. Mary‘s Hospice, London, UK
Threads Tank Gallery, London, UK
Exhibitionism, Eastwing 9 The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House, London, UK

2008
3 in 1, Kunsthaus Essen, DE
Große Kunstausstellung NRW, Museum Kunst Palast Duesseldorf, DE

2007
Love Stories, GAM — Galerie am Museum, Essen, DE
Ches Nouz, Kunsthaus Essen, DE

2006
Enface, diploma exhibition, Forum for Art and Architecture Essen, DE
Pentiment — Show, Summer Academy, Hamburg, DE
Ruhrpuls Music and Art Festival, Bochum, DE
Herrengedeck, Gallery Brave Lotte, Duisburg, DE

2005
Schon wieder Winter, Solaris e.V. Düsseldorf, DE (solo)
Sichtwerk, University Duisburg — Essen, DE
Außenstelle No.2, Forum for Art and Architecture, Essen, DE