Tomma Abts

Tomma Abts was born in 1967 in Kiel, Germany and studied at Hochschule der Künste in Berlin from 1988 to 1995. Grounded in process and materiality, Abts’ complex paintings and works on paper are painstakingly constructed, each work guided largely by intuition with little preconceived idea for its outcome. Working from no preliminary sketches, Abts’ methodical process of over-painting and reworking an image results in variations in surface, texture, edge, tonality and colour. Interlocking lines, colours and shapes are densely layered creating images with a confidence that seek to represent themselves.

Recent solo exhibitions include David Zwirner, New York, NY; Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO (2014); Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne (2013); greengrassi, London (2011); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (2011); Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin (2009); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2008); New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2008. Recent group exhibitions include Made In Britain: Contemporary Art from the British Council Collection 1980 – 2010, Benaki Museum, Greece; Albanian National Gallery, Tirana; Maribor, Slovenia; Ankara, Turkey, David Zwirner, New York, NY (2012); The Indiscipline of Painting, Mead Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre (2012); The Indiscipline of Painting, Tate St Ives, Cornwall (2011); PPP, Public Private Paintings, Mu.ZEE, Oostende (2011); Absentee Landlord, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN (curated byJohn Waters, 2011); Seeing Is a Kind of Thinking: A Jim Nutt Companion, MCA, Chicago (curated by Julie Rodrigues Widholm, 2011)). Abts was the first female painter to win the Turner Prize, London (2006).

Read More