Sonja Kalb

Biography

Born in Stuttgart
Studied Textiles and Design (Engineering Diploma)
Lives and works in Düsseldorf

Selected Collections

Yukyung Art Museum, Haegeumgang Theme Museum, Geoje, KR
Art Collection, Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf, DE

AWARDS
2020 WAA Woman Art Award, Musa International Art Space in cooperation with UNESCO
2019 Special Mention for Excellence, London Art Biennial
2018 Best Abstract Artwork, Biennial Chianciano

SELECTED SOLO- AND GROUP EXHIBITION
2022 Metropolitan Art Museum, JP
2022 Grand Palais Ephémère Salon des Artistes Indépendants, FR
2022 Abstract Landscape, Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf, DE
2021 We Contemporary Art Show, Raum Salmgasse, Vienna, AT
2021 Monat Gallery, Madrid, SP
2020 Art of Remediation, Haegeumgang Theme Museum, Geoje, KR
2020 Woman's Essence, Palazzo Velli, Rome, IT
2020 Sommer 20 – 20 Künstler, Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf, DE
2020 Sonja Kalb, Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf, DE
2019 We Contemporary Art Show, Topič Salon, Prague, CZ
2019 Kunstverein Duisburg zu Gast im Kunstverein Landshut, Kunstverein Landshut, Landshut, DE
2019 London Art Biennial, Chelsea Old Town Hall, London, UK
2019 Strukturen, Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf, DE
2018 International Biennial of Flanders, Site Oud Sint-Jan Museum, Bruges, BE
2018 Chianciano Biennial, Gagliardi Gallery, London, UK
2018 Expo Autumn, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2018 Sonja Kalb, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2018 Chianciano Biennial, Museo d'Arte di Chianciano, Chianciano Terme, IT
2017 Sonja Kalb: Abstrakte Malerei, Museum Kaiserswerth, Düsseldorf, DE
2017 Sonja Kalb, Colorida Art Gallery, Lisbon, PT
2017 Rainforest, Kunstverein Duisburg, Duisburg, DE
2016 Sonja Kalb: Poesie der Farben, Galerie Kellermann im Ballhaus im Nordpark, Düsseldorf, DE
2016 White Christmas, Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, DE
2016 Encounters – Begegnungen, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2015 Abstract Dreams, Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf, DE
2015 Sonja Kalb: Emotion, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2015 20 Jahre Galerie Heidefeld, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2013 Art for Peace for a better World, National Art Gallery of Izmir, Izmir, TR
2012 Fulfilment, Gallery M-Mauersberger, Vienna, AT
2012 Sonja Kalb: Abstraktionen, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2010 Künstler der Galerie, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2009 Sonja Kalb, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE

SELECTED ART FAIRS
2018 art KARLSRUHE, Messe Karlsruhe, Rheinstetten, DE
2017 Montreux Art Gallery, Montreux Music & Convention Centre, Montreux, FR
2015 25. Kunstmesse, Frauenmuseum, Bonn, DE
2014 1st International Contemporary Art Fair Iran, Qasr Garden Museum, Tehran, IR
2013 23. Kunstmesse, Frauenmuseum, Bonn, DE
2012 Affordable Art Fair, La Pelanda, Rome, IT
2012 Art Beijing, Fangheng International Center, Beijing, CN
2011 Lineart 30, Flanders Expo, Ghent, BE

Artist Statement

The love of art and the need to express myself through colours and compositions have always accompanied me. Photographs, nature drawings, nude and portrait painting developed while training as a textile and design engineer have helped me develop a handwriting that is as precise artistically as it is sound on an artisanal level. Like many artists of the 20th and 21st century, I have turned from figurative painting first to collage and then to abstraction.

I reduce to the essential: shapes and the substance of colours. My means of expression are surface structures and textures, strong contrasts, at times expressive colour choices and play with colour surfaces that partly conceal, partly reveal what lies beneath. In order for the complexity and optical depth of the paintings to become perceptible, parts of the canvas remain open. To apply layers, I use paintbrushes and palette knives, oil crayons, pencil and pigments.

Travelling is my source of inspiration: I am guided by memories of a place’s colours, its nature, particular patterns of light and shadow. My artistic practice is a painted response to the disrespect of the environment and the fast pace of the increasingly digitalized world; an expression of my desire that we develop respect for the surrounding world and that we recognize the urgency of sustainable protection of nature. The paintings’ titles refer to those sources of inspiration, subject areas and concerns. More importantly, though, my colour worlds are meant to invite viewers to go on a sensuous journey of discovery and to inspire thoughts and ideas of their own.

Country Germany

Website https://sonjakalb.com/