Ina Gerken: Poppies in Orbit

The Artist Room is pleased to present a solo exhibition of works by Ina Gerken (b.1987). Gerken’s new works continue her investigation into the possibilities of abstraction; her vibrant and energetic paintings arise from an intuitive and reactionary process.

The expressive sensibility of her practice continues a tradition of German artists including Albert Oehlen, Gerhard Richter, Günther Förg, and Katharina Grosse; the latter Gerken studied under at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. In paintings such as Variation II (both 2022), her layered process of building and blending paint is clear; fields of colour appear light and dark, creating oscillating sensations of shallow and cavernous depths of field.

While Gerken makes no claim to representing reality as we directly perceive it, in some paintings recognisable subject matter seems to emerge from the subconscious. In works such as Poppy (2022) — from which the exhibition takes its name — a recognisable floral form appears in the final image, with paint appearing supple and translucent like a petal. While in Orbis (2022), contrasting planes of colour situated alongside balanced soft and hard shapes are evocative of a harsh, supernatural and dystopian landscape.

Describing her original and recognisable contributions to abstraction, Director of the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Gregor Jansen, illuminates that Gerken offers a ‘striated reality of our fundamental forms.’ In her intense and dynamic paintings, we may find a ‘geology of the gaze — mountains, sediments, leaves ferns — that comes to light again and again and always in new ways,’ unpredictable yet complete; much like experimental rock, avant-garde jazz or punk music.

Ina Gerken (b.1987) lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. In 2016, Gerken graduated with a master’s from Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany where she studied under Katharina Grosse. Prior to that, Gerken studied Fine Art at Kunsthochschule Mainz, Germany where she graduated in 2013. Residencies include The Fores Project, London (2021); and La Brea Studio Artists Residency, Los Angeles (2019).

Recent solo exhibitions include Circling, Kjubh Kunstverein, Köln, Germany (2022); RISING, Makasiini Contemporary, Turku, Finland (2020); Under Pressure, The Cabin, Los Angeles, USA (2019); and Blank Spots, Achenbach Hagemeier, Düsseldorf, Germany (2018). Recent group exhibitions include Girl meets Girl, Kunstlaboratorium Vestfossen, Norway; Different Strokes, Kunstverein Duisburg, Germany (both 2022); Neue Malerei in der Sammlung, Kunsthaus NRW, Kornelimünster; The Nature of Abstraction, Ruimpte60, Assen; and Kunstwerk Cologne, Germany (all 2021).

Gerken’s work reside in prominent collections such as Openheim Collection, Poland and Kunsthaus NRW Kornelimünster, Aachen, Germany.