Andreas Blank

Untitled (2006)32 x 30 x 15 cmserpentinite

Monument 4 (2008)35 x 27 x 13 cmmarble, basalt, alabaster

Still Life 10 (2010)73 x 33 x 33 cmalabaster, limestone, marble, sandstone

Installation View Shadows of Words Spoken (2010)Gallery Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin

Installation ViewShadows of Words Spoken (2010)Gallery Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin

Installation ViewShadows of Words Spoken (2010)Gallery Christian Ehrentraut, Berlin

Box with Military Boots (2010)56 x 55 x 38,5 cmlimestone, serpentinite

Untitled (2009)70 x 50 x 72 cmalabaster, serpentinite

Untitled (2013)80 x 39 x 30 cmalabaster, marble, slate

Installation ViewAnatomy of Words (2013)Gallery Choi & Lager, Cologne

After a conversation 1 (2013)32,5 x 24,5 x 3 cmmarble, basalt

Box with brackets 2 (2011)24 x 21 x 15 cmmarble, sandstone, soapstone

Untitled (2011)30 x 38 x 5,5 cmserpentinite

Installation ViewAnatomy of Words (2013)Gallery Choi & Lager, Cologne

The Imprint of the Space Someone Used,Gallery Christian Ehrentraut

After a conversation 5 (2014)32,5 x 24,5 x 3 cmmarble, basalt

After a conversation 6 (2014)32,5 x 24,5 x 3 cmonyx, basalt

Untitled (2014)102 x 47,5 x 35 cmslate, serpentinite

...seeing things that are too big to see 2 (2014)79,5 x 79,5 x 245 cmsandstone, limestone, quartzite, marble, basalt

Andreas Blank

Education

2001 - 200620072008 - 2009

Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe with Prof. Harald KlingelhöllerHochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg, guest student with Andreas SlominksiRoyal College of Art, London

Grants and Awards

201320102009

200820072005

Residency, Trafo Center for Contemporary Art, StettinThe Catlin Prize, LondonFinalist, New Sensations 2009, LondonLand Securities Studio Award, LondonConran Foundation Award, LondonScholarship for Great Britain, Studienstiftung des Deutschen VolkesResidency, Stiftung Vorwerk, HamburgScholarship Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes

Solo Exhibitions

2014

2013

2012

The Imprint of the Space Someone Used, Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, Berlinhors-champ, Junge Kunst, WolfsburgLandscape Metaphor, Benrimon Contemporary, New YorkShadows of Words Spoken, Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, BerlinAnatomy of Words, Choi&Lager Gallery, Cologne

Group Exhibitions

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

Kolibri. Neue Tendenzen an einem aus der Zeit gefallenen Ort, Ballhaus Kolibri, BerlinAus dem Fundus der botanischen Semantik, Cruise & Callas, BerlinAlways Crashing in the Same Car, Galerie Knecht und Burster, KarlsruheTresholds, Trafo Center for Contemporary Art, StettinOh, Plastiksack!, Musée de design et d´arts appliqués contemporains, LausanneThe Scene Changes to an Empty Room, De Fabriek, EindhovenCarving in Britain from 1910 to Now, The Fine Art Society, LondonRecasting the Gods, Sumarria Lunn Gallery, LondonEin weißes Feld, Sammlung FIEDE, AschaffenburgMemory. International Contemporary Sculpture, Palazzo Arti Napoli (PAN), NaplesOh, Plastiksack!, Gewerbemuseum WinterthurStillstehende Sachen aus der Sammlung SØR Rusche, Museum Abtei Liesborn, Wadersloh-Liesborn13, Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, BerlinStressing Spiritual Needs Even When Selling Ice Cream, DNA-Galerie, BerlinMemory, Rosenfeld Porcini Gallery, LondonPlease Write, Posted Projects, LondonTranscending, LARMgalleri, CopenhagenNew German Art/Neue Deutsche Kunst, German Embassy, LondonCocktail, Galerie Frank Schlag, EssenKeep Me Posted, Posted Projects, LondonThe Land Securities Studio Awards 2010, SW1 Gallery, LondonChristian Achenbach, Andreas Blank, Nicola Samorì, Galerie Christian Ehrentraut, BerlinWe Can Understand the Meaning Better Without, St. Pancras Parish Church Crypt, LondonNew Sensations, Rochelle School, LondonGalerie Alfred Knecht, KarlsruheAbschied und Ankunft, DB Museum, NurembergAfghan Embassy, BerlinOptimism, Hannah Barry Gallery, LondonBasement Project, Fred Gallery, LondonAllen & Overy, LondonLichtfeld 8, BaselRegionale 7, Projectspace 54, BaselLichtfeld 7, BaselSculptureproject, Osterburken

Born 1972 in Ansbach Lives and works in London and Berlin

At first glance, Andreas Blank’s desk appears to be like any ordinary desk. On top, some paraphernalia are neatly displayed; a half-full cup, a box and a documentation folder. The desk could be found in any artist’s studio or any workspace for that matter. However, upon closer inspection, each element (including the trestle table itself) has been meticulously hand carved from a variety of precious stones, sourced from quarries from all over the world. In this way, the work relates to the history of stone carving within art history and sculpture, where materials such as marble, alabaster and limestone were traditionally used to sculpt objects of political or religious significance. Blank, however, plays tricks with our expectations and perceptions. By treating mundane objects in a similar traditional and precise manner, he provides the everyday with a monumental status. For example the crumpled A4 white sheet of paper, in a black frame, that modestly occupies a spot on one of the exhibition walls. Upon closer inspection it is actually carved from white marble (the paper) and black alabaster (the frame). From a distance, this work could be viewed as a pun on modernist nihilism, but up close, reveals a material sensibility that goes beyond a simple juxtaposition of abstraction and reality.

(Text by Laurie Cluitmans)