A Black & White World: Jana Gunstheimer Artist Residency (PART 1)

Jana Gunstheimer just spent a couple weeks at Galerie Zink as the first of our artist residency program in 2021, and it has been such a pleasure getting to know the artist’s work and process in detail.

Working on her newest series, the artist created large and small scale works in the quiet of our studio space. She was inspired by the snowy landscape of Waldkirchen during her stay, as the area became a black and white scene. While the white snow blanketed the whole surrounding, only some black details are left to show through.

Waldkirchen In The Snow

This monochromatic environment led to the artist’s exploration in weaving painted canvases together, only in black and white. To her, this is a reference to the atmospheres depicted in Romantic paintings. In her words,

„In Romantic landscape painting, moods were understood as atmospheres or atmospherically induced sensations. According to Carl Gustav Carus, the main task of such art is the ‚representation of a certain mood of the life of the mind (sense) through the reproduction of a corresponding mood of the experience of nature (truth).'“

Artist’s Work In Progress

Jana Gunstheimer artist residency at Galerie Zink: Materials

Jana Gunstheimer work in progress

Jana Gunstheimer work in progress

Jana Gunstheimer work in progress

Jana Gunstheimer in residency at Galerie Zink

But it was not all work here with us! She managed to have a full Galerie Zink Waldkirchen experience. In her notes,

„Sunday: How do you start Sunday in the village? Feeding cows with the gallery owner. It has snowed again and so we immediately go for a hike. In the studio I make test canvases to see how to generate grids that you can’t control. I’m interested in finding a random principle with which you can create a kind of white noise. How do you end Sunday in the village? Chop beetroot with the gallery owner, add alcohol and seal it well. On Friday we distill schnapps.“

Fun In Residency…

Jana Gunstheimer making schnapps

Jana Gunstheimer on small scooter – it’s not all business here

Feeding the cows at Galerie Zink – the full rural experience!

MZ with Charlie in the snow

About The Artist

Jana Gunstheimer was born in 1974 in Zwickau, Germany. A deeply thoughtful and intellectual individual, the artist had originally studied ethnology. Field research methods trained in that period are often used in her artistic work. Beyond her detailed drawings, complex textile works, thought provoking installations, she also founded the „Institute for Iregional Reality Experients“ at the Bauhaus University, Weimar (IRRE@bauhaus). Through her oeuvre, the artist weaves together reality and fiction, creating possible truths and absurd situations. Each of her projects are subtly ironic. As she presents her narraitves, researches, and analyses, the knowing audience is simultaneously provoked and amused. The artist currently lives and works in Germany.

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