Elvira Bach (born 22 June 1951) is a

postmodernist Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

German painter known for her colourful images of women.Hahn, Werner (23 September 2011)
"Gegenwarts-Kunst belanglos – NIEDERGANG/Misere: Werke von ELVIRA BACH (postmoderne „Junge Wilde“) im Oberhessischen Museum Gießen. KINO-Film „Gerhard RICHTER Painting“"
, '' Gießener Zeitung''. A member of the

Junge Wilde The term Junge Wilde (German for "young wild ones") was originally applied to trends within the art world, and was only later used with reference to politics. At present, the term is used by German-language journalists to describe any group within ...

art movement, she lives and works in Berlin. She is the mother of two children, including basketball player

Maodo Lô Maodo Lô (born 31 December 1992) is a German professional basketball player for Paris Basketball of the LNB Élite and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for Columbia University in New York City, where he was nicknamed The Chairman. ...

Biography

Early life

Elvira Bach was born on 22 June 1951 in Neuenhain in

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. She grew up with her twin sister Ingrid in a rural setting.

Life and education

From 1967 to 1970, Bach studied at the Erwin-Stein-Schule (state glass vocational school) in

Hadamar Hadamar () is a small town in Limburg-Weilburg district in Hesse, Germany. Hadamar is known for its Clinic for Forensics, Forensic Psychiatry/Centre for Social Psychiatry, lying at the edge of town, in whose outlying buildings is also found th ...

. Afterwards, she moved to Berlin and studied painting from 1972 to 1979 at the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...

with "Junge Wilde" or "Neue Wilde" titled painters

Rainer Fetting Rainer Fetting (born 31 December 1949 in Wilhelmshaven, West Germany) is a German painter and sculptor. Rainer Fetting was one of the co-founders and main protagonists of the Galerie am Moritzplatz in Berlin, founded in the late 1970s by a gr ...

and Salomé. During her studies, she worked at the playhouse

Schaubühne The (Theatre on Lehniner Square) is a famous theatre in the Wilmersdorf district of Berlin, located on the Kurfürstendamm boulevard. It is a conversion of the ''Universum'' cinema, built according to plans designed by Erich Mendelsohn in 192 ...

in Berlin. In 1981, a scholarship led Elvira Bach to the Dominican Republic to study as an "artist in residence", and was greatly inspired by her experiences there. That same year, she was invited to participate in the " Documenta VII". This was her breakthrough that led to a number of national and international exhibitions of her artwork.

Collections and exhibitions

* 1978: Metzgerei * 1979: bathtub paintings, SO 36, Berlin * 1982:

documenta 7 ''documenta 7'' was the seventh edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 19 June and 28 October 1982 in Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North ...

, Kassel * 1988: Refigured Painting – The German Image 1969–1988,

Guggenheim Museum The Guggenheim Museums are a group of museums in different parts of the world established (or proposed to be established) by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Museums in this group include: * The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Ne ...

, New York * 1990/1991: Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim and Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven, Wilhelmshaven and Neue Galerie Graz * 1999: House on the

Lützowplatz Lützowplatz is a public, inner-city area with relatively high traffic in Berlin's Tiergarten district of Mitte. Sculptures * ''3-X-90 in Deutschland'' (1990) by Ernest Altés (Ates) * ''Hercules and the Erymanthian Boar'' (1904) by Louis Tuail ...

Berlin * 2001: Bavarian State Museum in Asbach Abbey * 2002: Kunsthalle Dominikanerkirche, Osnabrück * 2004: Kunstverein Salzgitter * 2006: Kronacher Kunstverein e. V., on the fortress Rosenberg * 2006: House on the Lützowplatz, Berlin * 2007: Gallery Noah, Augsburg * 2009: Stadtgalerie Bad Soden im Taunus; ''Influences africaines'', Frauenmuseum Bonn * 2010: Museum of European Art (NRW), Nörvenich Castle, near Cologne * 2011: Galerie Jaeschke, Brunswick * 2012: Gallery Anne Moerchen, Hamburg * 2013: Gallery Art350, Istanbul * 2013: Historic Town Hall, Limburg an der Lahn * 2015: Museum of Contemporary Art – Diether Kunerth, Ottobeuren * Current:

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York, Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Museum of Art in Augsburg

Style

Bach's neo-expressionist portraits of women mirror the themes of her own life, and many of her works unmistakably resemble the artist. She often depicts colorful female portraits that represent many facets of female life, from fragility to sensuality to self-determination. Bach's works of the early 1980s were mostly self-reflective and focused on herself (''Night Owl'', ''Sophisticated Lady'', ''Always Me''). However, after her marriage and the birth of her two sons, her art became more representative of her new, more private family environment and home-life. Though Elvira Bach largely focuses on painting, she also works on bronze sculptures, ceramics and

Murano glass Venetian glass () is glassware made in Venice, typically on the island of Murano near the city. Traditionally it is made with a Soda–lime glass, soda–lime "metal" and is typically elaborately decorated, with various "hot" glass-forming techn ...

sculptures.

References

External links

Official website
* http://www.elvira-bach.de/ * http://www.elvira-bach.de/grafik.php {{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, Elvira 1951 births Living people 20th-century German painters 20th-century German women painters 21st-century German painters German women artists 21st-century German women Neo-expressionist artists Berlin University of the Arts alumni