Sonja Kalb

Biography

Sonja Kalb

“A painting should resonate and be imbued with an inner glow.”

Wassily Kandinsky

Short Biography

 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 a 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.

 Sonja Kalb, 2021

Current & Upcoming

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OpenArtCode Gaeta
21. May – 25 June 2023

Opening on 21. May 2023

Pinacoteca Comunale "Antonio Sapone" di Gaeta
Contemporary Art Museum
Via de Lieto, 2,
04024 Gaeta LT
IT

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spazio57

  1. July – 25. July 2023

Opening on 01. July 2023

Galleria Spazio 57
Via Chiatamone, 57
80121 Naples
IT

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sechzehn *neu
4. December – 6. January 2023

Opening on Sunday, 4. December 2022, 15:00
With an introduction by Martina Justus

16 artists present their work
Mirela Anura, Astrid Busch, Hardy Döhrn, Angela E. Engbrox, Elena Engel, Hanne Horn, Martina Justus, Sonja Kalb,
Gudrun Kemsa, Gabriele Liffers, Andrea Mohr, Bertolt Mohr, Bärbel Möllmann, Vania Petkova, Martina Sauter, Ulrike Siebel
Finissage on Friday, 6. January 2023, 19 -21:00

Ross31
Roßstraße 31
40476 Düsseldorf
DE

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Orange the World- end violence against women and girl
Bernd C. Dietrich, Stephi Friedrich, Sonja Kalb, Stephan Marienfeld, Sacha Nordmeyer, Christoph Pöggeler and others
25 November 2022 – 10 December 2022

Opening on Friday, 25 November 2022, 18:00

Galerie Kellermann
Heinrich-Heine-Allee 12
40212 Düsseldorf
DE

Galerie Kellermann (Oberkassel)
Cheruskerstr. 105
40545 Düsseldorf
DE

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OpenArtCode Tokyo
9. September – 17 September 2022

Opening on 9 September 2022

Metropolitan Art Museum
8-36 Uenokoen,Taito City
Tokyo 110-0007
JP

Works

Key Works
Magic of Flowers X
Aquarius
Magic of Flowers VII
Magic of Flowers III
Magic of Flowers V
Secret Island
Jungle
Lake III
Iceberg
Blue Mountains
Blue Mountains IV
Magic Flowers II
Cherry Blossoms
Green Emotion
Icescape II
Icescape III
Motion II
Motion III
Rainforest
Virgin Forest
Virgin Forest II
Dynamic Rhythm
Twilight
Polyptychs
Traumland
Nature Awakens
Rainforest III
Polar Light
Editions

Curriculum Vitae

Awards

2022Voices of Tomorrow Art Award
2020WAA Woman Art Award, Musa International Art Space in cooperation with UNESCO
2019Special Mention for Excellence, London Art Biennial
2018Best Abstract Artwork, Biennial Chianciano

Selected Exhibitions

2022Orange the World, Galerie Kellermann, DE
2022Open Art Code, Metropolitan Art Museum, Tokyo, JP
2022Open Art Code, Grand Palais Ephémère, Paris, FR
2022Sonja Kalb: Traumland, Ross31, Düsseldorf, DE
2022Forgotten Realities,Gallery Monat, Madrid, SP
2021We Contemporary Art Show, Raum Salmgasse, Vienna, AT
2020Winterausstellung, Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf, DE
2020Art of Remediation, Haegeumgang Theme Museum, Geoje, KR
2020Woman's Essence, Palazzo Velli, Rome, IT
2020Sommer 20 – 20 Künstler, Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf, DE
2020Sonja Kalb, Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf, DE
2019We Contemporary Art Show, Topič Salon, Prague, CZ
2019Künstler der Galerie, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2019Kunstverein Duisburg zu Gast im Kunstverein Landshut, Kunstverein Landshut, Landshut, DE
2019London Art Biennial, Chelsea Old Town Hall, London, UK
2019Strukturen, Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf, DE
2018International Biennial of Flanders, Site Oud Sint-Jan Museum, Bruges, BE
2018Chianciano Biennial, Gagliardi Gallery, London, UK
2018Expo Autumn, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2018Sonja Kalb, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2018Chianciano Biennial, Museo d'Arte di Chianciano, Chianciano Terme, IT
2017Sonja Kalb: Abstrakte Malerei, Museum Kaiserswerth, Düsseldorf, DE
2017Rainforest, Kunstverein Duisburg, Duisburg, DE
2016Sonja Kalb: Poesie der Farben, Galerie Kellermann im Ballhaus im Nordpark, Düsseldorf, DE
2016White Christmas, Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, DE
2016Encounters – Begegnungen, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2015Abstract Dreams, Galerie Kellermann, Düsseldorf, DE
2015Sonja Kalb: Emotion, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2015Color of Life, Galería Art Cuestion, Ourense, ES
201520 Jahre Galerie Heidefeld, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2013Art for Peace for a better World, National Art Gallery of Izmir, Izmir, TR
2013Full House, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Düsseldorf, DE
2012Fulfilment, Gallery M-Mauersberger, Vienna, AT
2012Sonja Kalb: Abstraktionen, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
201221st Century Art and Artists, Gallery M-Mauersberger, Vienna, AT
2011Woman Art, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2010Künstler der Galerie, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2010Untitled, Galerie Anne Malchers, Bergisch Gladbach, DE
2009Latin Kunst, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE
2009Sonja Kalb, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, Krefeld, DE

Selected Fairs

2022International Art Fair Innsbruck, Olympiahalle Innsbruck, AT
2021art3f. Salon international d'art contemporain, Brussels Expo, Brussels, BE
2018art KARLSRUHE, Messe Karlsruhe, Rheinstetten, DE
2017Montreux Art Gallery, Montreux Music & Convention Centre, Montreux, FR
201525. Kunstmesse, Frauenmuseum, Bonn, DE
20141st International Contemporary Art Fair Iran, Qasr Garden Museum, Tehran, IR
201323. Kunstmesse, Frauenmuseum, Bonn, DE
2012Affordable Art Fair, La Pelanda, Rome, IT
2012Art Beijing, Fangheng International Center, Beijing, CN
2011Lineart 30, Flanders Expo, Ghent, BE

Selected Publications

  • Sonja Kalb, edited by Matthias Kellermann, Galerie Kellermann, 2022
  • Interview with Sonja Kalb, edited by Marta Puig, Contemporary Art Curator, 2022
  • We Contemporary, edited by Musa International Art Space, Serradifalco Editore, 2021
  • John Austin, Unconstrained Paintings by Sonja Kalb, in Artery, 19 November 2020
  • Paul Zimmerman, Spotlight: Sonja Kalb, in Artery, 23 September 2020
  • Premio Combat 2020 Prize, edited by Paolo Batoni, Sillabe, 2020
  • Woman’s Essence UNESCO Edition, edited by Musa International Art Space, Serradifalco Editore, 2020
  • Premio Combat 2019 Prize, edited by Paolo Batoni, Sillabe, 2019
  • Sonja Kalb, edited by Matthias Kellermann, Galerie Kellermann, 2019
  • Timothy Warrington, Sonja Kalb. Critical Analysis, International Confederation Art Critics, 2019
  • We Contemporary, edited by Musa International Art Space, Serradifalco Editore, 2019
  • Sonja Kalb. Emotion, edited by Egon Heidefeld, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, 2015
  • International Contemporary Artists Volume V, edited by Olga Antoniadou, ICA Publishing, 2012
  • Sonja Kalb. Abstraktionen, edited by Egon Heidefeld, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, 2012
  • International Contemporary Artists Volume IV, edited by Olga Antoniadou, ICA Publishing, 2012
  • Sonja Kalb, edited by Egon Heidefeld, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, 2009

Selected Collections

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