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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FORGOTTEN REALITIES
Agnes Toth, Alexandra Westermark, Arjeta Mala, Belinha Silva, Cathy Ghyoot, Conie Senac, Dan Harnett, Darko Lesjak, Garrick Arnold, Jonathan Le Roux, Karen Chappelow, Kari Veastad, Kathrin Broden, Mara Torres León, Michael Mihangel, Miu Shinoda, Nicola Heim, Paulie X, Sandrine Langlade, Sonja Kalb, Susana Casillas, Veronica Villareal Sada
27. Mai 2022 – 27. Juni 2022

Vernissage Freitag, 27. Mai 2022, 18:00
Monat Gallery

Calle de Estudios 7
28012 Madrid
SP

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OpenArtCode Tokyo
27 September – 5 Oktober 2022

Opening on 27 September 2022

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

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Abstract Landscape
Bernd C. Dietrich, Stephi Friedrich , Angela Glajcar, Sonja Kalb, Jérémy Lenoir, Alberto Saka, Sascha Nordmeyer, Reiner Seliger, David Speybrouk
4. March 2022 – 10. April 2022

Opening on Friday, 4 March 202, 18:00

Galerie Kellermann
Heinrich-Heine-Allee 12
40212 Düsseldorf
DE

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OpenArtCode Paris
15–20 February 2022

Opening on 15 Februar 2022

Grand Palais Ephémère
Avenue Pierre Loti
Champ-de-Mars
75007 Paris
FR

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Transparenz. Das kleine Format
7 December 2021 – 18 January 2022

Künstlerverein Malkasten
Jacobistraße 6a
40211 Düsseldorf
DE

Works

Key Works
Aquarius
Red Desert
Secret Island
Secret Island II
Riverbank
Longing III
Iceberg
Quo vadis?
Blue Mountains
Blue Mountains IV
Magic Flowers
Cherry Blossoms
Green Emotion
Icescape II
Icescape III
Motion II
Motion III
Rainforest
Virgin Forest
Virgin Forest II
Dynamic Rhythm
Twilight
Polyptychs
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

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
2017Hivernale, Galerie Thuillier, Paris, FR
2017Das kleine Format – Bilder, die wir leben, Künstlerverein Malkasten, Düsseldorf, DE
2017Sonja Kalb: Abstrakte Malerei, Museum Kaiserswerth, Düsseldorf, DE
2017Sonja Kalb, Colorida Art Gallery, Lisbon, PT
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
2014ganz frei 3, Kunstverein Duisburg, Duisburg, 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
2012Internationale Biennial Hamburg, Kunststätte am Michel, Hamburg, DE
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
2011FebruArt, BBK Düsseldorf, Kunstforum, Düsseldorf, 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

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

  • Marta Puig, editor, Interview with Sonja Kalb, Contemporary Art Curator, 2022
  • Musa International Art Space, editor, We Contemporary, 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
  • Paolo Batoni, editor, Premio Combat 2020 Prize, Sillabe, 2020
  • Musa International Art Space, editor, Woman’s Essence UNESCO Edition, Serradifalco Editore, 2020
  • Paolo Batoni, editor, Premio Combat 2019 Prize, Sillabe, 2019
  • Matthias Kellermann, editor, Sonja Kalb, Galerie Kellermann, 2019
  • Timothy Warrington, Sonja Kalb. Critical Analysis, International Confederation Art Critics, 2019
  • Musa International Art Space, editor, We Contemporary, Serradifalco Editore, 2019
  • Egon Heidefeld, editor, Sonja Kalb. Emotion, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, 2015
  • Olga Antoniadou, editor, International Contemporary Artists Volume V, ICA Publishing, 2012
  • Egon Heidefeld, editor, Sonja Kalb. Abstraktionen, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, 2012
  • Olga Antoniadou, editor, International Contemporary Artists Volume IV, ICA Publishing, 2012
  • Egon Heidefeld, editor, Sonja Kalb, Galerie Heidefeld & Partner, 2009

Selected Collections

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