Melanie WioraAuf dem Stahlseil 450733 Cologne, Germany
Tel. +49 (0)221 - 1308400Mobil +49 (0)176 - 78312987E-Mail [email protected] www.melaniewiora.de
Photography and Video
Melanie Wiora – Portfolio
In my artwork I deal with processes of perception and memory. I try to find out how images need to be made so
that they go far beyond a mere representation and offer a glimpse at their inner reality and thus to the core of
what is depicted. For me, a picture starts where the medium becomes secondary and the picture's effect comes
to the fore.
Melanie Wiora
Photography and Video
Melanie Wiora
Eyescapes – Liquid WindowFull HD Video, 2.26 min2019
Melanie Wiora
Link to the video Eyescapes – Liquid Window
Eyescapes – By the WindowFull HD Video, 20183.37 min
Melanie Wiora
Link to the video Eyescapes – By the Window
Eyescapes – By the WindowTHE VIEW | Melanie WioraStädtische Galerie Lemgo, 2019
Melanie Wiora
Link to the video Eyescapes – By the Window
Melanie Wiora
Mountain Lake IIPhoto Series EyescapesLambda Print, framed83 x 116,6 cm, 2016
Mountain LakePhoto Series EyescapesLambda Print, framed83 x 129,7 cm, 2016
Melanie Wiora
Melanie Wiora
Mountain MeadowPhoto Series EyescapesLambda Print, framed83 x 118,5 cm, 2017
Melanie Wiora
WastelandPhoto Series EyescapesLambda Print, framed83 x 120 cm, 2015
Melanie Wiora
PlateauPhoto Series EyescapesLambda Print, framed83 x 101,30 cm, 2015
Melanie Wiora
Mountain View IIPhoto Series EyescapesLambda Print, framed83 x 118,3 cm, 2015
Melanie Wiora
Mountain ViewPhoto Series EyescapesLambda Print, framed83 x 118,3 cm, 2015
Melanie Wiora
DuskPhoto Series EyescapesLambda Print, framed83 x 128,5 cm, 2017
Natura XXXIIIPhotography, Diasec90 x 136 cm, 2013
Melanie Wiora
Natura XXIVPhotography, Diasec90 x 136 cm, 2014
Melanie Wiora
Natura XXXIIIPhotography, Diasec90 x 136 cm, 2015
Melanie Wiora
Natura XXPhotography, Diasec90 x 120 cm, 2011
Melanie Wiora
Natura XIIPhotography, Diasec120 x 181 cm, 2010
Melanie Wiora
Natura XIXPhotography, Diasec120 x 181 cm, 2011
Melanie Wiora
Natura XXIPhotography, Diasec90 x 120 cm, 2010
Melanie Wiora
Natura XXIXPhotography, Diasec120 x 181 cm, 2012
Melanie Wiora
Melanie Wiora
EruptionsFull HD Video, 4.57 minca. 225 x 400 cm, 2014
Link to the video Eruptions
EruptionsFull HD Video, 4.57 minca. 225 x 400 cm, 2014
Melanie Wiora
Link to the video Eruptions
Melanie Wiora
EruptionsNATURA | Melanie WioraStädtische Galerie Kaarst, Germany 2014
Link to the video Eruptions
Melanie Wiora
Rise and FallFull HD Video,10.20 minca. 300 x 400 cm, 2015
Link to the video Rise and Fall
Rise and FallFull HD Video,10.20 minca. 300 x 400 cm, 2015
Melanie Wiora
Link to the video Rise and Fall
Rise and FallGroße Kunstausstellung NRWMuseum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany, 2017
Melanie Wiora
Link to the video Rise and Fall
TurmoilFull HD Video, 6.10 minca. 225 x 400 cm, 2018
Melanie Wiora
Link to the video Turmoil
TurmoilFull HD Video, 6.10 minca. 225 x 400 cm, 2018
Melanie Wiora
Link to the video Turmoil
TurmoilTHE VIEW | Melanie WioraStädtische Galerie Lemgo, Germany, 2019
Melanie Wiora
Link to the video Turmoil
In my artwork I deal with processes of perception and memory. I try to find out how images need to be made so that they go far beyond a mere representation andoffer a glimpse at their inner reality and thus to the core of what is depicted. For me, a picture starts where the medium becomes secondary and the picture's effectcomes to the fore.
Photo and video series Eyescapes
In my photo series Eyescapes I photograph landscapes mirrored on my own eyes. With the camera on my eye, I take the pictures in the moment of perception. Beingrefracted on the lens of my eye, the images are distorted and changed in their spaciality. On the upper edge of the picture the eyelids and eyelashes enter the sceneand open the image space. The color of the iris and the pupil are partially superimposed on the scene.
These fragments of the body relate to individual segments of the landscape, thus allowing the images to become insights into and outlooks on a changed world.The landscapes appear familiar and yet the context is so vague that one wants to recall other lanscapes from their memory. The viewer is invited to complement thepictures that do not reveal where they were taken – that show a stream, a tree, a path, the sea or houses – with his own associations.
Based on my Eyescapes photographs I developed a technique to also film the reflections on my eyes. My first video works Eyescapes – By the Window andEyescapes – Liquid Window focus on the interaction between eye and world. The eye moves around slowly and in rapid saccades focussing on certain objects,sometimes interrupted by spontaneous eyeblinks. The pupil vividly adjusts to the light conditions, opens up or closes giving personal insights into the situation as wellas into my physical and emotional response. For the viewer my eye becomes the window into the world.
Photo series Natura
By contrast, the pictures in my photo series Natura lead directly into the natural world. The view sweeps over vast landscapes, macrocosms and microcosms, whichappear to be hovering between aggregate states. It makes the viewer want to look at the pictures more closely. Nevertheless, it remains difficult to tell what statenature is being depicted in, whether we are dealing with fog, water, rock or ice, and where the sky begins and where the earth ends. The photographs show theeverlasting power and change that is inherent in all landscapes. In Natura my intention is to illustrate the character and essence of what is being represented, thenature of nature.
Video works Eruptions, Rise and Fall and Turmoil
The video works showing volcanic Water phenomena emerged from my photo series Natura. The moving pictures create a choreography of merged structures andforms. The extreme slow motion highlights the powerful forces of the water and its continuing ability to change. Watching the floor-to-ceiling installations, the viewercan observe the smallest details and changes in nature that last only a few seconds in real time. He is plunged into a rough and yet fascinating aspect of nature.
In my artworks I want to encourage the viewer to familiarize with the new and unknown, always looking for that special moment of recognition.
Melanie Wiora
Artist Statement
Melanie Wiora
Biography
Lives and works in Cologne, Germany
Study2001–2002 Research Studies and Postgraduate in Media Art, Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe, Germany
1997 Master of Creative Arts Programme, University of Wollongong and studies in Sydney, Australia
1990–1996 Studied Visual Art at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste Karlsruhe, Germany
Awards & Grants2017 Nomination, Gabriele Münter Prize
2015 Art-Regio project grant, SparkassenVersicherung
2013 Photo Award “Sehen im Fokus”, Stiftung Auge
2012 Scholarship “Künstlerhaus Lukas”, Ahrenshoop
2005/06 DAAD Grant, London, UK
2004 First Prize, Digital New Art Award, DigitalART
2004 Grant of the Foundation Künstlerdorf Schöppingen
2003 DAAD Grant, New York, USA
2002 Second Prize, “Saar Ferngas Förderpreis Junge Kunst”
1998, 2001 Studio Grant of the Federal State Baden-Württemberg
Solo Exhibitions (Selection)2020 “Liquid Landscape”, Städtische Kunstsammlung Murrhardt, Germany
2020 “Primal Power of Nature”, Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern, Germany
2019 “The View”, Städtische Galerie Lemgo, Germany
2015 “Travelling Beyond”, Kunstverein Eislingen, Germany (cat.)
2014 “Melanie Wiora – Natura, Eva Weinert – Saal”, Städtische Galerie Kaarst, Germany
2013 “Natura”, Kunstverein Paderborn e.V., Germany
2012 “Fokus auf den Augenblick”, Brötzinger Art e.V., Pforzheim, Germany
2011 “Natura”, Hohenloher Kunstverein, Künzelsau, Germany
2010 “Natura & Eyescapes”, Galerie Christa Burger, Munich, Germany
2010 “Eyescapes & Natura”, Kunstverein Ingolstadt (cat.), Germany
2010 “Außen ist in mir”, Künstlerhaus Saar, Saarbrücken, Germany
2008 “Eyescapes”, Kunstforum Rheinhessen, Essenheimer Kunstverein, Germany
2007 “Außen ist in mir”, Junge Kunst e.V., Wolfsburg, Germany (cat.)
2007 “Transitions – Das Andere der Wirklichkeit”, Fotoforum West, Innsbruck, Austria
2006 “Außen ist in mir”, Brotfabrik Galerie Berlin, Germany (cat.)
2006 “Close Up – Im Angesicht des Augenblicks”, Kunstverein Trier, Germany
2005 “Über den Moment hinaus”, Hospitalhof, Stuttgart, Germany (cat.)
2005 “Personal Reflections”, Goethe-Institute Casablanca, Morocco
2005 “Melanie Wiora – Photography and Video”, Goethe-Institute Damascus, Syria
2005 “Reality and what I see”, Galerie Andreas Greulich, Frankfurt, Germany
2003 “Close Horizon”, Kunstverein Speyer, Germany (cat.)
2003 “Facing Space – Reflecting Time”, Galerie am Großneumarkt, Hamburg, Germany
2002 “Eyescapes”, Reihe Junge Fotografie, Stadthaus Ulm, Germany
2002 “Was bleibt”, Glashaus Karlsruhe, Germany
Group Exhibitions (Selection)2020 “Starke Frauen”, Neuer Kunstverein Aschaffenburg e.V, Germany. (cat.)
2019 “Bare Landscape”, Städtische Galerie Waldkraiburg, Germany (cat.)
2019 “Große Kunstausstellung NRW”, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany (cat.)
2018 “Outlook – Insight. The Window in Art”, Museum Sinclair Haus, Bad Homburg, Germany (cat.)
2017 “Gabriele Münter Prize”, Akademie der Künste Berlin und Frauenmuseum Bonn, Germany (cat.)
2016 “Alles im Fluss”, Up-Art Galerie, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, Germany
2013 “Große Kunstausstellung NRW”, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany (cat.)
2012 “Im Schein des Unendlichen”, Altana Kulturstiftung, Bad Homburg, Germany (cat.)
2012 “Stille Zeichen”, Kunstverein Villa Streccius, Landau, Germany (cat.)
2011 “False Focus”, Nest, Den Haag, The Netherlands (cat.)
2011 “The Marginal Landscape”, 7th Biennale of Photography, Poznan, Poland (cat.)
2009 “Manipulating Reality”, Centro di Cultura Contemporanea Strozzina Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy (cat.)
2009 “Failed Hope – New Romanticism in Contemporary Photography in Germany”, Brno, Czech Republic
2008 “Gescheiterte Hoffnung. Romantik heute?”, Gerisch-Stiftung, Neumünster, Germany
2007 “Failed Hope”, Goetz Palace, Photomonth Krakow, Poland (cat.)
2007 “Ego – Fotografische Positionen zum Ich”, Wiesbadener Fototage, Germany (cat.)
2006 “Quer – Fotos für die Pressefreiheit”, Photokina, with Reporter ohne Grenzen, Germany (cat.)
2005 “In den Raum gedacht”, Kunsthaus Essen, Germany (cat.)
2005 “Große Kunstausstellung NRW”, Messe Düsseldorf, Germany (cat.)
2004 “Plug Out”, Digital New Art Award, Dominikanerkloster, Frankfurt, Germany (cat.)
2004 “Luft-Stücke und Stadt-Teile”, Kunstverein Villa Streccius, Landau, Germany
2004 “Große Kunstausstellung München”, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany (cat.)
2004 “Halbzeitkonferenz”, Galerie am Großneumarkt, Hamburg, Germany
2003 “Fotosommer”, 14-1 Galerie, Stuttgart, Germany
2003 “Saar-Ferngas-Förderpreis Junge Kunst”, Kunstverein Trier, Germany
2002 “Digitale Bildwelten”, Kunstpreis Kreissparkasse Recklinghausen, Germany (cat.)
2002 “Saar-Ferngas-Förderpreis Junge Kunst”, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany (cat.)
2001 “Spinball”, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany
2000 “Doppelzimmer”, Orgelfabrik und Glashaus, Karlsruhe, Germany
Public CollectionsSammlung Heden, The Netherlands; Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany;
Ministerium für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst Baden-Württemberg, Germany;
Regierungspräsidium Karlsruhe, Germany; University of Wollongong, Australia
Bibliography (Selection)2019 “Bloße Landschaft”, Ausstellungskatalog, Städtische Galerie Waldkraiburg (Hg.)
2017 “Gabriele Münter Preis 2017”, catalog, Frauenmuseum Bonn (editor), Bonn, Germany
2015 “Melanie Wiora – Travelling Beyond”, catalog, Kottmann, Paul (editor), Kunstverein Eislingen, Germany
2013 “Bildverbote: Transparenz und Verantwortung”, Leimbacher, Mario (editor), Verband der
Lehrerinnen und Lehrer für Bildnerische Gestaltung Schweiz, Swiss
2012 Padberg, Martina: “Romantische Positionsbestimmungen in der Gegenwart”, in Im Schein des Unendlichen.
Romantik und Gegenwart, Janssen, Johannes, Padberg, Martina (editors), Wienand Verlag, Cologne, Germany
2012 Herold, Inge: “Melanie Wiora”, in Stille Zeichen, Kunstverein Villa Streccius, Landau, Germany
2011 “Margins”, Karolina Sikorska (editor), 7th Biennale of Photography Poznan, Poland
2011 “False Focus”, van der Lingen, Eelco (editor), Nest, Den Haag, The Netherlands
2010 Sachsse, Rolf: “Natura Medians – Wilde Wasser in Melanie Wioras Werk”, in Melanie Wiora – Natura,
Kreim, Isabella (editor), Revolver Publishing, Berlin, Germany
2009 Nori, Franzisca; Feser, Christiane: “Melanie Wiora – Eyescapes”, in Manipulating Reality -
How Images redefine the World, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, Italy
2009 Michalowska, Marianna: “Narration of desire – new romanticism in new German photography”,
Institute of Art History, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland
2007 Domesle, Andrea: “Von der Suche nach dem Wesentlichen eines Porträts” (“On the Search for the
Essence of a Portrait”), in Melanie Wiora – Außen ist in mir, Kehrer Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany
2007 Domesle, Andrea: “Failed Hope – New Romanticism in Contemporary Photography in
Germany”, in Cichocka, Marta Eloy (editor): Miesciac Fotografii W Krakowie, Krakow, Poland
(Photomonth Krakow), Foundation for Visual Arts, Krakow, Poland
2007 EGO – Fotografische Positionen zum Ich, Fototage Wiesbaden, Germany
2006 Peschke, Marc: “Melanie Wiora – Personal Reflections” in QUER – Fotos für die Pressefreiheit,
Reporter ohne Grenzen, taz Verlag Berlin, Germany
2005 Peschke, Marc: “Sie sehen viel mehr als wir sehen, über die Portraits von Melanie Wiora”
in PHOTONEWS, art magazin, issue 10/2005, Germany
2005 Müller, Helmut A.: “Fotografie gegen die Entropie” (“Photography against Entropy”),
in Melanie Wiora – Beyond the Moment, Edition Hospitalhof Stuttgart, Germany
2005 Sachsse, Rolf: “Wimpernschlag und Nachbild” (“Bat of the Eyelash and Afterimage”),
in Melanie Wiora – Beyond the Moment, Edition Hospitalhof Stuttgart, Germany
2005 Spiegel, Josef (editor): Melanie Wiora – Personal Reflections, Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen, Germany
2004 Schneider, Carola: “Wenn Künstler/innen mit dem Raum arbeiten”,
in Schneider, Carola (editor): In den Raum gedacht, Edition Kunsthaus Essen, Germany
2004 Härtl-Kasulke, Claudia: “The Award Comments” in Plug Out – Digital New Art Award,
DigitalART, Frankfurt, Germany
2003 Junghans, Martina: “Die Welt im Auge” (The World in an Eye), in Dudenhöffer, Franz (editor):
Melanie Wiora – Eyescapes, Verlag Bild & Kunst, Germany
2002 Höfchen, Heinz: “For your Eyes only, zu den Fotografien von Melanie Wiora”, in Kiefer, Theresia
(editor): Melanie Wiora, Saar Ferngas Förderpreis Junge Kunst, Germany
2001 Glüher, Gerhard: “Die Welt als digitale Konstruktion” in Peters, Andrea (editor):
Kunstpreis digitale Bildwelten, Kreissparkasse Recklinghausen, Germany
Melanie Wiora
