Sophie von Hellermann

Sophie von Hellermann’s paintings recall the look of fables, legends, and traditional stories that are imbued with the workings of her subconscious rather than the content of existing images. Her romantic, pastel-washed canvases are often installed to suggest complex narrative threads. Von Hellermann applies pure pigment directly onto un-primed canvas, her use of broad-brushed washes imbues a sense of weightless to her pictures. Von Hellermann’s paintings are drawn upon current affairs as often and is fluidly as they borrow from the imagery of classical mythology and literature to create expansive imaginary places. I subject matter and style, von Hellermann tests imagination against reality.

Sophie von Hellermann, born in Munich in 1975, currently lives and works in London and Margate. She is a Professor of Painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe.

Von Hellermann’s works have been featured in solo shows at Kunstverein Hannover, DE | Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, DE | Kunstverein Constance, DE | Saatchi Gallery in London, GB. She has also been included in group exhibitions at venues such as Dortmunder Kunstverein, DE | Bonner Kunstverein, DE | Kunsthalle Bielefeld, DE | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US | Hayward Gallery, London, GB | Tate Britain, London, GB.

Her works can be found in the collections of the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, CA| Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, US | The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, US | Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase, New York, US | NY Rachofsky Collection, Dallas, US | Collection of Edison Cheng, HK | The Hall Collection, Derneburg, DE | Sammlung Wemhöner, Berlin, DE | Saatchi Collection, London, GB | Zabludowicz Collection, London, GB.

»Sophie von Hellermann inside the Studio«, <br /><br />
»Sophie von Hellermann I Artist Interview series 002«, <br /><br />
»How to paint with Watercolour: Sophie von Hellermann«, 2011<br /><br />

Further Texts/Articles