The Splendor of the Everyday Friedrich Schiller said: "Beauty has its effect even with mere contemplation." Beauty changes us; it does something to us. This is what many people experience when contemplating the paintings of Anke Rohde, who transforms the everyday into something extraordinary. Read more  

July 1, 2022 By: Reinhold Gries In its latest exhibition at the Old House, the Seligenstadt Art Forum presents culinary paintings and photography. Seligenstadt – Who hasn't experienced these contemporary, cerebral art exhibitions, which largely lack sensory references to the everyday lives and activities of humans? Curators Ruth Wahl and Nanette Kernstock of Seligenstadt's Art Forum are now taking the opposite approach, staging their show "On Food in Art" in the opulent rooms of the Old House. Years ago, it was still called "New Splendor." The initiators were inspired by projects by the versatile Eifel artist Andrea Montermann, who, under the name "Andy Mo," turns art on its head from her Mendig studio near Lake Laach. "Mo" has made a name for herself with pop-like, expressive, and photorealistic paintings on canvas, metal prints, graffiti art, and socially and environmentally critical art installations. For some time now, she has specialized in "soul food art," intensively exploring the culture of food, which is deeply rooted in joie de vivre and sensuality. The incredibly colorful Seligenstadt selection now provides an insight into her major Koblenz exhibition, "Served Up: Artful Nutritional Value by Andy Mo." It's undeniable that Mo has had a deep insight into the cooking of many chefs in Germany, Italy, and France. In her vibrant paintings, she is unfettered by color theory, allowing emotions, cravings, and painting skills to run free. It's not just formats like "Asparagus Cuisine," "Lobster and the Sea," "Vodka, Fish and Caviar," "Fromage et Vin," or "Homard et Cidre" that make viewers' mouths water. With great energy, this bon vivant also celebrates other earthly, often urban, pleasures of our existence, such as in "Urbanes Törtchen," the Vespa study "Au coeur de Paris," or the impression "Marché de Biarritz." The spark of painterly and culinary enthusiasm also spreads to the other exhibitors. Eva Leitschuh, a painter working in Darmstadt's disused green Nordbahnhof (North Station), has created a series of paintings especially for Seligenstadt whose painterly quality is outstanding. In the oil painting "Fish with Lemon," she has created an atmospheric masterpiece that rivals the great still lifes of the 18th and 19th centuries. For a room in the Altes Haus (Old House), Leitschuh has created a complete painting menu, from the appetizer to the main course—hot meat with berries and side dishes—to the sweet dessert and the stomach-settling final treat. "Hmm!" This is also the theme of other delicacies from Leitschuh's brush, often painted in a more classically modern compositional style than in the wild "Mo." Wiesbaden-based Anke Rohde transforms her culinary paintings into a kind of cultural history, in which spaces and buildings also play a role. She usually finds motifs, fleeting or everyday moments, in the urban environment, which she stages like Edward Hopper once did. This isolation concept works very well for the kiosks and "water houses" in Frankfurt, Offenbach, Düsseldorf, and Lisbon, which Rohde transforms into monuments to everyday pleasures and bliss. Melancholy is not lacking, for some of these little temples of pleasure have disappeared from the cityscape. The temptation of Rohde's "Mixed Bags" series is hard to resist. You'll want to dig in, while the lifelike depiction of licorice swirls and gummy bears, as well as sweet Amore hearts in striped bags, brings back memories of childhood or exciting TV games that made many a Dolci bag disappear. Seligenstadt food photographer Mathias Neubauer, winner of his city's cultural award, doesn't have an easy time keeping up with such delicious paintings. But he too relies on a hunger for indulgence and time out in his strictly aesthetically halved food photos. Neubauer has become known for his professional illustrations of cookbooks, to which he lends a new, inspiring aesthetic. The large and small formats "Dosenfisch" (Canned Fish), "Weinsinnig" (Wine-Sensitive), "Erdbeeren" (Strawberries), "Ei, Ei" (Egg, Egg), and "Grüne Sauce" (Green Sauce) show how the photo designer brings us consumers a fundamental understanding of food and visual culture – never without considering the nutritional value of art. (Reinhold Gries) "Prost Mahlzeit – On Food in Art." The exhibition runs from July 3 to September 11 at the Altes Haus, Frankfurter Straße 13. The opening is on Sunday, July 3, at 5 p.m. The Kunstforum is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and by appointment at 49 6182 924451.

By Anja Pietsch | WIESBADEN | November 16, 2020 Wiesbaden artist and gallery owner Anke Rohde, like all other freelance artists, is currently struggling with the coronavirus pandemic. This has inspired her creativity: The two large display windows of her studio in Wiesbaden-Schierstein gave her the idea of making this space available to other colleagues until Christmas. A member of the Walkmühle artists' association, the Mainz "Eisturm" art association, and a new member of the Wiesbaden Cultural Advisory Board, Anke Rohde has long considered networking and assuming social responsibility important. She initiated a similar campaign in 2017, back then benefiting the Fasanerie Friends Association. Now, the theme is "Anke's Favorites – Exhibit and Support." Everyone is invited to take a detailed look at the two display windows at Kettenbornstraße 3, in a completely COVID-compliant manner, and to purchase a work if interested. Paintings by Katharina Reschke, Sabine Steimer, and Herbert Lammers will be on display for 14 days each. Overwhelming the viewer with surfaces, colors, and beauty. The opening event was held on November 8th by Katharina Reschke, a freelance artist based in Wiesbaden. Her work focuses on large-format still lifes of design objects. The images aim to overwhelm the viewer with surfaces, colors, and beauty. From November 21st, the works of Mainz-based artist Sabine Steimer will be on display. Her focus is on the objective and reduced depiction of everyday objects. She draws the eye to mirroring, reflections, and details. The artists' works are accessible and visible from the outside at all times. The third artist, Herbert Lammers, will be presented by Anke Rohde from December 5th to 20th, 2020. His works include digitally edited photographs and paintings of representational subjects. The artists' works are accessible and visible from the outside at all times – a great opportunity to enjoy art and be inspired during the artistic "lockdown," and an expression of lived artistic solidarity.

The new Cultural Advisory Board was elected in the spring. However, due to the pandemic, the new composition of the board could not be officially approved by the City Council until Thursday, September 17. Five members of the 24-member advisory board are new to the office, and the others were confirmed. On Thursday, September 17, the City Council officially approved the new composition of the Cultural Advisory Board for a second two-year term. The twelve members of the advisory board, to be appointed according to disciplines, were newly elected in April. The composition of the Cultural Advisory Board's first term initially remained in place after a pandemic-related delay in the vote count. Two new representatives from the independent community: Anke Rohde, freelance artist and founder of Atelier & Projektraum in Schierstein, represents the fine arts section. Journalist Anja Baumgart-Pietsch is a new member of the advisory board, regardless of discipline. The university and applied arts section remained vacant due to a lack of candidates. All other discipline representatives were again elected. Three new representatives from the institutions. The 24-member committee also includes representatives from Wiesbaden's major cultural institutions and political members of the parliamentary groups. The adult education center's new director, Dr. Stephanie Dreyfürst, was appointed in July. Dr. Jörg Daur has been representing the Hessian State Museum as its deputy director since last fall. The SPD is also sending a new representative to the committee, Joachim Tobschall. Information on all members and the work of the Cultural Advisory Board can be found on the Cultural Advisory Board's website.

Artist Anke Rohde shows hyper-realistic paintings in the Remise By Andrea Pauly HANAU Trinkhalle, kiosk, water house, booth, Späti - the names are as diverse as the offerings and the visitors. Trinkhallen usually have extended opening hours and offer more than just a beer for the "hang-around" people. Frankfurt's water houses have been part of the cityscape for decades as cultural assets and "chattering corners". Even if they have become a rarity, as many of them have been torn down or converted. Wiesbaden-based artist Anke Rohde approaches the multifaceted subject of the Trinkhalle with hyper-realistic paintings that depict the kiosks as urban still lifes. She is currently showing a selection of her mostly large-format works and some sketches under the title "Take away & To Go" at the Hanau Cultural Association in the Remisengalerie (remise gallery) of Philippsruhe Castle. A newspaper article about the disappearance of drinking halls in the Frankfurt area, featuring a photo of one, piqued Rohde's interest. After some research, she set out with her camera in September 2015, visited the still-standing kiosks in Frankfurt, and photographed them – albeit deserted. The artist approached the subject with her fascination for the often isolated, small buildings with all their facets and details – the displays in the windows of towers of fruit gum boxes, from alcoholic beverages to magazines and the signs on the roofs and in front of the stalls. The result is hyperrealistic, aesthetic images that radiate an almost reverent calm. Anke Rohde lives and works in Wiesbaden. She often dedicates her representational, sometimes hyperrealistic paintings to urban environments. Thus, her pictures feature "urban staples" such as the Converse sneaker, high-rise facades, shop window views, and, most recently, the subject of drinking halls. There is now even an association in Frankfurt for the preservation of Frankfurt's water kiosks. "Linie 11" is committed to preserving and revitalizing these locations in the long term. The goal is also to overcome people's fear of kiosks and, in particular, to build trust across generations. "A kiosk always has cold drinks; there's always something to hear at the kiosk. For many people, water kiosks are a place to chat, enjoy an after-work beer, or simply pick up a mixed bag. These kiosks are as much a part of Frankfurt's cityscape as Mussigg cheese is to Handkäs," says the association. ➔ The exhibition Trinkhalle, Büdchen & Co. by Anke Rohde runs until Sunday, May 27, and is presented by the Hanau Cultural Association in the Remisengalerie (residence gallery) of Philippsruhe Palace. Opening hours are Saturdays, Sundays, and Whit Monday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

FOCAL SUBJECT: Painterly reflections of modern urbanity. Anke Rohde: Rhythms of the big city. Exhibition from May 12 to 27, 2018, at the Remisengalerie, Schloss Philippsruhe, Hanau. By Caroline Messelhäußer, MA. The representational, sometimes almost hyperrealistic, paintings of the artist Anke Rohde presented here depict real places, situated within an urban structure. The artist's perception of the object at the moment of observation results in the content of her works. "It's essentially a painterly condensation of the moment," says Anke Rohde. In addition to works such as buildings with reflections and light, or house and high-rise facades, she is currently working on the "Trinkhallen" series. Her interest in these small, mostly isolated, inner-city buildings was sparked by an article about their disappearance from the urban fabric. Seized by curiosity, she set out with her camera to take a closer look at some of these objects. Drinking halls, also known as booths, kiosks, water houses, or simply kiosks, originated around the second half of the 19th century, during the era of industrialization. The Wiesbaden-based artist's work "Petersstraße Frankfurt" reveals what fascinates her about them: for some viewers, such a drinking hall may be a controversial place, a veritable social meeting place where people from a wide variety of backgrounds gather, chat, buy something, eat, drink, and smoke. For others, however, including the artist, it is a nostalgic and vibrant place. The displays and window decorations, the signs and advertising, the scribbles—all of this seems rather tranquil, even melancholic, in our fast-paced times. Through her works of art, these contemporary witnesses, which fortunately still exist in their characteristic form in some German cities such as Frankfurt am Main or Berlin, are preserved and thus, at least in pictorial terms, protected from transience and oblivion. Another subject in her artistic work is the depiction of shop windows of all kinds, for example, decorated with fabrics or flowers, but also of ice cream parlors and, in particular, clothing stores, as the work "Repeat II" exemplifies. Mannequins are placed in the large windows, spanning two floors, and the surroundings are reflected in the panes: trees and buildings blend in and literally confuse the viewer's gaze into the shop's display. At the same time, it is a snapshot of the interplay of several factors, for depending on the time of day or the weather, the reflection in the window changes, so that it appears like a separate image each time it is viewed and thus never looks the same. Furthermore, this rotunda – again a symbol of human creation – was built in the 1950s, while the fashion exhibited here is from spring, and the reflection takes place in the present. Since 2009, there has also been a special "portrait" series featuring the iconic Converse shoes. These shoes, also known as "Chucks," were worn by virtually everyone; they are sporty and casual, but not very durable due to their material. For the artist, these shoes reflect the character of the wearer, who, incidentally, is known to the artist for almost every shoe depicted. In contrast to the detailed and realistically painted Chucks, which were worn with love and have also experienced much, the background is often blurred, abstract, or ornamental. This is the case in the work "26.04.15," where the white background with black lettering is depicted absolutely realistically, like an emblem. The day of completion is also the title of these compositions. The artist Anke Rohde is fascinated by everything humankind builds and produces, including handcrafted works. Architecture, urban design, painting, music, and even graffiti, for example, are for her the "concentrated expression of culture," and she skillfully and captivatingly translates this into her artistic work. A report from: ARTPROFIL - Magazine for Art, Issue 126, © Syntax. Projektfabrik GmbH, 68219 Mannheim, Germany, www.artprofil-kunstmagazin.com, Email: redaktion@artprofil-kunstmagazin.com

A bust, 18 paintings, and a drawing, all focusing on photorealism and hyperrealism, currently adorn the Municipal Gallery in the Walldorf town hall. The range of motifs is as diverse as it is impressive. Mörfelden-Walldorf. See and be seen. Exhibition openings at the Municipal Gallery in Walldorf are among the cultural highlights in the twin cities. Once again, organizer Otto Schaffner, together with the Ulrich Gering Gallery from Frankfurt, has succeeded in securing a show worth seeing and experiencing. On display are 18 paintings, a drawing, and a terracotta bust on the theme of "Realism – A Visual Language Yesterday and Today," featuring contemporary, realistic art with a focus on photorealism and hyperrealism. Around 60 guests attended the opening, including loyal visitors from the ranks of local artists. Everyone took the opportunity for stimulating conversations, albeit with only a few of the exhibiting artists. According to Schaffner, the reason not all of them showed up was that the journey would have been too long for many. Staying true to the style Mayor Heinz-Peter Becker also took the opportunity to admire the new exhibition with all its impressions and to welcome those interested in art. He thanked Schaffner for making it possible and pointed out that the exhibiting gallery has existed since 1973 and has been in Frankfurt since 1981. It has always remained true to its style. Gallery owner Ulrich Gering also attends the annual sculpture park in Mörfelden-Walldorf as a jury member. In a short speech, Gering recalled the changes in art since the Third Reich. The "Young Wild Ones" took over painting in the 1980s. Realism faded into the background. Nevertheless, he opened his gallery in Frankfurt in 1981 with this style. Every artist tries to tell their stories. The pictures have achieved their goals when viewers find themselves in them. Smile of the Mona Lisa One of the most impressive works in the exhibition is the 50 by 40 centimetre oil portrait of a young woman by Michele Fiore, whose barely perceptible and mysterious smile is reminiscent of that of the Mona Lisa. The young woman's shoulder- and sleeveless red clothing and red turban, with her mouth also painted red, practically merge into a single unit with the background in the same red. All that remains "visually" is the pale skin of the face, neck, décolleté and upper arms. The painting "Christin 2" appears like a photograph. In the format 80 by 190 centimetres, Peter Handel has captured the full-length view of a reclining woman on canvas using oil paints. The exhibits also include motifs such as three cups, views of buildings, sometimes at an angle, and streets with shop windows and reflections in them. Added to this is a large-format view of an autumn forest, painted in muted yet not gloomy colors, with mist rising in the distance, as well as a portrait that, from the eye area, transitions into a cityscape of Barcelona, landscapes, and Venice. The cityscape of the former trading metropolis shows, among other things, a small gondola shipyard and buildings of morbid charm behind one of the many bridges. They are reflected in the green canal with the gentle waves of the lagoon city. The oldest work on display is a pencil drawing by Eugen Jak from 1905, framed under glass. The expressive strokes on the yellowed paper depict an old woman in profile with traces of life on her face and her upper body bare. Among the works on display are works by Claus Delvaux, Clemens Erlenbach, Joerg Eyfferth, Michele Fiore, Manfred Hönig, Sabine Liebchen, Anke Rhode, Gerda Raichle, and Johannes Schramm. Siggi Liersch provided the musical accompaniment for the opening with guitar and vocals. Tomorrow, Wednesday, there will be a literary evening with Hans ter Wolbeek and Hartwig Kittler from 6:30 p.m. The closing event on the final day of the exhibition, Sunday, March 25, will be accompanied by pianist Gerd Koellner. Until then, the exhibition can be viewed free of charge at the Municipal Gallery above the Walldorf Town Hall, Waldstraße 100, on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

By Sebastian Schwappacher MÖRFELDEN-WALLDORF - At first glance, some of the paintings are indistinguishable from photographs. Stepping closer to the canvases in the Municipal Gallery, countless fine brushstrokes become visible. But reducing the works to this aspect would be a mistake. The artists of the exhibition "Realism - A Visual Language, Yesterday and Today" are not concerned with mere reproduction. They create their own worlds, play with perspectives, and capture moods and lighting conditions. Around 60 visitors came to the Stadthalle, where singer-songwriter Siggi Liersch played guitar between canvases and a sculpture and sang songs by Bob Dylan and John Lennon. "The hall is full; the work was worth it," said gallery owner Gering with satisfaction. Since 1973, he has exclusively represented contemporary, realistic art with a focus on photorealism and hyperrealism. The exhibition "Realism - A Visual Language, Yesterday and Today" is on display until March 25th. Gerd Koellner will play the piano at the closing event from 6:30 p.m. Until then, the Municipal Gallery is open Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is free. The exhibition space is located in the Stadthalle, at Waldstraße 100. He conceived the Walldorf exhibition to be diverse and incorporate a variety of artistic approaches. Streetscapes, crashing waves, and a still life of three cups are on display. An oil painting by Peter Handel immediately catches the eye. His large-format work "Christin 2" hangs prominently opposite the entrance area and depicts a sleeping woman in a bathing suit who appears to be dreaming in a strangely remote state. While a comparison between painterly perfection and photography is particularly obvious here, other works are far less photorealistic. The motif always depends on the artist. The exact nature of a motif always depends on the subject matter the artist is working on, explained gallery owner Gering. He does not see any competition between realistic painting and photography. "A good realist invents his reality." Thus, a painter can express himself more freely on canvas and, through his inventiveness, distinguishes himself from a naturalist or photographer. Whether the exhibited motifs have a counterpart in reality remains the artists' secret. But it doesn't make them any less impressive. Jürgen Schmitz's "Autumn Forest" is not the only one that immediately captivates the viewer. In the background, the sun shines brilliantly, creating a stark contrast to the dark trees. A scene from Venice, captured by Manfred Hönig, is quite different. While the forest appears mysterious and latently threatening, Hönig's painting is clear and open. Other works on display are Claus Delvaux, Clemens Erlenbach, Joerg Eyfferth, Michele Fiore, Sabine Liebchen, Anke Rhode, Gerda Raichle, and Johannes Schramm. At the opening, Mayor Heinz-Peter Becker (SPD) thanked the members of the Municipal Gallery, especially Ulrich Gering and his artists. Becker recalled that Gering has been associated with Mörfelden-Walldorf for many years and regularly supports the sculpture park as a jury member. This commitment has also contributed to the successful development of the open-air exhibition, Becker said. The Municipal Gallery continues in April with the annual exhibition of the South Hesse Association of Visual Artists. A joint exhibition by Reiner W. Kemmler, Kathrin Gordan, and Otto Schaffner is planned for the summer.

"ANKE'S FAVORITES" Exhibition in Anke Rohde's studio and project space in Wiesbaden-Schierstein, benefiting the Fasanerie eV (Friends of the Fasanerie Association). "ANKE'S FAVORITES – Exhibiting and Promoting" is the name of a new exhibition series in Wiesbaden-Schierstein, initiated by the artist Anke Rohde. The first exhibition features paintings by the painter Angela Cremer, photographs by Brigitta Fiesel, sculptures by Wilma Hagemann, among others, and, of course, paintings by Anke Rohde. The exhibition opens on November 25th. The artists and Conny Kempken, chairwoman of the Fasanerie eV (Friends of the Fasanerie Association), will be present in person. Two things are important to Anke Rohde, and she wants to achieve them through this exhibition: connecting artists and assuming social responsibility. In her artistic work, Anke Rohde has been exploring the topic of mirroring/reflection for several years. Her research began with the reflections in the small Sanbitter glass bottles. Urban space was quickly identified as a source of infinite reflections. Anke Rohde captures the exciting dialogue between the goods behind the glass and life in front of it with her photorealistic painting style. In her work, Angela Cremer explores the significance of painting itself and in its contemporary context. Questions about the balance between surface, material, and motif interest her just as much as the possibility of reciting painting beyond language. She questions the boundaries of painting and attempts to expand them. Irritations upon viewing, caused by the material, depictions inspired by ornamentation, and the monotonous, layered treatment of the surface, explore the proximity and boundaries of craftsmanship and design. Compared to the mass of visual messages surrounding us, her images are similar to the state of immersion in water: still, unclear, floating, slowed down, and devoid of any intention. Seeing as such gains significance here. Brigitta Fiesel's photographs expand the perceptual boundaries of the human eye and add her very personal perspective to the legacy of Otto Steinert. Her paintings explore space, perspective, and light. Complex shadows, reflections, abstraction, and interpretation intensify the atmosphere. Wilma Hagemann's predilection for the themes of landscape, sky, and clouds has led her to explore three-dimensional work through painting. She is particularly drawn to the combination of wire and cellulose, industrial materials and natural substances. While the artistic mediums used are diverse, parallels, similarities, and references can be found in the artists' work. The exhibition "Anke's Favorites" invites you to explore these and, in the process, contribute to the construction of the "walk-in sheepfold" in the Fasanerie Wiesbaden. The vernissage will take place on Saturday, November 25, 2017, at 7:00 p.m. in Anke Rohde's studio and project space, Kettenbornstraße 3, 65201 Wiesbaden-Schierstein. Following a welcome address and introductions of the artists, Anke Rohde and Conny Kempken will continue to build bridges between art and nature. Anyone interested is cordially invited to attend. The exhibition is open until December 10, 2017. Opening hours: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. In addition to viewings during regular opening hours, there will be artist talks every day at 3:30 p.m. Contact: Anke Rohde 0179-1047305 mail@ankerohde.de Kettenbornstr. 3, 65201 Wiesbaden-Schierstein. Further links: http://www.ankerohde.de/ http://www.angelacremer.de/ http://www.brigittafiesel.de http://www.wilma-hagemann.de/

From Urban Life Anke Rohde recently opened her new studio in Schierstein By Christine Dressler Anke Rohde has been painting since childhood, but first studied business administration before turning art into a career. The 49-year-old Sonnenberg painter has now opened her own studio at Kettenbornstrasse 3. Anke Rohde calls her new studio a "project space" because she uses the 80 square meters for more than just working. In the former Ambrosius cloth house, Rohde also exhibits her oil and acrylic paintings and offers other artists space for projects, such as Martina Pfeffer's, which is currently kicking off: "pure white," the Minden artist's performance video of her felted body coverings, will be shown in the back room until the end of 2015. Anke Rohde began exhibiting nationwide in Minden before moving to Wiesbaden in 2007 with her husband and their daughters, now 18 and 15 years old. Born and raised in Stuttgart, she chose "high school after being an art teacher and later attended many courses," but for a long time she didn't dare to pursue her passion professionally. Instead, she studied business administration in Karlsruhe and worked there at Hewlett-Packard and in coast-trolling in Bremen until the family moved to Minden in 2002. There, Anke Rohde joined the art association and studied fine art at Bremen's university, obtaining her certificate in 2007. Only after exhibitions in Germany and London did she finally become a freelance artist in 2010. In 2013 and 2014, she traveled from Sonnenberg to Bonn every week to study. There, Rohde lacked only one thing: ideal space. "At home, I only have a 30-square-meter room in the basement and little peace and quiet," she explains, explaining how work and family life clash. In 2014, she rented a studio in the Altes Gericht (Old Court) until November. "I loved being there, but there was no way to exhibit or heat properly, and at eleven or twelve degrees Celsius, I couldn't paint anymore." Once again confined to the basement, the Walkmühle art association member spent months driving around Wiesbaden looking for suitable space. Anke Rohde can hardly believe her luck at having found this space in September, in the abandoned Ambrosius family fabric shop: "I haven't even arrived yet," she says, looking around beaming. "Here I can paint my next pictures in the atmosphere of my own," she enthuses, describing how perfectly the shop, as a studio and gallery, "kills two birds with one stone." Before the opening in November, which was overrun by around 60 enthusiastic visitors, Anke Rohde installed a kitchen, gathered the few pieces of furniture, and protected the floor in the light-flooded entrance hall from paint stains with PVC. Here, Anke Rohde spends hours almost every day at her easel in front of the window, painting photorealistic still lifes, Old Master portraits, or in extreme portrait formats, individual people with a distant view from behind, but above all, her series "urban life." This is also evidenced by the majority of the 20 or so paintings currently on display in the rooms. Both melancholic and life-affirming, they often reflect cities like Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, or now, on the easel in Ghent, on shop windows. To reflect the inside and outside, emotions and times, the visible and the unconscious, Anke Rohde layers countless of her own photographs on top of each other. "I always have my camera with me." On canvas, the artist corrects perspectives using models from Albrecht Dürer to Edward Hopper and adds meticulous details in glazed layers with many brushes. She finds balance in her family and hobbies: "I work a lot in the garden, hike, ski, and enjoy being in nature." Information is available from the artist Anke Rohde directly at the Schiersteiner studio, open usually Fridays from 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the corner of Kettenbornstraße 3/Reichsapfelstraße, by email at mail@ankerohde.de, by phone at 49 1 79-1 047305, and online at www.ankerohde.de.

Personal Reflections on the Urban by Dr. Elke Ullrich In Anke Rohde's current paintings, the urban, the reflections of architectural forms and their products, play a key role. The viewer is taken into at times confusing views of surfaces and levels that merge into one another like a kaleidoscope. Behind the large facades of the buildings lie both objects and personal human beings that fill the spaces with life and can tell episodic stories. These "inside views" are the subject of numerous paintings by Anke Rohde. It all began with a red sofa, which in 2004 served as a photographic model for the first photorealistically painted picture. Its forbidding backrest and the initially somewhat crudely conceived materiality of the furniture are translated from an anonymous photograph into a perspective whose fragmentary nature will be characteristic of many subsequent pictures. The painter takes parts of human objects from photographs and transforms them into paintings that play with imagery and so-called reality. The outside world appears focused and, in painterly guise, takes on an expanded "appearance": Thus, several isolated objects by people are shown, allowing a different view of the world. The individuals themselves are usually caught up in quiet, dissociated activities, thus sharply referring to their own situation. Following on from this, found photos, including those from daily newspapers, are initially used as models for the acrylic paintings – for example, "Schwimmer" (2005), which, in a streamlined image format, draws air in a surging sea of colors as it moves through a powerful movement. The athlete's concentration and strength do not allow any outside world to enter. The person depicted and their face turn away from the viewer. This attitude is also evident in "Esther I" (2006), a picture in which, in addition to brushstrokes, the traditional stamp technique of linocut is used for the red background. We never look into the portraits' eyes, nor into their inner selves. Rather, they remain anonymous, yet appear close and personal to us when we focus on a detail, similar to the everyday and fragmented human way of perceiving things. Thus, the viewer always remains a spectator, sometimes almost a voyeur, as they – supported by the flat, detailed painting style – gain insight into unfamiliar interiors or situations and gaze out over public space. The artistic process of using existing images and found material in the form of photographs as motifs draws on a variety of models in art history; the most prominent in this context is undoubtedly Gerhard Richter. His gigantic "Atlas" (1962–2013), a compendium of both public and private paintings and sketches thematically and chronologically arranged in panels, accompanied the painter throughout his career and simultaneously functions as a kind of cultural visual memory, the title of which emphatically demonstrates his claim to absoluteness in his view of the world. Anke Rohde, after her own experience with an original of Richter's cloud paintings, initially deliberately took up this motif. However, in 2013, the clouds created in 2005 were painted over to create an urban "facade," with the current urban theme literally superimposing the former natural view of the cloud formation. Since graduating from university, Anke Rohde has also used her own photographs, which sometimes only mature into motifs for her acrylic paintings years later. Her pictorial repertoire arises from forays into publicly accessible spaces and places. Personal biographical images, such as those of her daughters, find their way into her paintings, as do individual objects and items of clothing discovered in magazines, which she pursues over the years in series that she calls "picture stories." A beginning in 2007 was the green "Racing Jacket," in acrylic on canvas, which, in three versions, represents no human model, no dynamics, but only itself as the exterior of an absent person. As a kind of post-modern still life, it represents a manufactured protective shell without life within it – who does it belong to, who should buy it? The absence of something or someone once again brings tension to these seemingly inanimate worlds. The largest series, ongoing since 2009, is the "Chucks." These cult shoes, sporty and casual, yet quickly subject to aging due to their material, showcase a classic of shoe fashion that is unrivaled in its transformability as a basketball shoe originally developed in America around 100 years ago. Thus, the "portraits" of the numerous Chucks are mostly an individual reflection of their owner, who is known for almost every picture. The title of each picture indicates the date of their completion. The series began, however, almost politically: Anke Rohde painted one of the first Chucks, "Chuck 20.01.09," in reference to the historically significant swearing-in of Barack Obama as the first Black president of the USA, placing it like a memorial on a motif of the American flag. In subsequent models, there are often thematic relationships between the shoe portrait and the background, such as the concrete bricks of the neighbor's courtyard or the garden. Formally, the painter focuses on the contrast between the clear object and its ornamental background (similar to the racing jackets). These motif-based excerpts from the clear pictorial planes have been broken up in the "Sanbitter" series since 2012, taking up the recurring motif of reflections in the medium of oil painting. Sanbitter is indeed a bitter drink, popular especially in urban bars as a non-alcoholic liqueur substitute for mixed drinks; an "in-drink" packaged in a small, tapered glass bottle. But what else is it? The emptied Italian container, with its elegant shape, invites its use as a vase, thus mutating into a frequently used repurpose that incidentally conveys the consumer's taste. In the shift in the painted proportions, this delicate, reflective bottle takes on a monumental quality, simultaneously reflecting shadows of its surroundings, albeit barely visible. For Anke Rohde, it is a subject bound up in the tradition of the still life. Here, however, the focus is primarily on formal rather than symbolic aspects. The flowers from the artist's home garden populate the painter's house at the beginning of spring and simultaneously place their variations as models in the well-proportioned container: chives, jasmine, and forget-me-nots stand alone in the empty space that allows no actual location, and in their glassy, barely noticeable difference, they are sometimes reminiscent of the jars Peter Dreher has conceptually painted every day for fifty years. Anke Rohde's figures, who turn their backs on us, are seen against a background of a gray surface and themselves act as viewers, extending the viewer's line of sight into nothingness. In keeping with their undefined environment, these works, created between 2006 and 2013, are titled "Monochrome I - V" – once again, the image plane floats away, leaving a sense of irritation. Anke Rohde stands in the photorealist tradition of painting, which, as early as the 1970s, explored essential aspects of painting – light and color – with light reflections, mirroring, and surface structures, causing a sensation, as in the paintings of Richard Estes, for example. The urban blends, which shed new light on regional city situations of airports, banks, and shop fronts, are anchored in this thematic métier, as in "Repeat, Frankfurt" from 2014. In paintings such as "Travel Value" or "Lunch Time" (both 2012), views of airport or bank buildings, despite their attention to detail, take on an abstract quality, reflecting the omnipresent questions of art: What is real, what is backdrop, or illusion? Where is the imitation of nature capable of reaching further levels, and, above all, where does the human being fit within these spaces? Anke Rohde explores these questions – always in search of her own painterly perfection. © Dr. Elke Ullrich Dr. Elke Ullrich works as a freelance art historian and author. She lives in Wiesbaden and is on the board of the Nassauischer Kunstverein.

DONAUKURIER BEILNGRIES created on October 11, 2013 at 6:56 p.m. updated on January 31, 2017 at 10:46 p.m. Anke Rohde is this year's guest artist of Susanne Steibl-Winter Lots of love for detail Beilngries (arg) "Drawing a red sofa in as much detail as possible" was a task that Anke Rohde was given during her studies. And her first thought back then, she still remembers it clearly, was: "How silly!" "Nothing can be as abstract as reality": This is the motto under which Wiesbaden artist Anke Rohde draws scenes from everyday life. This and the next weekend she will be exhibiting her works in the Roßturm together with goldsmith Susanne Steibl-Winter. - Photo: Adam Although she had loved painting as a child and had worked enthusiastically with paint and canvas all her life, up until then she had created rather abstract works. "But then this real-life drawing was so much fun, I was thrilled," the artist says today. And she has stuck with representational painting. She finds her motifs in her everyday surroundings, drawing everyday objects like sneakers, clothing, and people with great attention to detail, and devotes herself to Sanbitter bottles and flowers. Her favorite subject at the moment: reflections and "urban life," city scenes with escalators in department stores or high-rise buildings, in which perfectly staged light reflections captivate the viewer. The Wiesbaden artist is currently exhibiting 41 of her works in the Roßturm Beilngries, together with Beilngries goldsmith and designer Susanne Steibl-Winter (small photo), who once again offers a glimpse into her latest gold jewelry collection. Steibl-Winter has crafted pearls, diamonds, and tourmalines into delicate necklaces, eye-catching rings, and unusual earrings. "I once again paid particular attention to wedding rings," reveals the artist, who lovingly displays all of her precious jewelry in glass display cases. Vice Mayor Manfred Thoma (BL/FW) was also impressed by the diversity of the exhibition at the opening, admiring both the jewelry and the paintings. He was naturally delighted that Anke Rohde had nothing but praise for Beilngries. "It's truly beautiful here. I've even invited my entire family, and we're going to spend our holidays here," said Rohde. The exhibition "Turmalin, Atelier für Gold und Farbe" (Tourmalin, Studio for Gold and Color) is open in the Rossturm this Saturday and Sunday, as well as on Saturday, October 19, and Sunday, October 20, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Further information about the Turmalin project, previous exhibitions, and the artists can be found online at www.turmalin-beilngries.de. By Regine Adam

"In-Between Spaces." Sparkasse Art Prize 2013 Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to begin my speech on the prizewinners' works by briefly reflecting on contemporary spatial thinking. What kind of space do we mean when we speak of space? After the geopolitical obsessions, expansions, and losses of the 20th century, space as a theoretical concept was contaminated for a long time; it seemed useless because it was identified with power and possession. It took many decades before the concept of space was once again open to scientific theories and artistic questions. But this has been the case for at least two decades now: We are experiencing an astonishing increase in themes and theories related to space. Today, we no longer determine our relationship to the world primarily through phenomena of time, which was the guiding category of modernity believing in progress, but rather through our relationship to space. Karlsruhe in particular provided widely recognized impulses for spatial thinking: With his Spheres trilogy, Peter Sloterdijk proved himself an expert on the metaphysical and terrestrial habitability of the world. He countered Hegel's assertion that philosophy grasps its time in thought with the demand that philosophy should grasp its space in thought. Following the linguistic turn and concurrent with the iconic turn, the humanities and cultural studies are experiencing the topographical or spatial turn, that is, the shift toward space in its manifold interpretations. Space is equally marked by urbanism and architecture; it can be occupied psychologically, socially, and gendered—the key word here is gendered spaces—it can dissolve its boundaries as virtual space, and it is, of course, an essential paradigm of contemporary artistic thought. What all these interpretations have in common is that space is understood not as a simply physically present or immutably given condition of perception, but as a culturally shaped entity that can be altered by humans. Contemporary spatial theories are primarily theories of in-between space, meaning they are less interested in traditional, fixed spaces than in forms of opening, perforation, and the fluidity of space. Today, the focus is primarily on mediation between spaces, on zones of transition, on thresholds and interfaces. Through space as an in-between space, we gain access to previously marginalized spaces and to hidden messages that have yet to be deciphered. The impressive number of submissions for the 2013 Sparkasse Art Prize demonstrates that this topic is also gaining momentum in the arts. 438 artists explored the potential of the topic. Not all of them veer into the discourse of newer theory, for "in-between" can simply mean that a place is clearly and unambiguously defined by two boundaries. This is the case, for example, when views arise between two boundaries. Venice seems to be the locus classicus for spectacular vistas: Claus Delvaux and Manfred Hönig provide realistic depictions of the lagoon city, one a view of a palazzo, the other of a narrow passage between two rows of houses. Much more concise, in contrast, is the work of Kiyoun Kim, who directs his gaze outward as if from a cave, with the white at the center of his large-format drawing paper becoming equally legible as sky and emptiness. Hermann Günther and Gerd Konrad's pictures present us with places in transition, inscribed with a temporal component: in Günther's case, the ruin overgrown with vegetation, in which nature and culture merge into a fascinating hybrid, and in Konrad's case, modern glass architecture, whose perfectly reflective surface has been torn open during the demolition process, revealing glimpses into its chaotic interior – a modern vanitas image. Interstitial spaces often contrast with animated and inhabited spaces in which people find their homes. But there are exceptions: for example, Werner Brandt's pictures in the hallway between the studio and the children's room. Here, the interior, in the best Western tradition, proves to be a place of appropriation and processing of the world. The stacked works of art, as well as the objects lying around, bear witness to their owners, the interior's inhabitants. In his painting "What Remains?", Veit Seckendorf heightens several interior spaces into a surreally nested, claustrophobic sequence of rooms, at the end of which a lonely child has found its place, while in "Room Filter I," Katharina Veerkamp uses mirror effects to suggestively blur the spatial situation between interior and exterior. The well-structured interior falls apart precisely where it intertwines with the exterior: at the glass door. That spaces can elude a clear assignment between inside and outside, that something indeterminate and transitory reveals itself within them – this assumption seems to be shared by many of the artists shown here. Consider, for example, the threshold space as seen by Anne Janoschka: In her painting The Sleepers, we see isolated people's feet and hands within the interior of a railway carriage. Private retreat and semi-public space form a bizarre mixture here, illogically overlaid by flat pictorial structures. The world of transport, of travel, which the individual surrenders to the provisional and ephemeral—this world of transit spaces—is ever expanding in our reality. And one is tempted to cite the distinction made by the French anthropologist Marc Augé, who speaks of "places" and "non-places": In contrast to the old, identity-forming places, Augé's non-places are those without a center, without a history, without an identity. Typical non-places are all mobile dwellings and all transit spaces such as airports, train stations, service areas, and amusement parks. Anke Rohde has captured the airport's transit space in her painting Travel Value: a high-gloss floor as an empty center around which various mobility aids are arranged – the escalator, the elevator, and various means of transport typical of an airport – in an almost deserted space. Non-places often provide opportunities to experience solitary individuality and non-human communication. Here, the world of signs and signals reigns. Non-places are not spaces of action, but rather those in which nomadic behavior such as wandering, hurrying, and idle waiting prevail. In this sense, Monika Geisbüsch interprets the accumulation of signets and communication via new media as signs of existential loneliness in her painting Waiting. Two men in the non-place of the shopping mall or train station, isolated from one another but engrossed in their mobile phones, smartphones, or BlackBerrys: the in-between space as a site of failed interpersonal communication and disrupted participation in public life. Intermediate spaces are also spaces of possibility, which can be newly occupied as free spaces populated by abysmal, grotesque, hybrid, or gender-ambivalent figures. We see alternative worlds to the familiar in Manfred Seifert's sultry harem fantasy, something nightmarish in the elevated railway scenarios with wild animals by Elke Schober and Lars Henning, and something surreal in Wolfgang Vogt's picture entitled "Dimension," in which the possibilities of digital image generation lead to an absurd constellation of interior and exterior spaces with people, animals, and cryptic symbols between heaven and earth. Walls, thresholds, and boundaries are relative concepts that can easily be combined digitally to create a fantastic image. In general, virtual space is the space of possibility par excellence. Digital visions seem to transcend all space-forming fictions of our human imagination. The principle of the unlimited, of fluid transitions, of the unforeseeable and the indeterminate are omnipresent in digital spaces. Yet digital space is marked in two ways: on the one hand, in the sense of complete boundlessness, and on the other, in the sense of computer science, through the simple duality of the binary code of the symbols 0 and 1. These digital codes do not represent an in-between, but rather an ultimately unavoidable system logic of present or absent symbols that knows no connecting third. The binary code 0 and 1 stands for yes/no, on/off, for a world in which it is pointless to search for spaces in between. This ambivalence of the digital world seems to be the theme of Christian Ulrich's 3D graphic The Truth Lies in Between. In a depth of field, we see two digitally produced walls of text that overlap one another: on the left in black letters "Black", on the right in white letters "White". The simple contrast of black and white tips over into an overly complex pictorial structure that tapers like a ravine into the background of the picture and can no longer be clearly deciphered. The artist seems to be pointing out the general incompatibility of binary systems with the space of truth, which is always an in-between space beyond simple oppositions. Back from the digital to the analog world. Several of the artists work with sculptural or relief-like pictorial structures in which physical spaces arise quite concretely between layers or elements of the picture, as in Norbert Huwer's work entitled Zwischen Räume nichts versäßen (Don't Miss a Thing Between Spaces) or Volker Tinti's Räumliche Konzentration II (Spatial Concentration II). While the aforementioned artists operate within the geometric formal repertoire of concrete art, in Jin Sue Rhee's multi-layered collage we see fascinating microcosms of paper cutouts and folds that open up vistas of picturesque landscapes of houses. Interstices also nestle between the planes of Harald Kröner's paper work Cut # 18, in which he forms a delicate relief of horizontal paper strips and vertical ridges. I now turn to the award winners. Michael Rausch impressed the jury with his large-format etching Hay. With technical perfection, the artist shows us the horizontal furrows of a hay-covered field. Every individual stalk seems identifiable. But a close-up view reveals a structure in which the spaces between the elements of the picture, the dark zones between the stalks and stubble of the hay, appear just as important to the picture as the hay itself. What we are dealing with here is a continuation of the classic theme of the modern picture – at least since Cézanne – with the changing meaning of figure and ground, with the equivalence of the subject matter and the zones between the objects. The logical consequence of this non-hierarchical definition of all elements within the picture is the opening towards the outside. It points beyond its boundaries. Michael Rausch shows us, as it were, only a small section of an endless continuum of the field. The jury deemed this simple yet complex image worthy of an award. In stark contrast to Rausch's open and non-hierarchical pictorial structure, Richard Williams, the winner of the second prize, creates a striking transition zone, a critical point – where the protagonist of the two-part image, a white-and-gray spotted turtle, escapes the threatening net of a fish trap to venture into the boundless expanse of the sea. The space in between is emphasized here as free space, as a path into the open. Undoubtedly, Richard Williams is also concerned with the diversity of materials, which translate into contrasting pictorial structures: the lattice structure of the net, the amorphous texture of the animal's skin, the monochrome surface of the water – a succinct, highly unusual image whose suggestive power the viewer finds difficult to resist. From the field across the water, back to the land, to the chicken coop, and to the winner of the first prize. Agnes Märkel doesn't give us a rural idyll, but rather – as the title suggests – a battle zone: an aggressive interplay of poultry, cockfights, translated into a dense, pulsating texture. Agnes Märkel's art is always about spaces in between. This is due to her method of image production, in which the unity of the image is broken up, the image disintegrating into individual fragments, only to reassemble into a new artistic unity. The starting point for her work was a photograph of a chicken coop. As is well known, spaces in between are not random, but regulated and controlled throughout the EU. If a farm wants to be certified as an organic farm, the farmer should ensure adequate spacing between the animals. Agnes Märkel edited her source material, the photograph of the chicken coop, cutting the image into 24 square fields and then shifting every second of these squares sideways, resulting in a checkerboard-like pattern. The unity of the photographic image and photography as a documentary medium were thereby destroyed, and intra-image connections were disrupted. The artist then added pastel chalk to the resulting intermediate zones. The artist confidently bridges the gaps – between system and chaos, between the strict checkerboard pattern and the irregular gathering of animals, between the media of photography and drawing. It's worth contemplating this newly created, dense fabric of the image in the interplay of close-up and distant views. "Combat Zone" is a space of unrest that also sets us, as viewers, in motion – a puzzle for the eyes and the mind – in any case, a highly worthy work. I warmly congratulate all the prizewinners and wish you, ladies and gentlemen, a stimulating encounter with the works in the exhibition. Pia Müller-Tamm