SYNERGIES

Ulrike Donié

PRIMORDIAL VORTEX PRIMORDIAL SEA CHAOS SKY AND LIGHT BEGINNING AND FUTURE         

Those who linger in the silence at the KulturOrt Wintringer Kapelle can - inspired by the works of Ulrike Donié - let their gaze wander between the medieval space and nature.

The change of perspective invites us to trace the creative moments of a synergetic encounter between humans and nature in the present: Where do fruitful connections arise that make a new togetherness recognizable in a future that is not yet visible but can be felt? Synergetic encounters are a central aspect of creative renewal - art connects!

Peter Michael Lupp, Curator KulturOrt Wintringer Chapel

Built on shell limestone and with shell limestone, the "Wintringer Chapel" carries millions of years of earth history. The remains of the former priory church together with its artistic furnishings have stood for the Christian faith since the Middle Ages. These two factors create the tension between the artistic works of Ulrike Donié, which will be shown and discussed at the KulturOrt Wintringer Kapelle in the course of 2022.

The life immortalized in the shell limestone testifies to the incessant struggle for survival. About six million years ago, man entered this law and secured his existence by intervening in nature and the simultaneous fight against the dangers from nature. Technical progress helped him to make the earth as a dangerous place, constantly threatening him in his existence, more controllable step by step. On the other hand: "Let there be light!"

This biblical description of the beginning stands for the artist not only for the Christian idea of the beginning of the world. Here the spiritual confrontation of man with himself and his origin and future is shown. The actual mastery of the world by science and technology on the one hand and the spiritual-cultural confrontation of man with his position in this world on the other hand, are the two factors from which development and regression can arise in equal measure. Danger from the nature and endangerment of the nature by the human being face each other today. In order to be able to survive further, he must not only control nature, but also preserve it.

Synergy in the context of my artistic works, which were created especially for the KulturOrt Wintringer Kapelle, means the fruitful interplay of all achievements available to man in order to contribute to reason-based action for the preservation of nature as the basis of life: technology, science, religion with its spirituality and clear instructions for action, secular ethics with its abstract, universally valid principles, and art with its emotional and subconscious effects.

Primordial vortex, primordial sea, chaos, sky and light are represented against this background in my paintings atmospherically condensed and encoded as a narrative of beginning and end. They tell of existential primordial experiences of man (also) with nature. With my painting I would like to take up the primal experience of man at home in nature, but also threatened by it, who in the course of its history became its endangerer, to shake up, to make concerned and to encourage change, to find a way out of the destruction of nature to its preservation.

Ulrike Donié on the intention of her works

The rather gloomy primeval flood, the primeval vortex, painted with dark green, blue and purple, shows a kind of whirlpool, which figuratively shows a "way out" through the closed portal, but also appears threatening. On the one hand, this alludes to the biblical Genesis "Darkness lay on the primeval flood and the spirit of God hovered over the waters"; on the other hand, a purely evolutionary event is not to be denied. In the picture chaos and order, calm and dynamics stand side by side. The biblical paraphrase of madness and confusion is addressed as well as the evolutionary dynamics of emergence. The dark-colored maelstrom emanating from the center of the picture draws the viewer into the midst of the threatening events and makes him or her an actor in the struggle against "being pulled into the abyss. Fear of being swallowed up in the dark depths touches them directly emotionally. The "shore landscape" in light green, blue, pink and even pure white has a saving effect.

On the opposite side, a tondo depicts a light skyscape shimmering in brighter colors above a hellish glow bathed in dark red. Bright green, pink and white highlight light as the embodiment of hope and confidence, contrasting the ominous-looking abyss, rendered in red and orange. The circular shape of the tondo embodies the symbol of eternity and perpetual renewal.

Interview with the artist on site

Leaflet
Accompanying text and backgrounds

Short vita and exhibitions

1961Born in Saarbrücken
1984-⁠1987Saarbrücken University of Applied Sciences (basic training)
1991Start of work as an artist
2008Artist in residence, Nagoya Art Academy, Japan
2018Kunstverein Emmerich (E)
Kunstverein Duisburg, June (E)
Kunstverein Soest, October (E)
Städtische Galerie, Kunstforum Neuenrade, September (E)
2019Pavillon du Centenaire Esch, Luxembourg (E)
Kunstforum Neureut (E)
Kunst im Landtag Rheinland-Pfalz (E)
Kunstverein Ingelheim (E)
Museum für Bildende Kunst im Landkreis Neu-Ulm (G)
Kulturring Meschede (E) (K)
2020Neuer Kunstverein Aschaffenburg "Strong Women" Symposium with exhibition Large object for the outdoor area "Big Bugs"
Kunstverein b-05 Kultur- Kunst-Natur Kunstverein Montabaur Kunstfreunde Lindau, Kunst in St. Stephan (E)
KunstWerk Fellbach e.V. Fellbach (E)
Museum Koenraad Bosman, Rees (E)
Kunstverein Meppen (E)
Kunst in der Maschinenhalle Scherlebeck, Herten (E)
Projektraum k-Salon, Berlin with Susanne Husemann (E)
Museum Pachen, Rockenhausen (E)
2021Kunstverein Weiden (E)
Museen Miltenberg (E), purchase Kunsthalle Hilsbach (E)
Museum Mölln (E)
Kunstverein Ladenburg (E)
Kunstausstellung Natur-Mensch St. Andreasberg
Kunstverein Germersheim "VIELFACH NATUR" (G)
Kunstverein Frechen (G)
Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth (G)
Galerie Kunstzone M1, Gera (G)
2022Peripherie galerie im sudhaus, Tübingen (E)
Gmünder Kunstverein, Galerie im Kornhaus (E)
Städtische Galerie Stapflehus, Weil am Rhein (E)
Kunstgalerie "Altes Rathaus" Schwarzenbach an der Saale (Corona limited to 2023)
Museum im Deutscherrenschloss, Münnerstadt (E)
Cultural site Wintringer Chapel Kleinblittersdorf, Saarbrücken (E)
Museum Schloss Ratibor, Roth (E)
www.ulrike-donie.de