Kerstin Arnold

Kerstin Arnold's paintings are impressive. Kerstin Arnold paints people in a realistic depiction, mostly young women represented in true-to-life dimensions. This results in very large-format paintings, often with an edge length of two metres. It is not only the size of the works however that captivates the beholder; it is the realistic reproduction of the figures which is stirring.

Over the years, Kerstin Arnold has developed a special approach to the work process of her paintings. Kerstin Arnold invites models to a studio and has them adopt various poses before photographing them in order to record her ideas for the work. In doing so she prefers female models. These photographs subsequently solely serve as a source of inspiration in the atelier and as a concept for the large-format paintings. These templates are then transformed into painting form in a creative encounter. A notable aspect is that Kerstin Arnold prefers a highly realistic representation almost reminiscent of pop art painting. Perspectives and proportions but also the arrangement of the folds and even the seams of the garments - Kerstin Arnold makes reality her own and transforms it in her works. In doing so, Kerstin Arnold is able to contribute her technical ski...

Kerstin Arnold was born in Chemnitz in 1964. Already during her school years, art classes were her favourite subject and she attended art courses as a sideline. After graduating from school, she began a preparatory course for a degree course in art, acceptance on which she was refused for socio-political reasons. Kerstin Arnold therefore sought training that most closely approximated art studies and learnt the profession of technical draughtswoman between 1981 and 1983. Between 1983 and 1984, she studied at the Engineers' School for Civil Engineering in Leipzig. The political repression that she had to endure led to her making an emigration application on political grounds in 1985 and 1986. This was granted in 1989; Kerstin Arnold was deprived of GDR nationality even before the Fall of the Wall.

Her entry into the Federal Republic of Germany took her to Saarbrücken, where she lives to date. Since 2006, Kerstin Arnold has been working as a freelance artist and has taken part since then in various group and individual exhibitions both inside and outside Germany. Kerstin Arnold's works are published by a renowned publisher of art prints and a number of purchases have been made by private and public collections.

10/2016 – éditions tréves, TUFA, Trier
09/2016 – BERLINER LISTE 2016 – fair for contemporary art, Kraftwerk Berlin
10/2015 – Contemporary Art Fair Zurich 2015, Congress Centre Zurich
07/2015 – BLUE, TUFA, Trier
04/2015 – Special exhibition FORMAT X – KÖLNER LISTE 2015 – fair for contemporary art, The New Yorker | HARBOUR.CLUB, Cologne
09/2014 – BERLINER LISTE 2014 – fair for contemporary art, Postbahnhof Berlin
09/2014 – Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art in Kobe, Japan
03/2014 – Art Fair HanseArt – Music and Congress Centre, Lübeck
10/2011 – Realistic Painting – Central VVB – Sulzbach/Saar
07/2011 – The Others – Event Hall Luminanz – Saarbrücken
10/2009 – The Portal of Tranquility – Agora Gallery – Chelsea, New York
09/2008 – Exhibition in Losheim am See
09/2007 – Exhibition in Losheim am See
06/2006 – Exhibition at the gallery of the INTER insurance society in Saarbrücken
09/2006 – Exhibition in Saarbrücken
10/2005 – Exhibition in Losheim am See