BIOGRAPHY
Ina Gerken (b. 1987, Speyer, Germany) is a painter whose process-based practice is rooted in intuition and spontaneity. Relinquishing control, Gerken allows her paintings to unfold autonomously and follow their own logic. To keep her process alive and exciting, she embraces the rapidly drying medium of acrylic paint, modifying content quickly and at will.
In her paintings, Gerken uses a variety of materials beyond acrylic, frequently incorporating tracing papers and oil pastels in her monumental tableaux. Intuitively layering these materials, Gerken influences how pigments appear on her canvases. At times, the artist adds and removes materials from her canvas, even using tracing papers as printing matrices in a process reminiscent of monoprinting. Although her works may simulate recognizable shapes, Gerken’s paintings are intentionally left open to interpretation.
In recent years, Gerken has experimented extensively with large format painting. Laying her canvases flat on the floor, the artist is able to immerse herself in the picture plane. She feels that the larger her canvases, the easier it is for her to get lost, surrender control, and rely on intuition.
In 2018, Kerber published Gerken’s first monograph of work. The publication presents her abstract textural paintings that incorporate graphic techniques, paper and expressionistic layers of acrylic paint. This comprehensive survey of Gerken’s work includes photographs and texts by Frieze writer Carina Bukuts and German art historian Gregor Jansen.
Gerken began studying art in 2007 at the Kunsthochschule in Mainz, Germany. In 2016, she received an MA from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. She currently lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany.
Gerken has enjoyed prominent residencies around the world. In 2023, she was awarded the prestigious Pollock-Krasner Grant and in 2022, she was selected for the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture’s artist residency program. She has also participated in residencies with the Fores Project, UK (2021) and The Cabin LA, CA (2019), and has received grants from the Stiftung Kunstfonds, Germany (2024); Lepsien Art Foundation, Germany (2017); and the Fine Art Collective of Frankfurt, Germany (2016), among others.
Her work has been exhibited at museums and galleries in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, including Logomo, Turku, Finland (2023); Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX (2023); Stiftelsen Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, Norway (2022); Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany (2020); Museum Wiesbaden, Wiesbaden, Germany (2020); and Bonn Museum of Modern Art, Bonn, Germany (2019), among others. Gerken’s work is held in the OP ENHEIM Collection, Poland and the collection of the Kunsthaus NRW Kornelimünster, Germany, among private collections across the globe.