Ann Wolff
Artist processes
Artist Statement:
The Studio Glass Movement from the United States burst in on my work – my isolation – in the mid 1960s. I was astonished and thrilled by the freedom with which glass was handled there. An immense curiosity about the unused potential and the broad possibilities of the new material for art: glass.
It has to fit into the framework of art in general, though, for me, art is the deciding factor. The path I took shows that I intensely wanted to express my life in pictures, clarify things for myself. Of course I could have started in a quite different medium – painting, sculpture, film – but it became glass.
For a long period if time now, I have seen my works in painting, stone, bronze, concrete, glass as equal in status. Sometimes I feel that my strongest works might be in paper, charcoal and pastels.
I feel as a human being OUT of TIME. The notion of “Self”, and hence identity, grips me, disturbs me and motivates me. Everything comes from that. My interest in the “Self” includes the Others. It is clear that in the way that one carries out one’s work, something like a “Self” expresses itself. And this “Self” is guided by constantly developing inner insights. The insights can be very unclear but can still be the instpiration behind a work.
I am testing out old questions of identity; be it inside-outside, symmetry, layers and core, number two and the double, the goat and the monkey. Moments of recognition are what my work needs, they propel me forward. Collected moments of clarity become knowledge. I think that’s good.
About Ann Wolff
As one of the founders of the international Studio Glass Movement, Ann Wolff was at the center of attention as early as end of the 1960s. In her 50-year career, the sculptor has repeatedly created works that make people think. Especially because glass on the one hand is transparent, yet is a solid material. The translucency intensifies the sensual perception. There is no other material that will allow you to look at it and at the same time through it.
The artist has dealt with glass all her life. With glass, she has allowed the world a glance at her esthetic sentimentality, and she has created homogenous objects. Ever recurring themes predominant in her works are womanhood and habitation. Her objects are mostly monochrome, often kept in warm earthy tones. They radiate calmness and strength. Ann Wolff wanted more than shaped surfaces; she processed the material in several different aggregate phases, shaped it, casted it, painted it. Sometimes abstract objects emerged, sometimes figures that tell stories. What makes me strong? When does something become art? All these questions keep Ann Wolff moving. To her, movement and dance are important. In dance-theater, she was allowed to experience rehearsals with Pina Bausch, made views from it and then formed glass objects.
Ann Wolff was born in Lübeck, Germany in 1937, studied at the Hochschule für Gestaltung (University for design and art) in Ulm, Germany, then she worked as a designer in Sweden. Between 1993 and 1998, Ann Wolff worked as a professor at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste (University of arts) in Hamburg. Today, she works as a freelance artist in Sweden and Berlin. The Swedish Royal family has acquired several of her works.
She has been awarded numerous international awards, among them the renowned Coburger Glaspreis (1977), the Bayerischen Staatspreis (1988), the Jurypreis of the Toledo Museum of Art (2005), and the Award of Excellence of the Smithsonian Renwick Collection, Washington, USA (2008). Her works have been repeatedly exhibited in several solo exhibitions worldwide.
Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, München, Germany
Badisches Landesmuseum, Karlsruhe, Germany
The Chazen Collection, Madison/WI, USA
The Corning Museum of Glass, Corning/ NY, USA
Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk/VA, USA
Det Danske Kunstindustrimuseum, Copenhagen, Danmark
De Young Museum, San Fransisco/CA, USA
Dresdner Kunstgewerbemuseum, Dresden, Germany
Ebeltoft Glasmuseum, Ebeltoft, Denmark
Ernsting Stiftung, Coesfeld-Lette, Germany
Frauenau Museum, Frauenau, Germany
Groninger Museum, Groningen, the Netherlands
Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art, Hokkaido, Japan
Höganäs Museum, Höganäs, Sweden
Kestner Museum, Hannover, Germany
LACMA Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles/CA, USA
Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Wausau/WI, USA
Lobmayr Museum, Wien, Austria
Kulturhistorisches Museum, Osnabrück, Germany
Kunstmuseum der Stadt Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, Coburg, Germany
Malmö Museum, Malmö, Sweden
Metropolitan Museum, New York/NY, USA
MFHA the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston/TX, USA
Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis/MN, USA
Mint Museum of Craft + Design, Charlotte/NC, USA
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France
Musée Atelier du Verre, Sars Poteries, France
Musée de Design et d´Arts Appliques Contemporains, Lausanne, Switzerland
Museum of Arts and Design, New York/NY, USA
Museum Bellerive, Zürich, Switzerland
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
Museum Würth, Künzelsau, Germany
Muskegon Museum of Art, Muskegon/MI, USA
National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Japan
Nationalmuseum Stockholm, Sweden
Norrköpings Museum, Norrköping, Sweden
Pilkington Museum of Glass, Pilkington, England
Racine Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA
Röhsska Konstslöjdmuseum, Göteborg, Sweden
Schloß Gottorf, Schleswig, Germany
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
The Palm Springs Art Museum, Palm Springs/CA, USA
Toledo Art Museum, Toledo/OH, USA
Varbergs Museum, Varberg, Sweden
Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England
Värmlands Museum, Karlstad, Sweden
Växjö Länsmuseum, Växjö, Sweden
Wuerttembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart, Germany
Seven Bridges Foundation, Greenwich, CT, USA
De Young Museum, San Fransisco, USA
Solo Exhibitions selection
1966 Varbergs Museum, Varberg, Sweden
1968 Galleri Wulff, Helsinki, Finland
1976 Galleri Doktor Glas, Stockholm, Sweden 1979,–84,–87,–93,–97
1980 Yamaha Galleries, Kyoto, Japan
1981 Galleri Mors Mössa, Göteborg, Sweden 1984
1982 Heller Gallery, New York/NY, USA 1987,1997
1983 Ivor Kurland Gallery, Los Angeles/CA, USA 1987
1983 Holsten Galleries, Palm Beach/FL, USA 1986
1984 Art Weeks, Kilkenny, Ireland
1986 Gotlands Fornsal, Visby, Sweden
1987 Galleri F15, Moss, Norway
1987 Karlshamns Museum, Karlshamn, Sweden
1987 Galerie Gottschalk-Betz, Frankfurt/M, Germany
1990 Visby Konstmuseum, Visby, Sweden
1990 Chateau d’Annecy, Annecy, France
1993 Musée Palais Bénédictine, Fécamp, France
1994 Gamla Riksbanken, Vänersborg, Sweden
1996 Sanske Gallery, Zürich, Switzerland
1998 Galleria San Nicolò, Venice, Italy
1999 Arch Gallery, Kalmar, Sweden
1999 Mejeriet, Alskog, Sweden
2001 Noack Werkstattgalerie, Berlin, Germany
2001 Landskrona Museum, Landskrona, Sweden
2002 Galerie B, Sinzheim, Germany 2003,–07,–11
2002 Kalmar Konstmuseum, Kalmar, Sweden
2002 Habatat Galleries, Detroit/MI, USA 2007,–09
2005 Ebeltoft Glasmuseum, Ebeltoft, Danmark
2005 National Glass Center, Sunderland, UK
2006 Glashütte Gernheim, Petershagen, Germany
2006 Rihimäki Glasmuseum, Rihimäki, Finland
2007 Mint Museum, Charlotte/NC, USA
2007 Landesmuseum, Schleswig, Germany
2008 Wärmlands Museum, Karlstad, Sweden
2008 Leo Kaplan Modern, New York/NY, USA
2009 Vänersborgs Konstmuseum, Vänersborg, Sweden
2009 Galleri Landborg, Vickleby, Sweden
2010 Kulturforum Burgkloster zu Lübeck, Germany
2010 Litvak Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
2012 Galerie Seitz & Partner, Berlin, Germany
2012 Europäisches Glasmuseum, Coburg, Germany 2013
2012 S:t Maria Domkyrka, Visby, Sweden
2012 Mim Art Gallery, Istanbul
2013 Galleri KG52, Stockholm, Sweden
2013 Continuum Gallery, Königswinter, Germany
2014 Alexander Tutsek Stiftung, München, Germany
Collective Exhibitions selection
1994 Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
1994 Hakodate Museum of Art, Hokkaido, Japan
1994 Pro Natura Baltica Helsinki, Finland – St Petersburg, Russia
1994 Stockholm, Sweden – Lübeck, Germany
1995 Konstnärshuset, Stockholm, Sweden
1996 Hokkaido Museum of Art, Sapporo, Japan
1996 Azabu Museum of Arts and Crafts, Tokyo, Japan
1996 Seoul Art Center, Seoul, Korea
1996 Aperto Vetro Ducal Palace, Venice, Italy
1999 Global Art Glass Borgholm, Sweden 2002,–05
2003 Meister der Moderne München, Germany
2004 Oblåst Smålandsmuseum, Växjö, Sweden – Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden
2004 Culture Centre Knokke Heist, Belgium
2005 Oblåst Rihimäki Glasmuseum, Rihimäki, Finland
2005 Reflections Galerie Seitz & Partner, Berlin, Germany
2005 Kanaz Forest of Creation Museum, Awara City, Fukui, Japan
2005 Dual Vision Chazen Collection, Chazen Museum of Art, Madison/WI, USA
2005 Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg, Sweden
2006 Das verlorene Gesicht wiedergefunden Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung, München, Germany
2006 Material Matters County Museum, Los Angeles/CA, USA
2006 Intermezzo Galerie Rosella Junck, Berlin, Germany
2007 Sammlung Würth, Künzelsau, Germany
2007 Shy Boy, She Devil and Isis Wornick Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/MA, USA
2007 Kraftfelder Galerie Seitz & Partner, Berlin, Germany
2007 Göteborgs Konstmuseum, Göteborg, Sweden
2008 Galérie Internationale du Verre, Biot, France 2009, –10, –11, –12
2011 Drömrummet, Lijlevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm
2011Time, Vida Museum, Borgholm, Sweden
2012 På Papper, Vida Museum, Borgholm, Sweden
2013 Meister der Moderne, Handwerksmess, München, Germany
