Tomma Abts

Abts was born in 1967 in Kiel, Germany,{{cite book |title=Great Women Artists |year=2019 |publisher=Phaidon Press |isbn=978-0714878775 |page=20}} to a teacher in a primary school and a gynecologist.Emma Brockes (6 December 2006), [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2006/dec/06/art.turnerprize2006 'I'm sure they were thinking it was time a woman won'] The Guardian. Between 1989 and 1995 Abts attended the Hochschule der Künste Berlin. She has been living in London since 1995,Tom Teodorczuk (5 December 2006), [https://www.standard.co.uk/arts/turner-prize-returns-to-artistic-roots-7212505.html Turner Prize returns to artistic roots] London Evening Standard. and maintains a studio in Clerkenwell, which she has occupied since first coming to London on a grant. It was only in 2002 that she was able to live solely from her paintings.

Starting each of her works without a preconceived idea, knowing only the size of the canvas and her materials,{{cite web | url=http://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibition/tomma-abts-2/?view=press-release | title=Tomma Abts Press Release | date=10 September – 25 October 2014 | publisher=David Zwirner | location=New York | access-date=25 June 2018}} Abts works in acrylic and oil, often building up her designs from repetitive geometrical elements. Her style can be classified as abstract, but also in opposition to Germany's Neo-Expressionist figurative painting.Esplund, Lance. [http://www.nysun.com/arts/shadow-play-2008-04-10/74474 "Shadow Play"], 10 April 2008, The New York Sun, Retrieved 18 August 2014 None of her paintings are representational. There are no references to nature, the world or any other theme. The abstraction in her paintings is supported by the lack of detail and an overall retro feel. The paintings involve complex shapes that are layered and woven in different ways with added highlights, shadows and sense of depth.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/arts/design/11abts.html?ref=arts|title=Little Canvases That Contain Worlds|author=Johnson, Ken|work=New York Times|date=11 April 2008}}

Abts used to work on canvasses of all sizes. Since the early 2000s, all of Abts' paintings are 48 x 38 centimeters and the titles of her paintings are derived from a dictionary of German first names. She has said that this is the size and style that works for her.{{Cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6205970.stm|title=German painter wins Turner Prize|publisher=BBC News|date=5 December 2006|access-date=16 April 2008}} Each work takes on a color scheme that is rich and somewhat neutral. The colors are not obviously vibrant and work with each other's tones within each work of art. Abts creates a 3D effect by continually and meticulously layering and working up each painting. The works are thickly painted, almost over-painted, which gives a hint of something created by trial and error. It seems as though the layers of paint could be covering up something underneath the finished product. "Abts approaches each canvas without preconception, building up layers of paint until a form crystallizes."{{Cite web|url=http://www.cmoa.org/international/the_exhibition/artist.asp?abts|title=Tomma Abts|publisher=Carnegie International|access-date=16 April 2008}} Abts takes a long time to produce her works, and she is not prolific.Ken Johnson (11 April 2008), [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/arts/design/11abts.html Little Canvases That Contain Worlds] New York Times. She also has begun to translate her paintings into prints, particularly with the Crown Point Press in San Francisco, California.{{Cite web

| url = http://www.crownpoint.com/artists/abts

| title = Tomma Abts {{!}} Crown Point Press

| website = www.crownpoint.com

| access-date = 2016-02-25

}}

Abts is the winner of the 2006 Turner Prize, awarded by the Tate in London.{{Cite book|title=Seven Days in the Art World|author=Sarah Thornton|date=2 November 2009|author-link=Sarah Thornton|isbn=9780393337129|location=New York|oclc=489232834}} The Tate Gallery praised "her rigorous and consistent approach to painting" and added "Through her intimate and compelling canvases she builds on and enriches the language of abstract painting."{{cite web|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain-other-venues/exhibitionseries/turner-prize-series/turner-prize-year-year

|title=Turner Prize 2006|year=2006|publisher=Tate|access-date=14 October 2010}} The other artists on the shortlist in 2006 were Rebecca Warren, Phil Collins, and Mark Titchner. Abts was the first female painter to win the award.

• habitat, Kings Road, London (1998)
• [https://www.greengrassi.com/artists/tomma-abts/ greengrassi, London (2021, 2016, 2012, 2006, 2002, 2000)]
• Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin (2004, 2001)
• The Wrong Gallery, New York (2003)
• Galerie Buchholz, Koln (2006, 2003)
• Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin (2009, 2004)
• Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2005)
• Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2005){{Cite web|url=http://www.kunsthallebasel.ch/exhibitions/archive/18|title=Tomma Abts|publisher=Kunsthalle Basel|access-date=16 April 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721063626/http://www.kunsthallebasel.ch/exhibitions/archive/18|archive-date=21 July 2011|df=dmy-all}}
• Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Koln (2006)
• Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany (2006)
• David Zwirner, New York (2008){{cite web|url=https://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/2008/tomma-abts-0|title=Tomma Abts - David Zwirner|website=David Zwirner}}
• New Museum, New York (2008){{cite web|url=http://www.newmuseum.org|title=New Museum|website=www.newmuseum.org}}
• Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf (2011){{cite web|url=http://www.xn--kunsthalle-dsseldorf-0ec.de/index.php?id=255|title=Tomma Abts - Kunsthalle Düsseldorf|website=www.xn--kunsthalle-dsseldorf-0ec.de}}
• greengrassi, London (2011){{cite web|url=http://greengrassi.com/Artists?aid=1&eid=101|title=greengrassi: Tomma Abts|website=greengrassi.com}}
• Galerie Buchholz, Berlin (2013){{cite web|url=http://www.galeriebuchholz.de/exhibitions/|title=Exhibitions – Galerie Buchholz|website=www.galeriebuchholz.de}}
• David Zwirner, New York (2014){{cite web|url=https://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/2014/tomma-abts|title=Tomma Abts - David Zwirner|website=David Zwirner}}
• Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2014){{cite web|url=https://www.aspenartmuseum.org/artists/25-tomma-abts|title=Tomma Abts - Aspen Art Museum|website=Aspen Art Museum}}
• "Tomma Abts: Four New Etchings", Crown Point Press, San Francisco (2015) {{Cite web

| url = https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-at-crown-point-press-tomma-abts-prints-like-she-paints

| title = At Crown Point Press, Tomma Abts Prints Like She Paints

| last = Kedmey

| first = Karen

| website = Artsy

| date = 21 October 2015

| access-date = 2016-02-25

}}

• David Zwirner, New York (2019){{cite web|url=https://www.davidzwirner.com/exhibitions/2019/tomma-abts-2019|title=Tomma Abts - David Zwirner|website=David Zwirner}}

• filmcuts, Galerie neugerriemschneider, Berlin (1995)
• Fast, 520 King Street West, Toronto (1996)
• The Vauxhall Gardens, Norwich Art Gallery, Norwich (1998)
• Honey, I rearranged the collection and Origin of Parties, greengrassi, London (2003, 1998)
• Limit Less, Galerie Krinzinger, Wien (1999)
• Etcetera, Spacex Gallery, Exeter (1999)
• Egofugal 7th International Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul (2001)
• The Devil is in the Detail, Alliston Skirt Gallery, Boston (2001)
• Tomma Abts & Vincent Vecteau, Marc Foxx Gallery, Los Angeles (2002){{cite web|url=http://www.marcfoxx.com/|title=Marc Foxx|last=www.artcat.com|website=www.marcfoxx.com}}
• Quodlibet II and Mullberg and Richard Hawkins & Tomma Abts, Lecia Dole-Racio, Morgan Fisher, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Koln James Hayward (2009, 2004, 2002)
• Hot, Blue & Righteous, Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin (2003)
• {{Proper name|deutschemalereizweitausenddrei}}, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt (2003)
• Black Rainbow, Lucky Tackle, Oakland, California (2003)
• journal #7 with Vincent Fecteau, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven (2004)
• Formalismus. Moderne Kunst heute, Kunstverein Hamburg, Hamburg (2004)
• 54th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2004–2005)
• British Art Show 6, Hayward Gallery, London: (Wanderausstellung) (2005)
• Of Mice and Men, 4th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art (2006){{cite web|url=http://www.berlinbiennial.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=40&Itemid=83|title=Berlin Biennial}}
• Hyper Design, 6th Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai (2006){{Cite web|url=http://universes-in-universe.de/car/shanghai/english.htm|title=Shanghai Biennale|publisher=Universes in Universe|access-date=16 April 2008}}
• Turner Prize: A Retrospective, Tate Britain, London (2007)
• Turner Prize: A Retrospective, Moscow Museum of Modern Art (2007)
• Turner Prize: A Retrospective, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2007)
• The Gallery, David Zwirner, New York (2008)
• The Symbolic Efficiency of the Frame, 4th Tirana Biennial, Tirana, Albania (2009)
• Slow Paintings, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany (2009)
• At Home/Not at Home: Works from the Collection of Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg, CCS Bard Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-On-Hudson, New York (2010)
• The Indiscipline of Painting Tate St. Ives{{cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Martin |last2=Sturgis |first2=Daniel|last3=Shalgosky |first3=Sarah|author-link2=Daniel Sturgis |title=The Indiscipline of Painting: International Abstraction from the 1960s to Now |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-st-ives/exhibition/indiscipline-painting |website=Tate |access-date=20 May 2021}} touring to Warwick Art Centre (2011/12)
• Stand still like the hummingbird, David Zwirmer, New York (2012)
• Painting Now: Five Contemporary Artists, Tate Britain, London (2013)

Abts' work is represented in public collections internationally, including:

• the Art Institute of Chicago,{{cite web|url=https://www.artic.edu/artists/101280/tomma-abts|title=Tomma Abts - The Art Institute of Chicago|website=The Art Institute of Chicago|date=2 January 1967 }}
• the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
• the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles,
• the Museum of Modern Art, New York,{{cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/collection/works/199614|title=Tomma Abts. Untitled (gap). 2015 - MoMA|website=www.moma.org}}
• the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art,{{cite web|url=https://www.sfmoma.org/artist/Tomma_Abts|title=Tomma Abts|website=SFMOMA}}
• the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart,
• the Tate Gallery, London,{{cite web|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/tomma-abts-9550|title=Tomma Abts born 1967 - Tate|last=Tate}} and
• the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Abts is represented by Galerie Buchholz,{{cite web |title=Tomma Abts, Galerie Buchholz |url=https://www.galeriebuchholz.de/artists/tomma-abts/}} Cologne/Berlin/New York, greengrassi, London{{cite web |title=Tomma Abts, greengrassi, London |url=https://www.greengrassi.com/artists/tomma-abts/}}. and by David Zwirner, New York.

• List of German women artists
• List of German painters

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.greengrassi.com/artists/tomma-abts/ Tomma Abts at greengrassi]
• [https://www.galeriebuchholz.de/artists/tomma-abts/ Tomma Abts at Galerie Buchholz]
• [https://www.davidzwirner.com/artists/tomma-abts Tomma Abts at David Zwirner]
• [http://www.artnet.com/artist/424144628/tomma-abts.html Tomma Abts at Artnet]
• [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/abts_tomma.html Tomma Abts on Artcyclopedia]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090201015752/http://newmuseum.org/exhibitions/19 Tomma Abts at the New Museum, New York, Spring 2008]
• [http://hammer.ucla.edu/exhibitions/detail/exhibition_id/140 Tomma Abts at the Hammer, Los Angeles, Fall 2008]
• [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/turnerprize2006/story/0,,1964120,00.html Guardian: Tomma Abts (12/2006)]
• [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/turnerprize2006/story/0,,1965096,00.html Interview (12/2006)]

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Category:1967 births

Category:Living people

Category:Artists from Kiel

Category:20th-century German painters

Category:21st-century German painters

Category:German expatriates in the United Kingdom

Category:Turner Prize winners

Category:21st-century German women painters

Category:German contemporary artists

Category:20th-century German women artists

Category:21st-century German women artists