Rheinland Studio Conversations
Rheinland Studio Conversations is the fifth volume of an ongoing interview series launched in 2013 by art historian Stephanie Buhmann in New York. With over 80 conversations published to date, this project aims to create a permanent and growing forum for international contemporary women artists.
Like the previous publications in the series, New York Studio Conversations (2016), Berlin Studio Conversations (2017), New York Studio Conversations II (2018) and Los Angeles Studio Conversations (2019), this book offers an intimate insight into the creative process. It is mindful of diversification, and so the fifteen women artists featured here work in a deliberately wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, video, performance, installation and drawing. Moreover, they belong to different age groups and enjoy varying degrees of recognition. Rooted in Cologne, Düsseldorf, Bonn and the surrounding area, all the artists have experienced various phases in their international careers, among which the current Corona period occupies a place of its own.
By talking to the artists about specific works, exhibition projects, personal philosophies, biographical details and socio-political concerns, among other things, Stephanie Buhmann explores a wide range of challenges and thought processes that art-making can involve. While the media very often focus on the commercial value of artworks, due to the record prices increasingly achieved at international art auctions, this interview series points to a more thoughtful side. Here, the focus is on the creation of art itself, independent of any market demands. The artists’ narratives make it clear that most works begin as a purely private consideration in the isolation of the studio.
The following women artists are introduced in the book: Mary Bauermeister, Frauke Dannert, Katja Davar, Katharina Hinsberg, Katharina Jahnke, Christiane Löhr, Keti Kapanadze, Rune Mields, Christiane Rasch, Ulrike Rosenbach, Leunora Salihu, Heather Sheehan, Pia Stadtbäumer and Birgit Werres.
