Temporary Exhibitions
Dirk Balke – an independent artist currently living and working in Solingen, Germany. He organizes exhibitions both nationally and internationally, as well as artist residencies within symposiums and study trips to countries including Italy, Spain, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Moldova, Northern Europe, and the USA — San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, New York.
For his artistic activity, Dirk Balke has been recognized with various awards and distinctions:
– 3rd Prize of the Jury, Burger Biennale / Solingen (2024)
– Trophy of the National Art Museum of Moldova at the Chișinău International Painting Biennale 2023
– 3rd Prize of the Jury, Sculpture Park / Günzburg (2018)
– 1st Prize of the Public, SinnesWald 2017/18 / Leichlingen (2018)
– 3rd Prize of the Public, SinnesWald 2015/16 / Leichlingen (2016)
– Laureate of the Chișinău International Painting Biennale 2015 / Sturza Foundation
– Laureate of the Intersalon AJV / CZ Pisek (2009)
The artist is a member of the following international artist groups: Die Neuen Milben, the Association of Visual Artists from South Bohemia, the Düsseldorf Artists' Association, and Kunst im Hafen e.V.
Gisela Elbracht-Iglhaut
Director of the Solingen Museum of Art
> “...The artist's still lifes are often quite provocative through their radical simplification, even in the choice of everyday objects: an espresso pot next to an apple, an enameled bowl in which two white eggs rest, a lemon sliced into wedges. His painting style, which appears almost diabolically naturalistic, hides the unreal behind the seemingly real upon a second glance — creating chills and obstructing direct access, affectionate engagement, or straightforward acceptance.
A girl's head emerging from an ice cream cup, a wooden mannequin — part of his constantly recurring arsenal of figures — lost creatures that sometimes find refuge at flea markets and then reappear as if conjured when it comes to the constellation of a new pictorial design.
Walter Vogel
Photographer
