One sees a lot at the instant of perception – the flash of a colorful shadow, the soft hover of a form or the nearly inaudible dissolution of a visual space. The possibility of compositional abundance in painting only seems to have faded, because what we designate as painting has shifted. It has gotten subtler, quieter and nearly invisible. In Christoph Schellberg’s paintings, it is deposited transparently in layer upon layer applied to the unprimed, Belgian linen canvas, on whose smooth, almost raw surface floats the calm color gradient as if at the center of a cloud.
Schellberg slowly and subtly reverses the process of image composition and, through the dissolution of form, questions not only the eye’s reception, but, just as much, the process of image formation. The basic forms of his painted compositions blend hazily with their shadows, thereby freeing the space for a subtle investigation of the painterly process of abstraction. Held by the countless, thin layers of colorful frames, the surface of Schellberg’s paintings actually become bodies of images and sublimely adapt to the sentiment of the composition. (…) Abstraction appears not as a rejection of the motif, but rather as an opportunity - constantly in search of the beauty of a pure painterly medium.
Excerpt from: Christoph Schellberg ´Time to Leave´, Philipp Fernandes do Brito
CV
| 1973 | born in Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 1995 – 1997 | Academy of Fine Arts, Hamburg, Germany |
| 1997 – 2001 | Academy of Arts, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| Lives and works in Düsseldorf. | |
Public Collections
|
Museum Brandhorst, München Wellin Museum of Art, Clinton, NY, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany Collection Deutsche Bank AG, Frankfurt, Germany Collection of Contemporary Art of the Federal Republik of Germany Collection Harald Falkenberg, Hamburg, Germany Collection Ringier, Zurich, Switzerland Sammlung Wilhelm Schürmann, Berlin, Germany Collection Brandhorst, Munich, Germany SSK Stiftung, Cologne, Germany |
Solo Shows
| 2023 | upcoming May: Collection Mosiek, Düsseldorf, Germany upcoming March: Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 2021 | About Time, Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany (Cat.) |
| 2019 | Missing, Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 2018 | String Figures, pt. two (with Sean Sullivan), Linn Lühn in collaboration with Markus Lüttgen, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 2017 | Waiting For The Sun, Cliff Fong/ Matt Blacke, Inc., Los Angeles, CA Time to Leave, Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf |
| 2015 | More Eggs, Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany (Cat.) |
| 2014 | Deutsche Bundesbank, Frankfurt a. Main, Germany (Cat.) |
| 2013 | Yes, Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany (Cat.) Christoph Schellberg, Johannes Wohnseifer, Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 2011 | Linn Lühn, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 2010 | Antiquariat Gundel Gelbert, Cologne, Germany The Simple Things, Linn Lühn, Cologne, Germany |
| 2009 | Linn Lühn, Cologne, Germany (Cat.) |
| 2008 | Friends, Antiquariat Gundel Gelbert, Cologne, Germany |
| 2007 | Linn Lühn, Cologne, Germany (Cat.) |
| 2005 | Cosmos White Sensation, Jablonka Lühn, Cologne Fleurs Du Mal, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany (with Sebastian Ludwig) |
| 2004 | Stellan Holm Gallery, New York, USA (Cat.) Jablonka Lühn, Cologne (Cat.) |
| 2002 | Jablonka Lühn, Cologne |
| 2000 | 1 neues Bild, Kölnerstraße, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 1999 | Ich war noch nie in Köln, (mit René Zeh), Ausstellungsraum 4E, Düsseldorf, Germany |
Group Shows (Selection)
| 2022 | Happiness is a State of Mind, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Germany (Cat.) |
| 2020 | Salon der Gegenwart, Hamburg, Germany |
| 2019 | Pro-trait, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck, Austria |
| 2015 | Kunsthalle CCA Andratx, Majorca, Spain |
| 2014 | Freundliche Übernahme, MARTa Herford, Germany |
| 2013 | Wahlverwandtschaften. Current Painting and Drawing of the collection of the Museum Frieder Burda, Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf, Switzerland (Cat.) |
| 2012 | Menschenbilder, Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, Germany The Reality of the Unbuilt, Stiftung Insel Hombroich, Neuss, Germany Nada NYC (mit Florian Baudrexel, Kevin Zucker), New York Filmwerkstatt Düsseldorf (mit Robert Wilson) |
| 2010 | Neues Rheinland. Die postironische Generation, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany (Cat.) Frieze Art Fair, (with Wilkinson Gallery), London, Great Britain Room Divider, curated by Michael Bracewell (amongst others with R. Hamilton, E. Sottsass, Linder), Wilkinson Gallery, London, Great Britain |
| 2009 | Zehn Tage im August in Münster mit..., Linn Lühn, Münster, Germany New Contemporaries (with Florian Baudrexel), Art Cologne, Cologne |
| 2008 | 10 Jahre, 10 Räume, exhibition on the occasion of the 10 year existence of the collection of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany(Cat.) Scala Paradisi, Schürmann Collection Berlin, Germany |
| 2007 | New, Stephane Simoens Contemporary Fine Arts, Knokke-Zoute, Belgium Liste 07 (with Alexej Koschkarow and Alex Jasch), Basel, Switzerland |
| 2006 | Auf leisen Pfoten. Die Katze in der Kunst, Städtische Galerie, Karlsruhe, Germany (Cat.) Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany Nada, Miami Boilermaker, Stellan Holm Gallery, New York Liste 06, with Clare Stephenson and Matthias Lahme, Basel, Switzerland Face to Face, Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössische Kunst, Münster, Germany |
| 2005 | Kir Royal, Schickeria, Berlin, Germany (Cat.) The Obscure Object of Desire, Stellan Holm Gallery, New York, USA Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Jahresgaben, Aachen, Germany Each Day Is Valentines Day, Jablonka Lühn, Cologne, Germany |
| 2004 | Cave Miser, Schickeria Bar, Berlin, Germany Pixels, Stellan Holm Gallery, New York, USA Fleurs du Mal, Schickeria Bar, Berlin, Germany |
| 2003 | Hüttenzauber, Schickeria, Berlin, Germany 160 Meisterzeichnungen, Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg, Germany Sammlung Falckenberg, Phoenix Hallen, Hamburg, Germany Jeppe Hein, Christoph Schellberg, Johannes Wohnseifer, Schnittraum, Cologne, Germany |
| 2002 | Pompa, Schramm, Schellberg, (kuratiert von Tabea Langenkamp) Clarissenstr., Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 2001 | The complete dialogue, mit Jens Ullrich und Alex Jasch, Kölnerstraße, Düsseldorf, Germany |
| 1999 | Schubert en Co., Villa de Bank, Enschede, Netherlands We could be heroes, Ruhrtalstraße, Düsseldorf, Germany Glück durch Paarung, Suermondt Ludwig Museum, Aachen, Germany (Cat.) |
| 1998 | Blindlings, Kunstbunker Wersten, Düsseldorf, Germany |