Römer + Römer
Römer + Römer (Torsten and Nina Römer) are a German-Russian artist couple living and working in Berlin, Germany.[1]
Biography
Torsten Römer was born 1968 in Aachen, Germany. Nina Römer, née Tangian, 1978 in Moscow, Russia.[2] Both studied painting at the Staatliche Kunstakademie (State Art Academy) Düsseldorf Academy under A. R. Penck[2] and both were his master disciples. 1996 Torsten Römer received a travel grant from the Kunstverein Düsseldorf (Society of Arts). In 2011 they were bestowed with the special award of the Lucas Cranach Prize of the City of Kronach, Germany. Nina and Torsten have been collaborating since 1998.[3]
Works
Römer + Römer employ photography, digital art, mixed media techniques, painting, make performances and curate shows. They are represented by Freight&Volume Galleries (New York), Kampl (Munich) und Michael Schultz (Berlin, Beijing, Seoul). In 1998 they commenced their “M°A°I°S” long-term art project. Their works often incorporate historical and political references: 2005 the Berlin show “Der freie Wille” (“The free will”) was part of the jubilee events for 20 years of “Glasnost”. And 2004 “HA KYROPT – Russische Kunst heute” (“Na Kurort [at the spa] – Russian Art Today”) in Baden-Baden related to the city's close ties with Russians spa-guests since the times of the Tsar. In such projects Römer + Römer do not come forth with an aesthetic analysis of historic-political situations yet they rather provide an aesthetic reconstruction.[4] Their motifs are everyday scenes, mostly in the heightened form of festivities and parties. In a 2013/14 series they covered the carnival in Brasil ("Sambódromo"). Technically Römer + Römer set out from self-taken photographs which are subjected to image processing, the computer taking the traditional role of the sketchbook. The pictorial idea is then “handpainted” into “analogue images” with a pixel-structure. Thus the beholder of their landscapes and genre works simultaneously becomes the “user and consumer” of digital media. This way their Römer + Römer's art descends from the Impressionist movement of Pointillism and from stipple engraving, a favoured printing technique of the 18th century.[5]
Exhibitions (selection)
- 56th Venice Biennale, Pavillon of Mauritius (2015)[7]
- Party-Löwe, Freight & Volume, New York (2014)[8]
- Sambódromo, Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin (2013)[2]
- Pride in Brighton, Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin (2011)
- O tu mir das nicht an!, Kunsthalle Rostock (2010/2011)[9]
- Die Flut, Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin (2010)
- second life in Peking, Galerie Mathias Kampl, Munich (2009)
- Römer + Römer, Kunstverein Heidelberg (2009)[10]
- „EMERGENCY BIENNALE Chechnya / Bialystok“ and „EMERGENCY BIENNALE Chechnya / World Tour“, Grozny (2008 and 2006)
- Auf dem Weg ins Licht: Werke aus der Sammlung de Knecht, Kunsthalle Rostock (2007/2008)
- HA KYPOPT!, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (2004)[11]
Publications
Art Project M°A°I°S
- M°A°I°S 2 – Der Tod, Berlin 2001
- M°A°I°S 4 – The good and the bad, Berlin 2003
- M°A°I°S 5 – Paradies, Berlin 2004
- M°A°I°S 6 – Der freie Wille, Berlin 2005
Catalogues (selection)
- Römer + Römer. Sambódromo, Galerie Michael Schultz (ed.), Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3939983842
- Römer + Römer. Pride in Brighton, Galerie Michael Schultz (ed.), Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3939983514
- Römer + Römer. Fighting for freedom, Gwangju Museum of Art (ed.), Gwangju (Korea) 2010, OCLC 781461234
- Römer + Römer. Die Flut, Galerie Michael Schultz (ed.), Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3939983378
- Sense of life, Gallery Hyundai (ed.), Seoul 2007, ISBN 978-8995899878
Sources
- Peter Funken, Römer + Römer. Meer der Freundschaft, Prestel: Munich et al. 2011, ISBN 978-3791345086.
- Gerhard Charles Rump, Rekonstruktionen. Positionen zeitgenössischer Kunst, B&S Siebenhaar: Berlin, 2010, ISBN 978-3936962369
- Mathias Winzen und Georgy Nikitsch (Hgg.), HA KYPOPT! Russische Kunst Heute, Cologne 2004, ISBN 978-3879098354
References
- ↑ According to artefacts.net's ranking Römer+Römer belong to the top one per cent of the artists of the world.
- 1 2 3 Ingeborg Ruthe (9 September 2013) Tanze Samba mit mir, Berliner Zeitung. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
- ↑ Cfr. Vera Block, Schnappschüsse fürs Gemälde, Nina und Torsten Römer im Porträt, in: Deutschlandradio Kultur, 15 September 2011; Peter Funken, Römer + Römer. Meer der Freundschaft, Prestel: München et al. 2011, p. 142.
- ↑ Cfr. Mathias Winzen and Georgy Nikitsch (edd.), HA KYPOPT! Russische Kunst Heute, Cologne 2004 .
- ↑ Cfr. Artistas RÖMER + RÖMER on Spanish TV-programme of Deutsche Welle, 25 October 2013; Peter Funken, Emotion und Rationalität - über die Kunst von Nina und Torsten Römer, in: Funken (2011) , pp. 7-12; Anna Jensen, römer + römer, in: The Jealous Curator (online) 4 April 2014; Alison Martin, Artist couple captures images of freedom at Chelsea gallery, in: Examiner.com, 17 March 2014; also Gerhard Charles Rump, Rekonstruktionen. Positionen zeitgenössischer Kunst, B&S Siebenhaar: Berlin, 2010, pp. 52sqq. chapter “Römer + Römer: Punkte und Pixel”.
- ↑ Full list of all shows and acquisitions until 2010 in: Funken (2011), pp. 142sq.
- ↑ Cfr. the Pavillons' homepage.
- ↑ Cfr. press release, Freight & Volume, March 2014; and Römer + Römer: Party-Löwe, in Wall Street International, Art, 7 March 2014.
- ↑ Cfr. Römer und Römer „O tu mir das nicht an!“, Aufstellungseröffnung in der Kunsthalle Rostock, in: Rostock-Heute, 12 Dezember 2010.
- ↑ Cfr. Eugenia Hu, Künstlerduo Römer+Römer in Peking und Heidelberg, in: Die Welt online, 23 Mai 2009.
- ↑ Cfr. Nina Torsten Römer, RÖMER + RÖMER, Deutsch-Russische Knutschperformance (German-Russian Kissing Performances) 2003 /2004, in: Arte (online), 16 January 2014.