BIGG Artist: Veronika Beckh
Artist Statement
With my practice I aim to tease out the seductive qualities inherent in glass and the capacity of the glass to model light. Fundamental questions of existence and presence are starting points for the practice. My works tend to be highly aestheticized, with spherical, semi-spherical and globular forms reoccurring, and sometimes featuring nested shapes.
Depending on how and if the glass is cut, if it is thinly blown or thickly formed, light can be focused and bundled, sometimes making the light itself visible. Through the use of layers of colourless glass, I create surfaces upon which light and shadow are projected, while the centre of the work can often be diffuse and difficult to read. The polarities of internal and external, visible and invisible, clear and matte, light and dark often form significant elements in my work. The exploitation of daylight is also the key to many of the works, some of which utilize other materials such as translucent paper.
Both the simple shapes and the influence of light push for a kind of perfection. The working of surface structures allows me to investigate the possibilities of this bundling and refraction, producing highly refined pieces, which offer contemplation of form and light for the viewer.
Biography
Veronika Beckh started her glass career in the Bavarian Forest where she was trained as a glassmaker at the Glasfachschule in Zwiesel (D). She earned her BA (Hons) in Glass from the Surrey Institute of Art & Design in Farnham (GB) in 1998 and her MFA in Applied Arts from the Sandberg Institute / Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (NL) in 2004.
Since 1998 Veronika has been working as a freelance glass artist and exhibiting internationally. Her work has been recognized in the Corning New Glass Review (1999, 2001, 2002) and was selected for the book 25 Years of New Glass Review by Tina Oldknow. After several years working at the LWL-Industriemuseum, the Gernheim Glassworks, she moved to Berlin where she lives and works today, but maintains her glass work at the furnace of the Gernheim Glassworks. In Berlin she deepened her fields of interest, light - glass - artistic curatorial studies, earning a second Master in Art in Context at the University of the Arts Berlin (UdK Berlin) in 2008.
Resume
Education
2008 MA in Art in Context, Universität der Künste Berlin; D
2004 MFA in Applied Arts, Sandberg Instituut / Gerrit Rietveld Academie Amsterdam; NL
1998 BA (Hons) in Glass, Institute of Art & Design Farnham; GB
1995 Apprenticeship diploma as glassmaker, Glasfachschule Zwiesel; D
Professional Experience
1998-Present Working freelance
1998-2004 Working freelance at the LWL-Industriemuseum, Glashütte Gernheim
1998-2002 Teaching hotglass courses at the Glashütte Gernheim
1998-2003 Co-organizer of several glass art exhibitions at the Glashütte Gernheim
1998-2002 Further training of international assistants at the Glashütte Gernheim
1992-1998 Teaching assistance in Germany and abroad
Selected Exhibitions
2009 Meister der Moderne. IHM Munich; D
2008 Aus dem Kontext. University of the Arts Berlin; D
2006 Coburger Glaspreis 2006. Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg; D
2005 Danner-Preis ’05. Bavarian National Museum, Munich; D
2004 IN BETWEEN. Attelierpand Tetterode, Amsterdam; NL
2003 Danner-Preis ’02 lebendig & zeitlos. Museum for Applied Arts, Prague; CZ
2002 Passion Afire. Pilchuck Glass School Benefit Auction, City Centre, Seattle; USA
2001 st’art 2001. European contemporary art fair, Strasbourg; F
2000 Galleria Fede Cheti, Milan; I
1999 The World Competition of Arts & Crafts Kanazawa ’99. Kanazawa; J
1998 The Art Connoisseur Gallery London; GB
Collections
Alexander Tutsek Stiftung, Munich; D
European Museum of Modern Glass, Coburg; D
Glasmuseum Frauenau; D
Glasmuseum Immenhausen; D
Kaspar-Hauser-Schloss, Pilsach; D
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg; D
Awards and Honors
Huygens Scholarship, Netherlands, 2003-2004
Hilbert & Jean Sosin Scholarship, Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, USA, 2001
Corning Award, Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, USA, 2000
Scholarship, Pilchuck Glass School, Seattle, USA, 1999
Selected Publications
Aus dem Kontext, Institut für Kunst im Kontext, 2008
Coburg Glass Prize for Contemporary Glass in Europe 2006, Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, 2006
Frame Magazine, 42 Jan/Feb, 2005
25 years of New Glass Review by Tina Oldknow, The Corning Museum of Glass, 2005
New Glass and Studio Glass by Clementine Schack von Wittenau, Kunstsammlungen der Veste Coburg, 2005
Danner-Preis 2005, Deutscher Kunstverlag, 2005
Kunstpreis Der Nürnberger Nachrichten, Verlag Nürnberger Presse, 2003
Danner-Preis ’02, lebendig & zeitlos, Arnoldsche, 2002
Glas 2000 by Friedrich-Karl Baas, Glasmuseum Immenhausen, 2000
Danner-Preis ’99 schön und provokant, Arnoldsche, 1999
Heisses Glas aus Deutschland, Westfälisches Industriemuseum, 1999
