Frederike von Cranach was born in 1976 in Heidelberg and grew up in Cologne. She first studied fashion design before turning to art exclusively. This was followed by courses at the Wackers Academy in Amsterdam and at the Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage in Rio de Janeiro. After living and working in London for a decade she now lives in Berlin.
Her main source of inspiration are Egagropili — natural straw-like and fibrous objects washed up at the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Egagropili are the remains of the foliage produced from a plant called Posidonia Oceanica or Neptune-grass, an important part of the ecosystem in the Mediterranean Sea.
It provides a rhizomatic and stable seabed that regulates water current, is a source of oxygen as well as a habitat for different sea creatures. It is also one of the oldest living organisms on this planet and therefore a very precious plant.
With the help of these “sea-balls” she creates a unique world of sculptures and works on paper. The pellets often serve as a medium for expressing organic processes and condition in nature or man’s environment, thus creating powerful works from modest means. The very fine ink drawings are minimal and abstract, they create an atmosphere of stillness and quiet.
Meditations on Egagropili pervade every surface; connections are made with thin lines and small gestures. Monochromatic, timeless and floating, her works are detached from real-life proportions. They seem otherworldly something like science fiction monuments and create an environment from another universe, not the sea, not the earth, somewhere beyond, somewhere within. Cranach also experiments with various materials and techniques in order to continually develop her creative process without losing sight of the pellets’ substantial presence.
COMING UP
Arctic Circle Forum 2024 | TRACES exhibition | Berlin | DE
"300" | Großes Waisenhaus zu Potsdam | 300 jähriges Jubiläum | Potsdam | DE
EXHIBITIONS
2024
1st Prize at the E.ART.H Prize Film Festival | Topic: sustainability | "Can't you feel the heatwave, darling?" | Verona | IT
Schatten im Schnee | at Galleria Doris Ghetta with Judith Neunhäuserer | Ortisei | IT
2023
Arte Contemporáneo | Espacio Micus Gallery | Jesús, Ibiza | ES
Little Treasures | La Luna Gallery | Santa Eulalia, Ibiza | ES
2022
Arctic Circle | Artistresidency | International Territory of Svalbard | North Pole
2020
Virtual Studio Visit | via JungeMeister.net with an overview of work and followed by Q&A | https://www.jungemeister.net/aktuell/
Contemplatio | Virtual exhibition www.contemplatio.art | Group Exhibition with a virtual space as well as live events on Instagram live | "Artist Blind Date" with Sebastian Fleiter & Frederike von Cranach | "Cooking and Artist Talk" with Frederike von Cranach
2019
A curated Collection | Gallery Herold | Group Exhibition | Sylt | DE
I am Bateman: The Relations | Art Installation | “The story unfolds piece by piece” | London | UK
Abstract Allies | Exhibition | Zuleika Gallery | co-curated by Tim Sayer | London | UK
2018
Glyndebourne Tour: Golden Anniversary Celebration | charity auction towards Glyndebourne | London | GB
Acheron | Solo Exhibition | Cranach-Stiftung | Wittenberg | DE
SOMMER.FRISCHE.KUNST | Artistresidency | Bad Gastein | AT
The Bateman’s | Installation | “Where Artists are not bound by patron constraint & true creative self is revealed” | London | UK
2017
Uninterrupted | Solo Exhibition | Seiler 5-Art Lab | Baden-Baden | DE
Drop by Drop | Solo Exhibition |ICON-Institute | Cologne | DE
Be an Angel e.V. | Charity Auction | Berlin | DE
Moda na Cranacha | Cooperation with the National Museum in Wroclaw & the Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Fine Arts | Wrocław | PL
LICHT / Gestalten | Goodwin Procter with Magic Beans Gallery | Frankfurt | DE
Print Exhibition | Heatherleys fine Art | London | GB
Love + Magic x Art | Magic Beans Gallery | Berlin | DE
2016
Reflection - Reflexion | Solo Exhibition | French Art Studio | London | UK
Ansammlungen | Solo Exhibition | Magic Beans Gallery | Berlin | DE
Inspired by…V&A | Moorley Gallery | London | UK
I SKY YOU | Magic Beans Gallery | Berlin | DE
Art Exchange | Candid Arts Trust | London | UK
The 23rd Annual Watermill Center Summer Benefit & Auction | New York | Hamptons | US
The Chapel at the Old Brompton Cemetery | Brompton Cemetery | London | UK