Stephanie Senge
Stephanie Senge
Stephanie Senge constructs her works based on a strict formal concept. And precisely because they are so rigorously conceptual, they transcend both Pop Art and Rauschenberg.
She lives and works in Munich.
In 2003, she completed her studies in sculpture under Prof. Olaf Metzel at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich, where she was a master student and graduated in 2004. In 2005, she received a working scholarship from Kunstfond and a DAAD scholarship for Japan. In 2007, she co-founded the "Asketen des Luxus – Konvent der goldenen Eßstäbchen" with Bazon Brock and Wolfgang Ullrich.
Exhibitions
In 2006, she participated in the "New Talents" show at Galerie Six Friedrich Lisa Ungar Art Cologne. In 2008, she exhibited at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg (Ikebana performance and "Ike-100-Yen-Shop" exhibition) and ZKM, Karlsruhe (solo exhibition, consumption procession, symposium, workshop "the strong consumer"), among others. In 2010, she had a solo exhibition titled "Konsum Mandala" at Ludwig Inzert / Ludwigmuseum Budapest.
Lectures / Workshops
In 2005, she held a workshop at the Art & Design Center in Nagano, Japan. In 2007, she was at Coexist Gallery in Tokyo, Japan, and in 2008, she returned to Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg and ZKM, Karlsruhe. In 2009, she lectured at Museumsakademie Joanneum in Graz, Austria.
Since the beginning of her artistic career, consumer goods, cheap products, and their packaging have been central to Stephanie Senge's art. Supermarkets around the world serve as her artistic supply: "Whenever I am in a foreign country, I always go to the supermarket first; there I get a sense of the people and the situation in the country, and the packaging reveals a lot as well."
From her travels to different cultures, the artist also brings back forms of cultural expression that she adapts for her work, such as the technique of Ikebana from Japan ("Der starke Konsument – Ikebana als Wertschätzungsstrategie," Verlag für Moderne Kunst, Nürnberg 2013) or the form of the Mandala from India ("Konsum Mandala," Ludwig Múseum, Budapest 2010). However, it is clear that Stephanie Senge's focus is not purely formal. Her drive is to elevate everyday objects through artistic transformation and to encourage art viewers to become conscious consumers. She states:
"We live in a highly developed society of wealth and consumption. I couldn't survive here if I couldn't process this complex, difficult, and also powerful topic through my work. Unlike in politics, we have to make choices every day when shopping. I want my work to make people aware of what they do when they shop daily and encourage them to be strong consumers who can appreciate value."
The artist is as committed to her goal of impacting society through her art as she is to the theme of consumption. She organizes demonstrations, actions, workshops, and lectures. With the same ease with which she repurposes techniques from other cultures, the consumption activist also draws from art history: since 2011, she has been creating formally reduced, strictly composed works that start from product packaging, taking their design elements further and presenting them as large-format panel paintings.
"KONSUMKONSTRUKTIVISMUS" is Senge's coined term for this body of work, which, in its reduction and strong color, indeed recalls the non-objective, simply geometric paintings of Constructivist artists—and resonates with the then-pertinent ideas of 'good form' in all areas of life. The term 'Constructivism' refers to the Latin word constructio, meaning 'assembly.' In Senge's consumption-constructivist works, consumer goods, color fields, and the supporting materials (paper, wood, canvas) are indeed assembled together.
In 2012/13, she created another series of Constructivist paintings, drawing inspiration from the works of painter, sculptor, and graphic artist Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart (1899-1962). In contrast to the rather ideological Constructivism, which is based on a belief in purity, Senge counters with consumer products, whose equally ideological origins have continually evolved and influence our daily lives.
Senge approaches the societal, political, and complex theme of consumption with a nuanced perspective and a deeply ingrained life-affirming humor.
Since 2005, Senge has developed her own Ikebana style, the "Ike-100-Yen-Shop" style. She has further evolved this into 'thing portraits.' For her exhibition in Cologne, Senge visited three owner-operated retailers and selected specific items through collaborative discussions, which she then transformed into Ikebana objects in her studio: "Diko-Reisebüro-Moribana," "Besteckladen-Glaub-Moribana," "Modehaus-Jacobi-Moribana." These objects are displayed in the respective shops, referencing the current price of Senge's work in the art market.
In doing so, Senge juxtaposes the value of consumer products with her own artistic work, using the art market as a strategy for appreciating everyday consumer goods.