 |
Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, Spheres of Interest, 1975 [ChertLüdde, Berlin]
|
Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt was born in Wurzen, Saxony in 1932. After the war, she settled in Berlin and worked for the exhibitions department at the Academy of Arts. Despite not having a formal artistic education, she produced paintings, pastels, drawings, and most notably what she calls “typewritings”. Works on paper made on a typewriter, the typewritings are intricate studies spanning concrete poetry, linguistics, graphic design, and conceptual art – innovative hybrids of language, symbols, and visual form. Although at the beginning of her practice Wolf-Rehfeldt explored semiotics and concrete poetry, she began to shift her focus in later years to abstract compositions, moving from linguistic signage to language as form and matter. Many of the typewritings on view emphasize the materiality and density of words and symbols, new meanings derived from experimentation.
 |
| Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, 1970-1975 [ChertLüdde, Berlin] |
Wolf-Rehfeldt was nominated for candidacy for the Association of Fine Artists of the GDR in 1975 and was admitted as a full member in 1978. Due to her special status as a member of the AFA, Wolf-Rehfeldt was allowed to print a limited number of 50 “miniature graphic” works (Kleingrafik) in print shops. Each of her works thus consists of an original – either individual typed work or a series – and of further reproductions in the form of carbon copies, postcards, or prints in formats ranging from A6 to A4. During the period of her artistic production, Wolf-Rehfeldt was simultaneously engaged with a vast network of artists, known as the Mail Art Movement. Wolf-Rehfeldt and her partner Robert Rehfeldt were pioneers within the GDR of a type of artistic exchange that allowed for the uncensored circulation of art and ideas. As works of art prone to accessible distribution, Wolf-Rehfeldt’s typewritings were often included in her correspondences with other artists.
 |
| Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, Wellen Natur, late 1970s [ChertLüdde, Berlin] |
After the fall of the Berlin wall and the death of her partner, Wolf-Rehfeldt stopped making work altogether. Her newly found geographical freedom had fundamentally altered the function of making and distributing art. Yet in recent years, a newly invigorated interest in her work had begun to emerge. Along with several public exhibitions, ChertLüdde has begun a collaborative process of archiving all of her works and Mail Art archive.
Her work has been exhibited in venues such as MAMCO, Geneva, 2021; Kunstverein Reutlingen, 2019; Galerie Weisser Elefant, 2019; National Gallery of Arts, Tirana, 2018; Albertinum, SKD, Dresden, 2018 (with David Horvitz); Goethe, Minneapolis, 2018; Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, 2017; documenta 14, Kassel, 2017; Halle 14, Leipzig, 2017;, Museum für konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt, 2017; Kunstsaele Berlin, 2016; Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, 2016; Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, 2016; Schloss Plüschow Museum, Plüschow, 2015; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, 2015; The Weserburg Study Centre / Museum of Modern Art Bremen, 2012.
She was awarded the Gerhard-Altenbourg Prize of the Lindenau-Museums 2021.
Collections: Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland; Collezione del premio Rotary Club Milano Brera per l’arte contemporanea e i giovani artisti; Kunstfonds, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden; Nouveau Musée National de Monaco.
via chertluedde |
| Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, from Sophie Reinhold / Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt: ‘Kein Witz, No Joke’, Kunstverein Reutlingen, Reutlingen, September 15 – November 3, 2019 |
 |
| Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, in vain, 1972; from Sophie Reinhold / Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt: ‘Kein Witz, No Joke’, Kunstverein Reutlingen, Reutlingen, September 15 – November 3, 2019 |
 |
| Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, Untitled (Spirale), late 1970s |
 |
| Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt, Untitled, mid 70’s [ChertLüdde, Berlin] |
Comments