I love contemporary art and I love to experiment. I am fascinated by colors, the play with light and shadow, with space. I mainly paint, but love drawing and experimental printmaking too. The starting point for my work is almost always something I see – something I find exciting. My work can be very close to what I see. But it can also be quite far from it.
The Basel School of Design (SfG) has been an important point of reference for me for many years. The evening classes I attended over a number of years during my previous professional career provided the foundation for my current artistic work. Later, I was fortunate enough to study painting under wonderful teachers who generously shared their time, knowledge, and skills with me.
I usually work in series, either large or small. This is a good way for me to experiment and learn, true to the motto: ‘You don’t wait for inspiration, you just play’.
E-Mail: info@ulrikekessler.art
Vita
Exhibitions
2025
Participation "Die Jurierte" (Juried art show), Artischock, Zurich, Switzerland.
2025
Participation "Klein und Fein", Opening Exhibition of the GEDOK | K5 space, Freiburg, Germany.
2024
Participation "Paradise Lost?", Stapflehus Museum Weil a. Rh., Germany.
2024
Participation "Spuren der Zeit", Dreiländermuseum Loerrach, Germany.
2024
Participation "Mail Art", Markgräfler Museum Muellheim, Germany.
2023
Participation "Kreativität ist frei sein", Markgräfler Museum Muellheim, Germany.
2023
Participation Winter Exhibition Art Associations Lörrach, Schopfheim, and Weil am Rhein, Germany.
2020
Participation Ateliertage Sulzburg, Sulzburg, Germany.
2020
Solo-Exhibition "Something Deep Inside": Paintings, Drawings, Artist Books, Freiburg, Germany.
2019
Exhibition "Traces": Drawings, Paintings, Prints (together with Helen Boyd), Hong Kong, China.
2018
Participation Ateliertage Sulzburg, Sulzburg, Germany.
2010
Participation "Seite um Seite", Forum Künstlerbuch Basel, at Galerie Zimmermannhaus, Brugg, Switzerland.
Memberships
BBK Berufsverband Bildender Künstler Südbaden (German professional association of visual artists, Südbaden Section).
GEDOK, Gemeinschaft der Künstlerinnen und Kunstfördernden Südbaden (German association of female visual artists and art funders, Südbaden Section).
Artischock, Zurich, Switzerland (Arts Association).
Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany (Arts Association).
Kunstverein Weil am Rhein, Germany (Arts Association).
Verein Bildende Kunst Lörrach, Germany (Arts Association).
Works in private art collections
Basel (Switzerland), Berlin (Germany), Düsseldorf (Germany), Hamburg (Germany), Hong Kong (China), Minneapolis (MN, U.S.A), New York City (NYC, U.S.A), Sao Paolo (Brazil), Vancouver (Canada), Wien (Austria), Zürich (Switzerland).
Education (art-related)
Since 2023
Akademie der Bildenden Künste (Academy of the Fine Arts) Kolbermoor, Germany: Summer Academy with Prof. Markus Lüpertz, Berlin, Germany.
2023
Black Pond Studio, Rehobot, MA, U.S.A.: Seminars with Jennifer Pochinski, BFA, Providence, RI, U.S.A.
2021 - 2025
Freie Kunstakademie Augsburg, Germany, and Kunstfabrik Wien, Austria: Seminars with Mag. Bogdan Pascu, Vienna, Austria.
2021 - 2023
Weekly evening classes (online) with Felix Eckardt, Hamburg, Germany.
2021 - 2022
Akademie der Bildenden Künste (Academy of the Fine Arts) Kolbermoor, Germany: Study programme Drawing and Painting, with Felix Eckardt, Hamburg, Germany.
2019
Kunstakademie Allgäu, Germany: Grossformatige Malerei (Large Scale Painting), with Dagmar Wassong, Trier, Germany.
2018 and 2019
International Summer Academy of Fine Arts Venice, Italy: Several Painting Masterclasses, with Wolf Werdigier, Vienna, Austria, and Virginie Bailly, Brussels, Belgium.
2018
Art Students League, New York, U.S.A.: Painting, Composition, Color: class of Margret McCann, New York, U.S.A., and Expressive Watercolor: class of Elizabeth Allison, New York, U.S.A.
2017 - 2021
School of Applied Arts / Schule fuer Gestaltung, SfG, Basel, Switzerland: Drawing Experiments: class of Esther Hiepler, Basel; Experimental Pictorial Processes: class of Simone Berger, Liestal; Elementary Colour: class of Liliane Steiner, Basel.
2009 - 2010
School of Applied Arts / Schule fuer Gestaltung, SfG, Basel, Switzerland: Relief printing, toner transfer, experimental printing: class of Krassimira Drenska Wirz, Basel, SfG.
1998 - 2021
Regular attendance at evening classes at School of Applied Arts / Schule fuer Gestaltung, SfG, Basel, Switzerland: drawing, nude drawing, photography, etching, engraving, serigraphy.
1995 - 1998
First art courses at the local community centre: drawing, nude drawing, oil painting and art history with Johannes Buchholz (now Berlin and Essen).
Curriculum vitae (Selection)
Since 2018
Working freelance in my own studio.
2014-2022
Swiss International Law School (SiLS) Co-Founder (2014), Educational director (2014-2017), CEO (2017-2018), Chair of SiLS Association (2018-2022).
2007-2010
Master studies at the University of Central Lancashire, graduation (MSc) with a qualitative study on the quality of the education at a private Swiss educational institution in 2011.
1985-2014
Psychotherapist and homoeopathic practitioner, teacher, and supervisor in Freiburg, Germany and Basel, Switzerland.
Numerous travels (India, Egypt, United States, Patagonia, Japan, Hong Kong, Bhutan, Thailand, New Zealand, Cameroon, Fidji, Tonga, Bali, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Australia, Guatemala, Mexico, Seychelles, Iceland, and others).
1956
Born in Rockenhausen, Germany. Married.