Romana Scheffknecht
Year of birth, place
1952
Austria
Role at the ZKM
- Artist of the Collection
Biography
Romana Scheffknecht was born in Austria in 1952. After working in the theatre in various capacities between 1974 and 1979, she studied from 1979 to 1984 at the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna, under Oswald Oberhuber. She produced her first works with video in 1980. Between 1982 and 1984 she studied under Nam June Paik at the Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf. During the 1980s and 1990s she has taught, and held guest professorships, at institutions in Linz, Vienna and Hamburg. She has won many prizes and awards, most recently the Austrian 'Würdingungspreis Bildender Kunst' in 1995. She lives in Vienna.
In her early work with video, Scheffknecht combined isolated images or short narrative film sequences with passages of text or sound, her interest focusing on the relation of the image to sound in space. During the 1980s, sound and narrative lessened in importance and were absorbed within increasingly complex installations incorporating abstract patterns of light arranged in particular spatial relationships. Her video images have gradually become more fleeting in character; they no longer cling to the monitor screen but occupy space in the form of projections. Computer-animated forms and passages of text are projected on to walls or reflected in mirrors. Scheffknecht sents her images as the termini of concentrations of energy that have been materialized as projections. In her most recent work, the video-generated image is, on occasion, replaced by projected slides or images dependent on other types of light source. Throughout, however, notions of structure and the problem of perception remain the artist's central concerns.
Individual exhibitions (selection)
1981 »Bei Einbruch der Dunkelheit«, Trakt IV, Vienna
1983 Galerie M. + R. Pricke, Düsseldorf; Galerie ak, Frankfurt/M
1984 Michael Bock, Agentur für Videokunst, Berlin; Montevideo Time Based Arts, Amsterdam
1986 Künstlerhaus, Hamburg
1987 Kunstmuseum, Bonn
1990 Mavo Art Transfer, Vienna; Galerie Püspök, Vienna; Minoritenkirche, Krems/Stein
1994 »Zwischenbilder«, Landesgalerie, Linz; »Romana Scheffknecht 1900-2000«, Galerie M. + R. Pricke, Düsseldorf; »Messages from Heaven«, Clam-Gallas, Institut Fransçais de Vienne, Vienna
1995 »X-Ray«, Dorottya Galerie, Muscarnok, Budapest
Group exhibitions (selection)
1984 »Klasse Nam June Paik«, Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf; »Copyright Europa«, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
1985 »Alles und noch viel mehr«, Kunstmuseum, Berne
1986 Ars Electronica, Linz
1988 »Steirischer Herbst«, Graz; »Das gläserne U-Boot«, Krems/Stein; »Hinter den Wänden«, Langenleis
1989 »Video-Skulptur retrospektiv und aktuell 1963-89«, Kunstverein, Cologne, subsequently at Kongresshalle, Berlin; Kunsthaus, Zürich
1990 Kunstverein, Graz
1991 Galerie hlavního mesta Prahy, Prague; Galerie Zacheta, Warsaw
1994 »Zwischenbilder«, Landesgalerie, Linz; »Tonbilder«, Galerie der Stadt, Schwaz; »Sammlung der Stadt Wien«, Gustavus-Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
1995 »Lokalzeit«, Palazzo Querini Stampalia, Venice
1996 »Kleine Welten«, Galerie M. + R. Pricke, Düsseldorf; »Projektionen«, Schau Fenster gegenüber der Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; »mäßig und gefräßig«, MAK- Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna; »Kunst im Radio«, (audio exhibition broadcast, FM4 auf 108,8 MHZ)
1997 »UCCELLI - BIRDS«, Galerie der Stadt, Schwaz
[Frauke Syamken, 1997]
In her early work with video, Scheffknecht combined isolated images or short narrative film sequences with passages of text or sound, her interest focusing on the relation of the image to sound in space. During the 1980s, sound and narrative lessened in importance and were absorbed within increasingly complex installations incorporating abstract patterns of light arranged in particular spatial relationships. Her video images have gradually become more fleeting in character; they no longer cling to the monitor screen but occupy space in the form of projections. Computer-animated forms and passages of text are projected on to walls or reflected in mirrors. Scheffknecht sents her images as the termini of concentrations of energy that have been materialized as projections. In her most recent work, the video-generated image is, on occasion, replaced by projected slides or images dependent on other types of light source. Throughout, however, notions of structure and the problem of perception remain the artist's central concerns.
Individual exhibitions (selection)
1981 »Bei Einbruch der Dunkelheit«, Trakt IV, Vienna
1983 Galerie M. + R. Pricke, Düsseldorf; Galerie ak, Frankfurt/M
1984 Michael Bock, Agentur für Videokunst, Berlin; Montevideo Time Based Arts, Amsterdam
1986 Künstlerhaus, Hamburg
1987 Kunstmuseum, Bonn
1990 Mavo Art Transfer, Vienna; Galerie Püspök, Vienna; Minoritenkirche, Krems/Stein
1994 »Zwischenbilder«, Landesgalerie, Linz; »Romana Scheffknecht 1900-2000«, Galerie M. + R. Pricke, Düsseldorf; »Messages from Heaven«, Clam-Gallas, Institut Fransçais de Vienne, Vienna
1995 »X-Ray«, Dorottya Galerie, Muscarnok, Budapest
Group exhibitions (selection)
1984 »Klasse Nam June Paik«, Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf; »Copyright Europa«, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
1985 »Alles und noch viel mehr«, Kunstmuseum, Berne
1986 Ars Electronica, Linz
1988 »Steirischer Herbst«, Graz; »Das gläserne U-Boot«, Krems/Stein; »Hinter den Wänden«, Langenleis
1989 »Video-Skulptur retrospektiv und aktuell 1963-89«, Kunstverein, Cologne, subsequently at Kongresshalle, Berlin; Kunsthaus, Zürich
1990 Kunstverein, Graz
1991 Galerie hlavního mesta Prahy, Prague; Galerie Zacheta, Warsaw
1994 »Zwischenbilder«, Landesgalerie, Linz; »Tonbilder«, Galerie der Stadt, Schwaz; »Sammlung der Stadt Wien«, Gustavus-Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
1995 »Lokalzeit«, Palazzo Querini Stampalia, Venice
1996 »Kleine Welten«, Galerie M. + R. Pricke, Düsseldorf; »Projektionen«, Schau Fenster gegenüber der Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna; »mäßig und gefräßig«, MAK- Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna; »Kunst im Radio«, (audio exhibition broadcast, FM4 auf 108,8 MHZ)
1997 »UCCELLI - BIRDS«, Galerie der Stadt, Schwaz
[Frauke Syamken, 1997]