Ellen Akimoto
Ellen Akimoto lives and works in Leipzig. Her work predominantly takes the form of figurative painting which seeks to depict complexity and ambiguity in our surroundings and social selves. Skewed perspective, stylistic mixing and a tension between the convincing and the disruptive are utilized to create uncanny spaces, where forms are generated through painterly gesture and digital collage. The resulting images are fragments of worlds that are full of contradiction, that allude to other possibilities.
She earned her BFA from the California State University Chico, during which she spent a year studying at the Mainz Academy of Arts in Germany. She went on to complete a post-graduate Meisterschüler degree at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig, funded by a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service, DAAD. She has received grants from the Cultural Foundation of Saxony and the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation and her work has been acquired by the Dresden Public Art Collection. From 2021 to 2022 she was a Visual Arts Fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA. She has exhibited widely in Germany and has had solo shows in Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Saint Rémy de Provence in France.
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B. 1988 in Westlake Village, California, USA. Lives and works in Leipzig.
Education
2014 – 2016 Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (HGB), Leipzig, Meisterschüler in the class of Prof. Annette Schröter
2013 – 2014 Guest student in the class of Prof. Annette Schröter at the HGB
2010 – 2011 Kunsthochschule Mainz, exchange student in the class of Prof. Anne Berning
2006 – 2011 Bachelor of Fine Arts, California State University, Chico
Solo Exhibitions
2023 My Eyes See Only What’s Not in Front of Me, Galerie Judin, Berlin
2021 Digital Smear, Frankfurter KunstSäule, Frankfurt am Main
2021 Dissipation Dance, Galerie Rothamel, Frankfurt am Main
2021 Ellen Akimoto, Galerie Heimat, Saint Rémy de Provence
2020 Creamy Feelings Curdle, Galerie Rothamel, Frankfurt am Main
2019 Tilted Lens, Galerie Oel-Früh, Hamburg
2017 PROTAGONISTS, Galerie Rothamel, Frankfurt am Main
Group Exhibitions
2023 Beyond the Veil, Guts Gallery, UK
2022 Holy Holes (Ellen Akimoto, Zohar Fraiman, Anna Nero), Galerie Oel-Früh, Hamburg
2022 RAW, Gallery Vacancy, Shanghai
2022 Minibar 2, Galerie Oel-Früh, Hamburg
2022 Auf der anderen Seite, Galerie Rothamel, Erfurt
2022 Twist & Shout, She BAM! Gallery, Leipzig
2022 WER SIND WIR, Galerie Robert Drees, Hannover
2022 Fine Arts Work Center Visual Arts Fellows, Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, MA
2021 Infrarosa, with Anna Nero, Galerie Kramer, Bremen
2021 WIN/WIN 2021, Halle 14, Leipzig
2021 > 1000 Worte, Galerie Rothamel, Erfurt
2020 Twenties, Galerie Rothamel, Erfurt
2020 SUPER! Kunsthalle Darmstadt, Darmstadt
2020 Minibar, Galerie Oel-Früh, Hamburg
2019 Nous qui désirons sans fin, Jeune Création, Paris
2019 Painting Painting Painting, Raum Vollreinigung, Berlin
2018 Congratulations!, Kunstverein Speyer
2018 25. Leipziger Jahresausstellung: Silber, Werkschauhalle / Halle 14, Leipzig
2018 SCOPE, Galerie Rothamel, Erfurt
2018 Nach dem Bild ist vor dem Bild – 75 Malerinnen aus Leipzig, Kunstverein Freunde Aktueller Kunst, Zwickau
2017 Ausstellung zum Wettbewerb um die Hans-Purrmann-Preise 2017, finalist for the Großen Hans-Purrmann-Preis, Städtische Galerie Speyer
2016 Schön / Hide – Beautiful / Verstecken: Meisterklasse Annette Schröter, 2016 Galerie Elten & Elten, Zurich and Galerie Leuenroth, Frankfurt am Main
2016 Klassentreffen, Kunsthalle der Sparkasse Leipzig
2015 Wunschlos Glücklich, Kunstverein Duisburg
2015 Freistil, Kunstverein Speyer
2015 Screen, Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg
2013 2012 Crocker-Kingsley Prizewinners, The Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, California