Alf Löhr
“Löhr’s work embodies the keenest of contradictions that make us human. His works articulate these themes with extraordinary precision and passion. They tap into the liminal zones where our desires are formed and suggest ways that we can go beyond our limits. It is a form of transgression that allows us to feel and see the world anew.”
- Dr. Mark Barlett
Alf Löhr
Born in 1957 in Germany, Löhr trained as an artist at the Academy of Modern Art in Düsseldorf with Ullrich, Reusch, Heerich, Richter and Beuys and moved to London where he received a Ph.D. at the Royal College of Art for his public art projects. Continuing his research in this area with the support of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation he moved to Seattle and San Francisco in the following years, where he was visiting Prof. at the School of Art and a fellow to the Department of Comparative Literature at the University of Washington, focusing on post modern conditions to socially engaged process orientated art in the U.S. During his tenure he organized international conferences on public art, ‘Can artists make a difference?’
On his return to Europe Löhr taught as a senior lecturer at the Environmental Art Department at the Glasgow School of Art and took a leading role as a board member of the German artist association Deutscher Künstlerbund in Berlin and the international artist association IGBK. He was awarded the UWIC Fellowship in Cardiff where he founded Art and Ecology Research Projects, an initiative to enable interdisciplinary projects for artists with industry and professionals. In Britain he carried out large scale public art projects for Roles Royce Turbine Manufactures, the Michelin tire company, the county of East Kilbride, the cities of Edinburgh andcollaborated with Hermes, Paris and Studio&Partners, Milano.
From 2006-8 Alf Löhr was made visiting Prof. of painting at the Monash University in Melbourne which allowed him extensive travels through the Australian desert. The confrontation with such wilderness provoked a determination to focus solely on his life long passion for painting. He returned to London in 2008 and took a studio in Bloomsbury and lately in Whitstable, Kent, where he paints large abstract works on paper and canvas that capture time and fluidity.
Select Exhibitions
2020 | Der Sturm/ The Tempest, Staatliches Museum Schwerin
2019 | Nodi di Colore- Specci di Cielo, La Fondazione Bogliasco, Genoa
2018 | Royal Academy 250 year Anniversary Summer Show, London
2015 | Reise nach Indien, Galerie Alter & Neuer Meister, Staatliche Museen Schwerin, Gupta, Löhr, Graf, Shetty, Flohrschuetz
2015 | Fremd Sein, Staedtische Galerie Ostfildern, Camil Leberer und Alf Löhr
2014 | Water and Colour, curated by Becca Pelly-Fry, Griffin Galerei, London
2014 | Venus and Cupit, Angus Broadbent Gallery, London
2013 | In the shadow of the dinosaur, Berlin, Museum für Naturkunde
2013 | Paintings from three continents, Adam Gallery, London
2012 | Residency at Saaram Centre, Kottajam
2012 | In Context, Performance at Situation Kunst, Bochum with Stephan Ullrich, Voice, and Wolfgang Sellner, cello.
2011 | Sanskriti Foundation, New Delhi
2011| Inversion, Adam Gallery, London
2011 | Alf Löhr at St. John, London
2011 | Precious Light, Edinburgh City Art Gallery, Group exhibition as part of the David Mach exhibition.
2010 | Galerie Jones, Cologne
2010 | Between Chance and Determination, Adam Gallery, London
2009 | Atelier Aperti, Orvieto, Italy
2009 | It shouldn’t have happened to me, Book on trauma with Anna Walker
2008 | Muka Gallery, Aukland, New Zealand
2008 | Objective Emotion, Broadbent Gallery, London
2008 | Galerie Truebenbach und Jones, Cologne
2008 | Bias Bond, Melbourne
2008 | Dreams of Art Spaces Collected, IGBK, Berlin
2007 | Conny Dietzhold Gallery, Sydney Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne
2007 | Looking for the Tasmanian Tiger, Broadbent Gallery, London
2007 | Residency at VTW, Melbourne
2006 | Einblicke, Galerie Witzel, Wiesbaden
2006 | Conversations on Cork Street, Adam Gallery, London
2006 | Quiet Strokes of a Night Swimmer, The Ambassador’s Residency, London
2005 | Angus Broadbent Gallery, London
2004 | The German Ambassador’s Residency Gallery, London
2004 | Slow Art, Broadbent Gallery, London
2003 | Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall
2003 | Kunst und Austellungshalle der BRD, Bonn
2003 | Kunstverein Rastatt
2002 | Pumphouse Gallery, Battersea Park, London
2002 | Howard Garden Gallery, Cardiff
2002 | Firstsite at the Minories, Colchester
2001 | Goethe Institute London
2001 | Gloucester Cathedral, Gloucester 2000
2001 | Galerie Christoph Grau, Hamburg
2001 | Ist die Photographie am Ende?, Aktuelle Photo-und Medienkunst
2001 | Staatliche Galerie Schloß Moritzburg, Halle.
1999 | Museum Bochum
Education
1983 | MFA Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
1988 | PhD Royal College of Art, London
Awards & Honours
2003 | Kunstfonds, Bonn, Arbeitsstipendium
1996 | Senior Fellow, University of Wales, Institute of Cardiff
1992 | Kaiserringstipendium, Museum für moderne Kunst, Goslar
1989–91 | Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Bonn
1987 | DAAD German Academic Exchange Service
INSIGHTS
ALF LÖHR’S ‘WAYS OF SEEING’
THE AIM OF THE PAINTING IS TO MAKE AN ‘IT’
I want my paintings to become completely independent. To create an ‘it’ that stands without an explanation. Like a strange companion. People come and throw their ideas at them - their thoughts. They find something in them. A painting has to have that kind of conversation with you. One of the characteristics of paintings is that they stay with you. Unlike theatre or music, they continue this notional journey. You want to see again and again and continue the emotional journey that the painting offers you.
“I go out. I record. I see the clouds - but I don’t translate them”
I go out. I record. I see the clouds - but I don’t translate them. This is a helpful way of understanding the work – you have to do something similar. There is not a name for the ‘seeing’ – it’s about experiencing and allowing your emotions to seek. I am asking you to see with your emotions.
I thought I had to make these more open. Everybody has stepped back into this strange vacuum of reflection. For a painting to actually be of service in one way or another, it can create something that allows for this reflection... it's a very abstract thought. How do you do this? At first, I thought maybe I can explain the paintings, but no - it should be the opposite. I should make no titles and the viewer should make their own. The painting becomes ‘their’ painting. For the viewer to find their own title, the paintings simply have numbers. We called it Good Poetry is Hard to Find – as it is not so easy to find titles for paintings to fit all.
“I do not have a walled garden. I do not want a walled garden.
I dream about a museum without walls. I am convinced museums after COVID will have to change radically and talk about the art more”
…ARTISTS NEED TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS…
It is really important – now we have gone through this huge thing – that we express it. We all feel something can change – other things shouldn’t - but we have to move on. It is a tremendously positive moment – a tremendous chance that we have. That is why I have positive colours. This dystopia is so boring. Think of people who came up with brilliant ideas… what they needed was dialogue. If we don’t open up this dialogue, or allow this dialogue, we are going to repeat the script. The art world is not where the artists live. We, the artists, are trying to make sense of the art world.
ALF LÖHR’s CHARITY FOCUS
Amnesty International UK works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied
As a global movement of over ten million people, Amnesty International is the world's largest grassroots human rights organisation. They investigate and expose abuses, educate and mobilise the public, and help transform societies to create a safer, more just world, earning them the Nobel Peace Prize for their life-saving work.
We are so proud to be supporting Amnesty International UK with a donation from every sale of Alf Löhr’s work through Branch Arts
Photographs by Geraint Lewis