Biography of Kerstin Brätsch
Disregarding traditional forms of hanging as well as making art, Kerstin Brätsch frequently paints on sheets of mylar and plastic, attaching her canvases with magnets to the wall. The finished pieces are often framed in Plexiglas elements that jut out into the exhibition space. Brätsch's aim is to "Describe painting as a language itself. Show how language mistakes, mix–ups, muteness, a paranoia of speaking about it, and misunderstanding are all valid ways to speak about painting." Her abstract works digest different vocabularies and stylistic registers, bringing in the grammars of sculpture, performance, and drawing, to create large-scale mixed-media pieces.
Known for working very fast, Kerstin Brätsch is extremely active and produces new work quickly. In 2007 she formed the collective DAS INSTITUT with fellow artist Adele Schröder in New York, which examines and dissects contemporary marketing strategies and the dissemination and exchange of images in today's society, fusing painting with such disparate mediums as video projections and knitwear. Ever receptive to new ideas, mediums, and themes, Brätsch works at the edges of painting, probing at its inconsistencies and failings whilst remaining wholly committed to her craft.
Born in Hamburg in 1979, Kerstin Brätsch trained at the Universität der Künste, Berlin, and Columbia University, New York. She continues to live and work in New York. Her work has been exhibited at many renowned institutions including the Serpentine Gallery, London, the Kunsthalle Zürich, and the Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin. Brätsch was honored with a number of awards, including the August Macke Preis, the Kunstzeitraum, Pinakothek der Moderne Munich, and was shortlisted for the Preis der Nationalgalerie für junge Kunst Berlin.
