Danish artist Ruth Campau combines painting and sculpture in her singular installations. Her works  oscillate between light and matter, transparency and density, paint and object, ephemeral and tangible, body and design. She works in straight and dense layers of paint in radiating cool yellow,  steel gray, silver and violet, her painting surface is acrylic glass and mylar.

A thin layer of paint covers the whole length of the surface, which is formed into fascinating objects and installations. Organic and geometric, lucid and yet magic, with reminiscences of interior design, yet autonomous, and not subjected to any function.

Ruth Campau's inspiration is the turning point in art history where painting leaves the canvas: particularly the artistic tendencies of the American west coast of the 1970s. Her paintings becomes architecture and alchemy, creates new spaces and expands the feld of painting.

Ruth Campau studied Art History in Copenhagen and is a member of the Danish Royal Academy of  Fine Arts. She received several awards and prices so far: amongst them a residency at ISCP New York (2013), the Mogens Ziegler Fond (2012), the scholarship of the Danish Arts Foundation (2008 - 2010), as well as the Honorary Prize of the Danish Arts Foundation (2004). In addition to several solo shows – at the Institute for Contemporary Art in Copenhagen (2015),  ISCP New York (2013), and Kunsten Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg (2010), amongst others – she presented her works in distinct group shows, for instance at Stadtgalerie Kiel (2013) and The Barker Hangar, Los Angeles (2012).

Ruth Campau
born 1955, lives and works in Copenhage, Denemark

EDUCATION

2000 – 2005  Studies in Art History at the Open University, Copenhagen

2002  Became a member of the Danish Artists’ Society

2006  Became a member of Grønningen artists-collective association

2006 - 2009 Art consultant and member (appointed by the Academy Council) of the advisory committee of UBST/The Danish University and Property Agency (appointed by the Academy Council)

2009 - 2010  Art consultant for the Municipality of Guldborgsund’s new business center in Eskilstrup, Denmark

2005 - 2011  Member of the Danish Academy Council and Danish Artist’s Society’s Jury (chairman 2008-2011)

2011 - 2017  Member of The Danish Royal Academy of Fine Arts

2013 - 2017  Member of The Academy Counsil

2017 -  Boardmember at the Institute of Contemporary Art OVERGADEN, Copenhagen


PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Ishøj, Denmark

KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark

Esbjerg Art Museum, Esbjerg, Denmark

Malmø Art Museum, Sweden

Danish Arts Foundation

Ny Carlsberg Foundation

AWARDS / SCHOLARSHIPS

2015  Ole Haslunds Kunstnerfond, honorary stipend

2015  Residency at Accademia di Danimarca, Rome, Italy

2015  15. Juni Fonden

2015,03,02,00,99  The Danish Arts Foundation’s honorary one-year work grants

2013  Residency at ISCP (International Studio and Curatorial Program), New York, USA.

2012  Residency at Can Lis, Mallorca. (Danish Arts Foundation)

2012  Mogens Zielers Fond, honorary stipend

2013, 09, 01, 96  Grosserer L.F. Foghts Fond

2008  The Danish Arts Foundation, 3-year stipend

2008  Residency New York, Bikuben Foundation

2007  The Danish Arts Foundation, travel stipend

2007  Anne Marie Telmanyi født Carl-Nielsen Fond, honorary stipend

2006  Nominated for Mies van der Rohe Prize, for “Nordlyset”

2006  Winner of ”Building of the Year” for Nordlyset, awarded by Byggeri magazine

2005  Fru Andrea Jensen og Prins Jørgens Legat, honorary stipend

2004  Prize of honor awarded by the Danish Arts Foundation

2003  Marie & Victor Haagen-Müllers Fond, honorary stipend

2002  Aage og Yelva Nimbs Fond, honorary stipend

2002  Akademiraadets Understøttelsesfond

2001  Henry Heerups Legat, honorary stipend

2001, 98, 96  Akademiraadets Legat til Yngre Kunstnere

2000, 96  Copenhagen’s Culture Foundation

1999  Prize of honor awarded by the Danish Arts Foundation

1996  Irgens-Berghs Kunstnerlegat

1996  The Camargo Foundation Fellowship Grant

SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selected)

2017

Chicago Mountains, Gether Contemporary, Copenhagen Denmark

2016

Cuts 'N Blobs, Petra Gut Contemporary, Zürich, Switzerland

2016

Imagine Gold, FeldbuschWiesner Galerie, Berlin, Germany

2015

Interstellar, Gether Contemporary, Copenhagen, Denmark

2015

Between the Past and the Coming, Overgaden, Institut for Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, Denmark

2014

Vertical, Marianne Friis Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

2013

Open studios, ISCP, New York, USA

2011

Pearl, PS Projectspace, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2011

Velvet Mirror and Diamonds, Asbaek AAC Showroom, Copenhagen, Denmark

2010

Mit Museum, KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art, Aalborg, Denmark

2007

Neighbourhood & Grass, Brænderigården, Viborg, Denmark

2006

The Well, Site-specific project for SALEN, Kunsthallen GL STRAND, Copenhagen, Denmark

2006

Curtain, Ostseebad Sellin, Rügen, Germany

2005

Galerie Hartwich Rügen, Germany

2004

SPACE BAR, Paintbox extensions, Copenhagen, Denmark

2004

70.02 Read yourself, Traneudstilling, Gentofte Main Library, Denmark

2004

Kan et Figentræ Bære Oliven? [Can a Fig Tree Bear forth the Olive ?], Art project, Østerbro Provsti (Deanery), Copenhagen, Denmark

-   Altar Garden, Lundehus Church

-   Resurrection, Hans Egede’s Church

-   Every Color You Are, Frihavn’s Church

2001

For example, Broadway Pink - 150 cm wide, Autumn Exhibition, Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark

2001

Yellow. Red. Cigar, Overgaden, Copenhagen, Denmark

2000

Window painting / Window space, Window Space, Copenhagen, Denmark

Spiritual Kitchen, PAINTBOX, Copenhagen, Denmark

1999

Evergreen, Rampen, Copenhagen, Denmark

1998

An Installation of Painting, North Exhibition Space, Copenhagen, Denmark

1996

Humid Zone, Overgaden, Copenhagen, Denmark

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2017

Hvad gør kunst på hospitaler, KØS Museum of Art in Public Spaces, Køge, Denmark

RNPG - COPENHAGEN, reductive non objective private gallery, OK Corral, Copenhagen, Denmark

Downshifting, RedLine Art Center, Denver, USA

Idealer, Randers Art Museum, Denmark

Idealer, Esbjerg Art Museum, Denmark

2016

Idealer, Fuglsang Art Museum, Denmark

Fibbonacci Sequence, Francis Boeske Project, Amsterdam, Holland

Self Storage, Another Space, Copenhagen, Denmark

2015

Qvartet, Esbjerg Art Museum, Esbjerg, Denmark

Eccentric Abstraction, Feldbuschwiesner Galerie, Berlin, Germany

Grønningen, Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, Copenhagen, Denmark

2014

Edition Norm Issue Nº3 / 2014, Berlin, Germany

Transparent – Between the Base and the Surface , Gallery Charlotte Fogh, Aarhus; Denmark

Pragmatic Painting, Gallery Hartwich, Rügen, Germany

CRYSTALLINE, Gallery DGV, Villa Tårnborg, Svendborg, Denmark

PS 1999-2014 / A 15 YEARS ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION, PS Projectspace, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2013

Baltic Sea Record 2013, Stadtgalerie Kiel, Germany

ZIEGEN ZEIGEN. An Audio Tour through Copenhagen by Karin Sander Kunsthallen Nikolaj, Copenhagen, Denmark

Form - Signage, Sophienholm, Lyngby, Denmark

Sculpture by the Sea, Aarhus Waterfront, Denmark

Arkitektonisk Stuegang, Designmuseet Danmark, Copenhagen, Denmark

Giv os i dag…Når kunsten går i kirke, Museet for Religiøs Kunst, Lemvig, Denmark

2012

Giv os i dag…Når kunsten går i kirke, KØS Museum of Art in Public Spaces Køge, Denmark

Co Lab, The Barker Hangar, Los Angeles, USA

Shaped by Time, The National Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark

Robert Jacobsen up to date, Esbjerg Art Museum, Denmark

Landing, Teksas exhibition space, Græsted, Denmark

Ostrale, Dresden, Germany

Land of the seven moles, PS projectspace, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Grønningen, Docken, Copenhagen, Denmark

Arkitektonisk Stuegang, Kunstcentret Silkeborg Bad, Denmark

2011

Visitation, Galerie Hartwich, Sellin, Rügen, Germany

Crisp & Shout, Gallery KANT, Esbjerg, Denmark

2010

Preview, Tempelhof, Berlin, Germany

Grønningen, Docken Nordhavnen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Vråudstillingen, Kunstbygningen in Vrå, Denmark

North, Galerie Hartwich, Sellin, Rügen, Germany

2008

ROUNDABOUT, Contemporary Exhibition Space, Berlin, Germany

Grønningen, Bornholm Art Museum, Denmark

2007

Grønningen, Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark

Young Blood, PS Projectspace, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

2006

Now here and never again, Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, Copenhagen, Denmark

2005

SPLASH, BOX 2.0. Copenhagen, Denmark (with architect Mette Skjold (Denmark) and visual artist Gerold Miller (Germany))

Duschkonst, Galleri Leger, Malmö, Sweden

Standard, Århus Exhibition space, Denmark

2004

Farbfilm 2004 - Abstraktion III, Kunstverein Schloss Plön & Schloss Plüschow, Niedenstein, Germany

2003

Horizontal Open, Galleri Tom Christoffersen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Vierzig mal, Kunstverein Rügen, Putbus, Germany

2003

Norther Malerei, Galerie Hartwich, Sellin, Rügen, Germany

2001

Efterårsudstillingen, Autumn Exhibition, Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark

I:I, Herning Art Museum, Herning, Denmark

2000

Picture This, North Exhibition Space, Copenhagen, Denmark

1999

PAINTBOX, Copenhagen, Denmark

Originals, North Exhibition Space, Copenhagen, Denmark

Ringsted Galleriet (with Michael Mørk and Lisbeth Lyrstrand), Ringsted, Denmark

1998

Forårsudstillingen, Charlottenborg Exhibition Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark

1995

Horizonline, Castle of Pomeranian Dukes, Szczecin, Poland

1992

Galleri Eva Marker, Copenhagen, Denmark

1991

The Young Artists Creative Triennial of Baltic States, Vilnius, Lithuania