Ernst Caramelle
born 1952 in Hall in Tyrol, Austria
lives and works in Frankfurt/Main, Germany and New York City
read inGerman
Ernst Caramelle studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. He was a guest professor at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main 1981–1983, followed by the University of Applied Arts Vienna 1986–1990. He was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe 1994–2018, where he has been rector from 2012 to 2018. What is reality, how can we believe what we see, and what are the conditions of art have been recurring questions in Ernst Caramelle’s work since he first began exhibiting in the mid-seventies. “Art is a fake” has been his creed ever since. In his conceptually based oeuvre that spans many different media – from drawing, painting, photography, video, and wall painting, – he explores the status of original and fake, production and reproduction, the perception of art and the context of art reception. Caramelle's paintings – whether on gesso ground, wood, cardboard, or directly on a wall’s surface – exhibit views refracted by different perspectives. Colored, sometimes washed-out shapes formally refer to spatial and geometrical elements, to architectural found footage. In this system of doubles, mirror images, and juxtapositions, the wall itself is transformed into a picture. One spatial illusion follows another, while perspective views mutate into physiognomies. Beholding is reversed into being beheld, and what is visible questions its own status. Ernst Caramelle participated in the Biennale of Sydney in 1990 and the Documenta IX in Kassel in 1992. Selected solo exhibitions: Klocker Museum, Hall in Tyrol (2022); mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna (2018); Marta Herford (2018); Galerie der Stadt Schwaz, Schwaz (2017); Bonnefantenmuseum Maastricht (2016); Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio (2012); Bloomberg Space, London (2010); Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck (2008); Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe (2006); Museu Serralves, Porto (2005); BAWAG Foundation, Vienna (2001); Städtische Galerie, Nordhorn (1998); Wiener Secession, Vienna (1993); Portikus, Frankfurt/Main (1993); Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld (1990); Nationalgalerie, Berlin (1990); Musée départemental de Rochechouart, Rochechouart (1989); Kunsthalle Bern (1986); Kunsthalle Basel (1982); and Frankfurter Kunstverein (1981). Selected museum collections: Albertina, Vienna; Generali Foundation, Salzburg; Krefelder Kunstmuseum, Krefeld; Kunsthaus Bregenz; Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz; MoMA – Museum of Modern Art, New York; mumok – Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna; Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz; and Whitney Museum, New York.
Selected Works
Ernst Caramelle
Untitled, 2008
gesso, watercolor, acrylic on wood
61 x 84 cm (24 x 33 1/8 in.)
Ernst Caramelle
Untitled, 2007
Gesso, acrylic on wood
60,6 x 68,5 cm (24 x 27 in.)
Ernst Caramelle
Untitled (violet), 1983
sun on paper
28,5 x 39 cm (11 1/8 x 15 3/8 in.)
Ernst Caramelle
Untitled, 2002
sun on paper
30,3 x 22,6 cm (12 x 8 7/8 in.)
Ernst Caramelle
SITE (with ghost), 2017
India ink, watercolor on paper
23 x 30,9 cm (9 x 12 1/8 in.), framed 42,8 x 50 cm (16 7/8 x 19 5/8 in.)
![Ernst Caramelle, Zeit + Raum [time + space], 2012 — Galerie nächst St. Stephan](https://iiif.media.schwarzwaelder.at/11653/full/4992,/0/default.webp)
Ernst Caramelle
Zeit + Raum [time + space], 2012
watercolor on paper
26 x 18 cm (10 1/4 x 7 in.), framed 45,5 x 37 cm (17 7/8 x 14 1/2 in.)
Ernst Caramelle
Untitled, 2021
model cardboard, tape, pencil, watercolor
42,4 x 30 x 12,5 cm (16 3/4 x 11 3/4 x 5 in.)
Ernst Caramelle
P. S. W. W. R. B., 2017
watercolor on light foam board
7,5 x 16,3 cm (3 x 6 7/8 in.), 23 x 12,1 cm (9 1/16 x 4 3/4 in.)
Public Exhibitions
Gallery Exhibitions
Group Exhibition
22 Sept – 17 Nov 1999
Der Künstler als KuratorGÜNTER UMBERGmit ausgewählten Werken von Andy Warhol, Yves Klein, Jo Baer, Bernard Frize, John McCracken, Ernst Caramelle, Olivier Mosset, Jessica Stockholder, Georgia O'Keeffe, Helmut Federle, Dadamaino, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Robert Ryman, John Wesley
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
Exhibition
19 Feb – 14 Apr 1998
Ernst Caramelle
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
Exhibition
27 May – 30 Aug 1993
Ernst Caramelle
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
Group Exhibition
2 Dec 1989 – 13 Jan 1990
Mentalitäten und Konstruktionen in Arbeiten auf PapierJohn Armleder, Ernst Caramelle, Alan Charlton, Heinrich Dunst, Helmut Federle, Dan Flavin, Gaylen Gerber, Franz Graf, Donald Judd, Imi Knoebel, Robert Mangold, Gerhard Merz, Meuser, David Rabinowitch, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Ulrich Rückriem, Reiner Ruthenbeck, David Tremlett
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
Exhibition
7 Jun – 16 Jul 1988
Ernst Caramelle
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
Group Exhibition
10 Nov – 4 Dec 1982
Neue Internationale Druckgraphik1978 – 1982Georg Baselitz, Jonathan Borofsky, Günter Brus, Michael Buthe, Patricia Cantalupo, Ernst Caramelle, Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Martin Disler, Peter Emch, Leiko Ikemura, Jörg Immendorf, Jannis Kounellis, Urs Lüthi, Oswald Oberhuber, Mimmo Paladino, A. R. Penck, Hubert Schmalix, Hugo Sutter, Rolf Winnewisser, Johannes Zechner
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
Exhibition
19 Jan – 20 Feb 1982
Ernst CaramelleBlätter127 Zeichnungen von 1973 – 1978, Buchveröffentlichung
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
Exhibition
11 Apr – 12 May 1979
Ernst Caramelle
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
Group Exhibition
5 Dec – 30 Dec 1978
Kunst der 70er JahreVito Acconci, Joseph Beuys, Günter Brus, Ernst Caramelle, Valie Export, Robert Filliou, Jean LeGac, Bruno Gironcoli, Hans Hollein, Renate Kocer, Willi Kopf, Ruth Labak, Maria Lassnig, Hermann Nitsch, Oswald Oberhuber, Arnulf Rainer/Dieter Roth, Gerhard Rühm, Mario Terzic, Peter WeibelZeichnungen, Aquarelle, Objekte
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
Group Exhibition
19 Jan – 11 Feb 1978
Ernst Caramelle
Juan Navarro Baldeweg
Patricia Caire
Franz Vana
Günther Schrom
Karl Kowanz
Engratia MölkObjekte, Multiples, Editionen, Gemeinschaftsarbeiten etc.
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
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