Gabriele Liffers *1952
Gabriele Liffers was born on 3 November 1952 in Düsseldorf. She completed her artistic training from 1973 to 1979 whilst studying at the University of Applied Sciences for Art and Design in Cologne. During her studies, the young artist focused on the graphic techniques of etching and lithography. Today, alongside her freelance work as a painter, Gabriele Liffers is regularly involved in teaching projects. State institutions and schools, as well as her own studio, provide the artist and her students with spaces for active exchange and communication about art and its diverse forms of development.
Having started out in printmaking, Gabriele Liffers, the painter, retains a love of paper. She works with this preferred medium using processes and techniques she has developed herself. Liffers often treats the base material with various substances which, like plaster, serve as the structural foundation for her paintings. These enliven the layers of paint and the drawn outlines lying on top. Through the interplay of texture, line and colour, works emerge that, on the one hand, appear highly dynamic and vibrant, whilst on the other hand, they have a calming effect thanks to their finely nuanced colour harmonies. This individually developed technique results in a highly recognisable body of work and a particularly fascinating effect – even in the large-format works on canvas.
In terms of subject matter, the works exist on a continuum between abstraction and figuration. Gabriele Liffer processes moods and impressions; she distils her experiences down to their essential content. This artistic distillation aims to encourage the viewer to engage with the works on an individual level and to actively enter into a dialogue with them. A wide field of interpretative possibilities remains open. The artist does not wish to dictate anything; on the contrary, she plays directly on the viewer’s imagination. The figures, often suggested only as shadowy outlines, are de-individualised and frequently faceless and genderless. They populate and enliven the pictorial world like mysterious characters, whose enigmatic nature one strives to decipher.
Numerous journeys, both private and as part of publicly funded scholarships, have already taken the artist to remote corners of the world, the impressions of which she incorporates into her paintings. Study trips, such as those to Israel and Tibet, continue to shape the artist’s work long after her actual stay there has ended.
Gabriele Liffers is constantly seeking new inspiration. She often creates entire series of works in which she explores a particular theme in a variety of ways. The basis for this serial approach can vary greatly: sometimes it is impressions of a foreign country, sometimes literary or theatre-related sources, and sometimes general artistic questions concerning the relationship between ‘figure and space’, ‘time and space’ or similar concepts.
What all the paintings have in common, however, is a sense of tranquillity and harmony that they radiate through their unobtrusive colour palette and subtle nuances. Far from being pale, the delicate colour harmonies – within which the figures move – come together elegantly and gracefully to form a simple yet expressive image. They convey a sense of peace and seem detached from the problems of everyday life.
| Curriculum Vitae | |
| 1952 | born |
| 1973 – 1979 | Studied at the University of Applied Arts and Design, Cologne, specialising in etching and lithography |
| 1976 | AResided with the ceramicist John Terragni (Denmark) |
| 1979 – 1985 | Birth of three children |
| Seit 1983 | course leader at an adult education centre, specialising in etching and watercolour |
| 1994 – 1995 | Guest lecturer at the Berlin University of the Arts, stone lithography |
| 1999 | Residency in Israel – Ein Hod |
| Exhibitions | Bonn Düsseldorf Aarhus, Denmark Hanover Bad Münstereifel Ratingen Brühl Essen Detmold |