Christel Dillbohner Works Biography
CHRISTEL DILLBOHNER
1956 Born in Köln (Cologne), Germany
1978-84 Studied painting with professors Renate Lewandowsky and Karl Marx at
the Cologne Art School, Kölner Werkschule, Germany
1984 Received Masters of Fine Art degree
- Moved to Venice, California
1996 Moved to the San Francisco Bay Area
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 falling through the universe Don Soker Contemporary Art, SF – May
2018 the garden below the pond Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID
2017 Lacustrian Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco
2016 interlaced motives, The Bonnafont Gallery, San Francisco
2015 Recent Paintings, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
2014 Ice Floe Journals, Gallery 1821, Fresno, CA
Blickwechsel, Zeitzone Berlin, Germany
Lost Coast, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID
2013 Eine Frage von Zeit und Bewegung – a matter of time and motion,
kampstogether, Cologne, Germany
2012 Whispering Ice, @Büro Leson, Frankfurt, Germany
Nothing is Certain, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco
Turbulences, Chris Winfield Gallery, Carmel, CA
2011 motionless torrents / silent cataracts, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID
2009 Ice Floe, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
2008 Topographies, The Cherry Center for the Arts, Carmel, CA
observations/impressions, Don Soker Contemporary Art, CA
2007 An den Ufern der Zeit, Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
Skimming the Surface, Monterey Art Museum, CA
New Assemblages, AURA, Nagoya, Japan
2006 Nach der Natur, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
2005 After Nature, Gallery Hirawata, Fujisawa, Japan
Histologies, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID, 2004
2004 Burn Marks and Incisions, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
2003 The Repository at the Bakersfield Art Museum, CA
Off Balance Clemson University, South Carolina
2002 Plumblines Cabrillo College, Santa Cruz, CA
Atmospheric Disturbances Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
Interiors Gallery Hirawata, Fujisawa/Tokyo, Japan
Components NOB Gallery, Okasaki /Nagoya, Japan
2001 Repository – A Collection of Familiar Curiosities, Fresno Art Museum, CA
From Beyond the Seas Gallery Mssohkan, Kobe, Japan
2000 About Sippwells and Other Places – Part III Suyama Space, Seattle, WA
Sedimentation Eyre/Moore Gallery, Seattle, WA
Of Ample Ground Don Soker Contemporary Exhibitions, San Francisco, CA
About Sippwells and Other Places – Part II Ellen Kim Murphy Gallery, Los Angeles
About Sippwells and Other Places – Part I Gallery Naito, Mizunami/Gifu Pref., Japan
1999 Under the Hill Gallery Hirawata, Tokyo, Japan
1998 Beyond the Visible Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
Undertow Griffin Contemporary Exhibitions, Venice, CA
1997 New Work Griffin Contemporary Exhibitions, Venice, CA
1996 Scavenger’s Dreaming University Gallery, Reno, NV
There and Then Griffin Linton Contemporary Exhibitions, Costa Mesa, CA
1995 Eintragungen aus dem Logbuch Burda Holding, München, Germany
Standortbestimmung site specific installation, Batteriefabrik Hagen, Köln, Germany
1994 New Work SPACE, Los Angeles, CA
1993 Gathering Time – Finding Continuity West Gallery, Graduate School, Claremont, CA
Über das Sammeln von Honig – The Honey Gatherers SPACE, Los Angeles, CA
Remnants of Time Bianca Lanza, Miami Beach, FL
1991 navigare necesse est Shea & Bornstein Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1987 By The Pool SITE, Culver City, CA
Brooklyn ’86 Swimming Pool Cafe, Rheinberg, Germany
1986 Vögel fressen keine Steine Hahnentorburg, Cologne, Germany
1983 The Visit Cafe Mondrian, Moers, Germany
COLLABORATIONS
(site-specific installation projects developed in partnership with other artists, their respective elements were individually created)
2015 with Danae Mattes CircumNavigators, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA
2010 with Susanne Schossig Inter Spacing – Inszenierung mit Zwischenräumen
Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
2009 geZEITEN with Susanne Schossig, Hafenmuseum, Bremen, Germany
2004 Elemente der Zeit – Stille und bewegte Bilder mit Inge Kamps, BBK Köln, Germany
2003 with Seiji Kunishima, Galerie Reinfeld Bremen, Germany
1998 Lob des Schattens Seven Installations, Deutzer Brücke, Köln, Germany
Field Work with Lothar Schmitz at El Camino College, Torrance, CA
1997 Dwellings with S. Kanatsiz, S. Oregon State College, Ashland, OR
1995 Recollection with Melinda Smith Altshuler at the Woodbury House, Altadena, CA
Transformer Sweeney Art Gallery, UC Riverside, CA
1994 Transformer: A Change of Past Perceptions with Manfred Müller
Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA and Open Space, Victoria, B.C.
1990 Paradise Oasis Real Estate Office G.Leson, N.Woodson, I.Ivanick, SPARC, Venice, CA
SELECTD GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2020 Remember the Beauty of our World, Stewart Gallery, Boise ID
2018 Illusory Abstractions: Recent Acquisitions, Triton Museum of Art, Sant Clara
Our favorite things Stewart Gallery, Boise ID
Spring Selections “Variations”, Don Soker Contemporary Art, SF
2017 Waterlines, New Museum Los Gatos, CA
“30 years” Anniversary, Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID
2016 Beyond the Pour II: The Creative Process, Museum of Craft and Design, SF
2015 Body of Water, El Camino College, Torrance, CA
Visual Language: Mystery & Meaning, St. Mary’s College Museum of Art, Moraga, CA
2014 Shift, Five Decades of Contemporary California Painting, Monterey Museum of Art
ARTParty, annual invitational, Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, San Jose, CA
Coupling, Stewart Gallery, Boise ID
2013 Summer Group Show, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
2012 Under Water, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA
Eastern Traditions / Western Expressions, Boise Art Museum, Boise, ID
Terrain, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA, Feb. 2012
2011 One Thing Leads to Another: Seriality in Works on Paper, ICA San Jose, CA
2009 Out of Bounds: Art from the Collection of Driek and Michael Zirinsky
Whatcom Museum, Bellingham. WA
2008 SPACE Gallery, Kellogg University Art Gallery, Cal Poly Pomona, CA
2006 International Women’s Exhibition, Schneider Museum, Ashland, OR
2005 Derivations from – Meditations on Landscape
curated by Josine Ianco Starrels, Schneider Museum, Ashland, OR
2004 Between East and West – Artists from Atelier 31 at GAS Art Gallery, Torino, Italy
2003 Contemplation LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
Bytes and Pieces: The Art of Contemporary Collage, ICA, San Jose, CA
2002 0203 – small sculptures Gallery Hirawata, Fujisawa, Japan
2001 Traces Palo Alto Arts Center, Palo Alto, CA
Tellurian, Works, San Jose, CA
2000 From the Library, at Installations, Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
Paper Rock Scissors, San Francisco Art Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1999 At the Millennium: : Contemporary Painting Museum of Art, Monterey, CA
Plant Life Angels Gate Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
Art as Environment Museum of Art, Washington State University, Pullman, WA
1998 Inaugural Exhibition Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
1997 25 Pieces of Art, Open Space, Victoria, B.C.
Viaggiatori / Travelers Campo d’Osservazione, Gubbio, Italy
The 6th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition UH Manoa, Hawaii
California Vision Gallery Naito, Nagoya, Japan
Viaggiatori / Travelers SITE at The Brewery, Los Angeles, CA
1996 Skin and Bone Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA
Open Book Kellog University Art Gallery, Pomona, CA
Detours ‘96 Side Street Projects, Santa Monica, CA
Between Mind and Soul: A Dialogue Revealed Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, CO
1995 Libros de Artistas Museo de Arte y Diseno Contemporaneo, San Jose, Costa Rica
Between the Lines: Contemporary Artist’s Books CSU Dominguez Hills, Carson, CA
Vested Powers: Icons of Domination and Transcendence CSU Fullerton, CA
1994 Continuing Tradition Anita Shapolsky Gallery, New York
The 5th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition UH Manoa, Hawaii
Revealing Landscape Korean Cultural Center, Los Angeles, CA
1993 5 Artists SPACE, Los Angeles, CA
The Elegant, The Irreverent, and the Obsessive: A Survey of Drawing in
Southern California Main Art Gallery, CSU Fullerton, CA
1992 Book, Box, Word Center of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
Contrasts SPACE, Los Angeles, CA
Interconnections SITE Gallery at The Roosevelt Building, Los Angeles, CA
Voices 7 artists at the Shea & Bornstein Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
(basically) BLACK & WHITE Art Museum, Riverside, CA
1991 Personal Reflections Mount St. Mary’s College, Los Angeles, CA
1990 Changing Summer Show Karl Bornstein Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Images and Origins City Hall Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Drawn Conclusion John Thomas Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1989 Newcomers 1990 Municipal Art Gallery at Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, CA
Women Artists ’89 Accurate Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA
Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Nine SITE, Culver City, CA
1988 Köln Kunst II Kunsthalle Köln, Cologne, Germany
Summer Show Jan Baum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
LA + 250 SITE, Culver City, CA
1987 Group show Richard/Bennett Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1986 BBK Landesausstellung Nordrhein-Westfalen Spinnerei, Bielefeld, Germany
1985 Köln Kunst I Kunsthalle Köln, Cologne, Germany
1984 Germination II, Edinburgh, London, Mulhouse
Der Weg lohnt sich Villa Engelhardt, Düsseldorf, Germany
1983 Germination II Opening of Traveling Show at the Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
Winterausstellung Ehrenhof, Düsseldorf, Germany
1982 Public Mural Project – Old Water Tower, Cologne, Germany
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Current Gallery Representations
Don Soker Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA
Winfield Gallery, Carmel, CA
Stewart Gallery, Boise, ID
Active Involvement in Artists’ and Other Non-Profit Organizations
Institute of Cultural Inquiry (ICI), Los Angeles, CA
www.culturalinquiry.com
Since 1991 active associate. Major projects include:
ICI Publications:
2007 Searching for Sebald
2001 Benjamin’s Blind Spot & The Manual of Lost Ideas
1997 Bataille’s Eye & ICI Field Notes 4
COORDINATOR FOR
AIDS CHRONICLES, Los Angeles, 1995 & 2003
AIDS BOTTLE PROJECT, City University of New York, and the Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA, 1993
AIDS BOTTLE PROJECT, Los Angeles, 1991& 1992
SecondAid – ZweiteHilfe www.secondaid.org
Founded in 2005 with my partner Gero Leson and friends in Germany and Sri Lanka. SecondAid provides direct livelihood support to small Sri Lankan businesses affected by the tsunami.
SITE, Los Angeles, CA
From October 1989 to January 1991, served as co-director of SITE, an Artists’ Organization. Member of SITE’s Exhibition committee, incl. gallery operation, 1993-1995.
OTHER ART RELATED WORK EXPERIENCE
1985/86 Planning and organization of group shows in various exhibition centers in Cologne (Kunsthalle, Messehalle, Hahnentorburg)
1982/84 Management of family owned Kunsthandlung Dillbohner (founded in 1920), a gallery for decorative art and frame shop.
TRAVELS AND FIELD WORK
Since 1970 intensive traveling throughout Europe. Further travels in the US, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Eastern Europe, Indonesia(1995), New Zealand (1999), Australia (1998,1999), Israel / Palestine (2006, 2012, 2018), Iceland (2016, 2019).
Since 2001 I have supported my partner and husband Gero Leson in his work for Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, CA, setting up organic and fair trade production of coconut oil (Sri Lanka and Samoa), palm oil (Ghana) and peppermint oil (India). We are visiting the teams on the ground regularly. Since 2015 we are supporting the farming communities in their efforts to replant under the tenants of regenerative agricultural methods.
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE ICI Interpretive Field Project, Hamragil, Iceland, 2019
With Everything but the Monkey Head, ICI, Los Angeles, 2017
Morris Graves Foundation, Loleta, CA, April 2016
Kampstogether, Cologne, Germany, Nov. 2012
Institute of Cultural Inquiry VIR program,
Los Angeles, May 2013
Jentel Artist Residency Program, March 2010
ICA Print Center, April 2009
Clemson University, Clemson, SC, February/March 2003
St. Andrews College, Sewanee, TN January 2001
Gallery Naitoh, Gifu, Japan, March/April 2000
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA, 1999
Northern Territory University, Printing Project,
Darwin, Australia, 1999
University of Nevada, Installation Project, Reno, 1996
OPEN SPACE, Installation Project, Victoria, BC, 1994
Contemporary Arts Forum, Installation Project,
Santa Barbara, CA, 1994
Cedar Crest College, Installation Project/Work Shop,
Allentown, PA, 1993
SLIDE LECTURES Shakerag Workshops, Sewanee, TN, 2019
Monterey Museum of Art, CA, 2012
International Encaustic Artists, Symposium, San Francisco, CA 2010
Panel discussion, Headlands Center for the Arts, CA 2009
ICA San Jose at the Montgomery Hotel, San Jose, CA 2009
Berkeley City College, Berkeley, CA, 2008
University of California, Irvine, CA 2007
Monterey Art Museum, Monterey, CA
California State University, Fresno, CA 2007
Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, 2004
Bakersfield Art Museum, CA, 2003
Clemson University, Clemson, SC, 2003
University of the South, Sewanee, TN, 2003
Crossroads School, Santa Monica, CA, 2002
Cabrillo College, Aptos, CA 2002
Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA 2001
St. Andrews College, Sewanee, TN 2001
Suyama Space, Seattle, WA, 2001
Governor’s School, Greenville, South Carolina, 2000
Cornish Art College, Seattle, 2000
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, Ca, 1999
Northern Territory University, Darwin, Australia 1999
El Camino College, Torrance, CA 1998
Southern Oregon State College, Ashland, 1997
University of Nevada, Reno, 1996
Rancho Santiago College, Santa Ana, CA 1995
California State University, Riverside, 1995
California State University, Fullerton, CA 1995
Camosun College, Victoria, BC, 1994
Woman Artists of the West, Burbank, CA, 1994
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA, 1984
Claremont Graduate School, CA, 1994
Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA, 1993
Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA, 1993
Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA, 1993
Venice Art Walk: Docent Tours 1993, 1994
HONORS AND AWARDS
2009 The project” geZEITEN’ was funded by the Karin and Uwe Hellweg Foundation,
Bremen, and by the Stadtsparkasse Bremen, Germany
2009 Fellowship by the Jentel Artist Residency Program, Jentel, WY
2003 California Arts Council Fellowship Awards, Sacramento, CA
1989 The project “Paradise Oasis Real Estate Office” was made possible by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment of the Arts through LACE, Los Angeles
1986 Förderverein der Kölner Werkschule e.V. (friends of the Cologne Art School) provided partial funding for the catalog “Vögel fressen keine Steine”, Köln.
MUSEUMS, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:
Achenbach Foundation of Graphic Arts, San Francisco
Artothek, Köln, Germany
Bank of America, San Francisco
Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA
Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap, Vista, CA
Fresno Art Museum, Fresno, CA
Institut für Physik, Kassel, Germany
Kaiser Permanente, Oakland, Ca
Law Office Stoel Rives, Boise, ID
Law Office Spink Butler, Boise, ID
Monterey Museum of Art, Monterey, CA
St.Mary’s College Museum of Art, Moraga, CA
The Community Hospital, Monterey Peninsula, CA
The Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
The Institute of Cultural Inquiry, Los Angeles
University Gallery, Riverside, CA
Nagoya Women College, Nagoya, Japan
Nestle, USA
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Travel Writing – self published
2016 At The Lake – residency at the Morris Graves Foundation – ICI Press on Issue
2015 Eine Frage von Zeit und Bewegung – ICI Press on Issue
2002 Poya Days – a Sri Lankan Travelogue. Edition of 35
2005 Field Notes from an Excursion to East Anglia. First printing: 50 copies
1998 World Found describes my journey to Australia. Edition of 30
CATALOGS / PUBLICATIONS:
2013 Authentic Visual Voices: Contemporary Paper and Encaustic, by Catherine Nash
2012 Terrain, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA (monographs)
2011 100/10∆6, Christel Dillbohner and Inge Kamps, ICI, Los Angeles, CA
2010 Encaustic with a Textile Sensibility, by Daniella Woolf
Encaustic Art, by Lissa Rankin
2009 geZEITEN mit Susanne Schossig, Hafenmuseum, Bremen, Germany
2007 Searching for Sebald, Institute of Cultural Inquiry, Los Angeles, CA
An den Ufern der Zeit – at the shores of time, Fresno Art Museum (monograph)
2000 About Sippwells and Other Places, Suyama Space, Seattle (monograph)
1997 Bataille’s Eye, ICI Field Notes 4, Institute of Cultural Inquiry, Santa Monica, CA
1996 Searching for Memory: the Brain, the Mind, and the Past by Daniel L. Schacter, Basic Books/Harper Collins Publisher, Figure No. 2
1995 Vested Power: Icons of Domination and Transcendence, CSU Fullerton, CD
1994 Insight – Einblicke, SPACE Los Angeles, CA (monograph)
The 5th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition, UH, Manoa, Hawaii
1992 Interconnections, SITE, Los Angeles, CA
Book, Box, Word, Center of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL
1991 navigare necesse est, Santa Monica, CA (monograph)
1990 Paradise Oasis Real Estate Office, Santa Monica, CA
1988 Köln Kunst II, Köln
1986 Vögel fressen keine Steine, BBK Cologne, Germany (monograph)
BBK Landesaustellung, Bielefeld
1985 Köln Kunst I, Köln
1984 Winterausstellung, GEDOK, Köln
1983 Winterausstellung, Ehrenhof, Düsseldorf
Germination II, Kassel
REVIEWS
2015 The Monthly.com “Artifacts …” by DeWitt Cheng, June
2014 Fresno Bee “ Berkeley Artist …” by Donald Munro, Sept. 4
Fresno Bee “A pick for …”, by Donald Murnro, Sept. 4
2012 East Bay Express “Earth Pigments”, by DeWitt Cheng, Feb. 22
SquareCylinder.com “One Thing Leads to [email protected]”, by David Roth, Jan
2009 Artworks “No Strings Attached”, by Erin Clark, Fall
KQED Arts “Arctic Reflections: …” by Jeff Stein, August
Metro “Reduce, Reuse, Respond” by Gretchen Giles, August 12
Weser Kurier “ Neue Sonderausstellung ….”, by ….., May
2008 Art Week “Christel Dillbohner at …,” by DeWitt Cheng, April
2007 The Fresno Bee “Dillbohner pulls you ….”, by Donald Munro, April 29
2005 BoiseWeekly “Earthworks”, by Christopher Schnoor, Nov. 2
Medford Mail Tribune “ Landscape”, by Bill Varble, Oct. 23
Idaho Statesman “Artist uses cones …”, by Dana Oland, Oct. 14
2003 Weser Kurier “Und in jeder…”, by Rainer B. Schossig, Nov. 5
2001 San Jose Mercury, “Earthbound collective..”, by Jack Fischer, February
Artweek, Washington, by Frances DeVuono, January
2000 L.A. Times, “Earthly Materials….” by Leah Ollman, May 25
1999 The Tribune, San Luis Obispo, “Letters to the Editor”, Nov.16
New Times, San Luis Obispo, “Art” by Glen Starkey, Nov.25
Art Papers Magazine, “Beyond the Visible”, by Cheryl Coon, April-May
1998 Sculpture, “Field Work” by Suvan Geer, September
Labyrinth aus Schläuchen, Kölner Stadt Anzeiger, Sept.15
1997 Neue Presse, “Deutsches Konsulat …”, by A. Forster, Dec. 24 – 30
L.A. Weekly, Pick of the Week, by Peter Frank, June 13
L.A. Weekly, “Skin and Bone”, by Peter Frank, January 10
Artweek, “Skin and Bone”, by Charlene Roth, Feb.
1996 OC Weekly, “It’s a Snap,” by Doree Dunlap, June 7
Artscene, Continuing and Upcoming, June
1995 Artweek, “Dillbohner/Müller at UC Riverside”, by Daniella B. Walsh, May
Orange County Register, “Conical Icons …” by Daniella B.Walsh, April
1994 LA Weekly, Pick of the Week, by Peter Frank, February
Artscene, “Transformer”, Previews of Exhibitions by Suvan Geer, June
Santa Barbara News Press, “Industrial Strength”, by Michael Darling, July
1993 Visions, “A Dialectic of Materials”, by Marge Bulmer, Winter
Visions, “The Artifacts…”, by M. A. Greenstein, Spring
Artweek, “Sting Like a Bee”, by Charlene Roth, March 18,
Los Angeles Times, “Dillbohner Celebrates an Old Ritual”, by Susan Kandel, Feb.26,
1992 LA Weekly, Pick of the Week, by Peter Frank, October 9,
1991 Visions, “Mr. Rodgers’ Objecthood”, by Michael Laurence, Winter
LA Weekly, Pick of the Week, by Peter Frank, July 12,
1990 Visions, “Rooms with a View”, by Margaret Lazzari, Fall
Los Angeles Times, Art Reviews, by Suvan Geer, July 13,
LA Weekly, Pick of the Week, by Peter Frank, June 1,
Village View, “Just Dessert”, by Joe Jarell, May 4,
Los Angeles Times, ‘Paradise Oasis…”, by Lisbet Nilson, April 29,
1989 Los Angeles Times, “Newcomers 1990”, by Kristine McKenna, December 14
1986 Kölner Stadt Anzeiger, “Vögel fressen keine Steine”
1984 Rheinische Post, “Der Weg lohnt sich”
1982 Kölnische Rundschau, “Mural painting”
