Marion Boehm
Marion Boehm worked as Interior Architect in Europe before moving to South Africa in 2010. Being engaged in a private community project in Kliptown, she began her artistic career in Johannesburg creating her unique, magnificent collages. The artist addresses and examines the interfaces and relationships between African and Western cultures in history until nowadays. Her themes relate to personal experiences and are reflected in her different series focusing on socio-economic and cultural matters. Her work is an impressive combination of artistic integrity, conceptual vision and aesthetic beauty.
2020
- Solo Show - OOA Gallery - Barcelona, Spain
- Art X Lagos Art Fair - OOA Gallery - Lagos, Nigeria
- 1-54 New York Online Art Fair - OOA Gallery - New York, USA
- Cape Town Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Cape Town, South Africa
2019
- “On paper” - ARTCO Gallery – Aachen, Germany
- Cape Town Art fair – ARTCO Gallery – Cape Town, South Africa
- Art Paris Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Paris, France
- Expo Chicago – ARTCO Gallery – Chicago, USA
- “Filam(a)nt Exhibition – Fondation Blachère – Apt, France
- “Spaces in Between” Exhibition – This is Not a White Cube Gallery - Lisbon, Portugal
- AKAA ART Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Paris, France
- Paper Positions Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Berlin, Germany
- Latitudes Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Johannesburg, South Africa
- Gallery Michel Giraud – Paris, France - Luxembourg Art Week – Gallery Michel Giraud – Luxembourg, Grand-Dûché de Luxembourg
2018
- “Background Africa” - SOART Gallery – Casablanca, Morocco
- AKAA Art Fair - ARTCO Gallery – Paris, France
- 1-54 London Art Fair (solo show) – ARTCO Gallery – London, UK
- FNB Joburg Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Johannesburg, South Africa
- “Black Paris” (solo show) – Art Paris Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Paris, France
- “Unfolding fibre” - Pretoria Art Museum – Pretoria, South Africa
- Cape Town Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Cape Town, South Africa
- London Art Fair (solo show) – ARTCO Gallery – London, UK
2017
- “Hairitage” - AKAA Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Paris, France
- FNB Joburg Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Johannesburg, South Africa
- Cape Town Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Cape Town, South Africa
- “Stitched” (solo show) – Art Paris Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Paris, France
- “Rituale” - Afrikahaus Aachen – Aachen, Germany
2016
- “Maskerade” - ARTCO Gallery – Aachen, Germany
- AKAA Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Paris, France
- FNB Joburg Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Johannesburg, South Africa
- Cape Town Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Cape Town, South Africa
- That Art Fair – ARTCO Gallery – Cape Town, South Africa
- “Targets” - ARTCO Gallery – Aachen, Germany
2015
- Start Art Fair Saatchi Gallery – ARTCO Gallery – London, UK
- Art Vilnius – ARTCO Gallery – Vilnius, Lithuania
- “Swenkas” (solo show) – In Toto Gallery – Johannesburg, South Africa
- “Ubuntu Reflections” (solo show) – Alliance Française – Johannesburg, South Africa
- Cape Town Art Fair – Cape Town, South Africa
2014
- Group exhibition – Youngblood Gallery – Cape Town, South Africa
- FNB Joburg Art Fair – Johannesburg, South Africa
- “Silent beauty” (solo show) – Saxon Hotel – Johannesburg, South Africa
- “Silent beauty” (solo show) – Alliance Française – Johannesburg, South Africa
- “Gold rush” - In Toto Gallery – Johannesburg, South Africa
2013
- Joburg Fringe Art Fair – Johannesburg, South Africa
- Group Exhibition - The German Weeks – Johannesburg, South Africa
- “Patched” (solo show) – In Toto Gallery – Johannesburg, South Africa
2012
- Grand Hyatt Hotel Rosebank – Johannesburg, South Africa
Her newest series “Legacy” interprets a new African identity based on traditional roots facing the confusion of a globalized world. “In my series„ Legacy, I want to point out that the African continent has a rich cultural background to build on” says Marion. Her mixed media collages with traditional African masks, beads, cawrie shells and fabrics highlight the beauty, loyalty and positive energy of the African women.
The traditional African masks that Marion Boehm integrates in her artworks were used in traditional and social events to represent the spirits of ancestors or to control the good and evil forces in the community. They come to life, possessed by their spirit in the performance of the dance and are enhanced by the music and atmosphere of the occasion. Some masks combine human and animal features to unite man with his natural environment. This bond with nature is of great importance to the African and, through the ages, masks have always been used to express this relationship.
“I use African masks in my work to relate to the beauty and spiritual power of them in the context of a culturally impoverished and spiritually distressed modern world. But do they still have their original meaning? What do they represent to the generation of today? Can they be a point of reference and still offer a kind of orientation? What do the traditions mean for today’s life and what do they teach us for the future?” In order to underline her message, Marion’s statement is always printed in the faces of her characters.
Marion Boehm ́s work has been collected internationally. Her artwork was presented during shows and art fairs in South Africa, Germany, France, UK, Lithuania, Morocco, Portugal, Luxemburg, Switzerland, USA.
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