Friederike von Rauch (b. 1967, Freiburg, Germany; lives in Berlin) is a
visual artist who works with photography. She was trained as a
silversmith and studied industrial design at the Universität der Künste
in Berlin. After working as a location scout for international film
productions, which had a strong impact on her curiosity for spaces, she
began to focus on her own work in the early 2000s.
Based on a precise
knowledge of material and form, Friederike von Rauch deals
photographically with architecture, space and atmosphere, which she
observes and captures with precision. Her works are characterised by
restraint, strong reduction and a concentration on light as a pictorial
element. With a superb eye for the beauty and inconsistencies of
inconspicuous details, the artist presents astounding views of interior
spaces. Her compositions of light and shadow, devoid of people, disclose
a subtle artistic aesthetic and are at times evocative of abstract
painting. Seen from von Rauch's point of view, dark alcoves, bare walls,
individual objects, and traces of the human hand develop a life of
their own while at the same time allowing space for interpretation.
Von
Rauch has had numerous solo exhibitions at venues including Haus am
Kleistpark, Berlin (2019); Goethe-Institute Paris (2017); Kunstverein
KunstHaus Potsdam (2015); Deutsche Oper Berlin (2015); i8 Gallery
Reykjavík (2014); Forum für Fotografie, Cologne (2013); and Hafnarborg
Centre of Culture and Fine Art, Iceland (2010). She has participated in
group exhibitions at institutions such as Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
(2019); Berlinische Galerie (2015); MARTa Herford (2012); Kunstverein
Heidelberg (2011); and Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin (2011). In 2008 von
Rauch was invited by the architect David Chipperfield to interpret his
museum project in Berlin, and the resulting book, Neues Museum, won the
DAM Architecture Book Award. In 2010 she was nominated for the Gabriele
Münter Prize. Von Rauch’s works are part of many private collections as
well as the public collections of the Bundestag, Deutsche Bank
Collection, the Hess Art Collection, and the Royal Dutch Collection.