Axel Anklam & Ulrike Stolte

Dual Tone

11/05/—13/07/25

 

Ulrike Stolte and Axel Anklam both developed their individual formal idioms from the interplay of contour lines, combining them with surface forms. Stolte’s lines, drawn with pen or thread, flow over squares or textile materials, yet remain mostly two-dimensional. Anklam’s dynamic repertoire of lines made of wire or metal rods conquers the space with sweeping gestures. Stylistically, both artists moved between abstraction and figuration, with a preference for organic formal elements. Natural forms were an important source of inspiration for both. Although they worked with completely different materials, this exhibition reveals striking analogies in their formal canon. The result is a tense dialogue, an atmospheric „dual tone“ whose two poles mutually enrich each other. The artists never met. Their works are shown together here for the first time.

 

Ulrike Stolte (born 1980 in Rüdersdorf – lives in Fürstenwalde) finds her organic repertoire of forms in human proportions, often in fragments of female bodies. The richness of nature, with its diverse leaf forms, repeatedly serves as her starting point. She contrasts the contours with playful strokes, overarching her drawings with dynamic, vibrant lines, and allows the lines to flow. The compressed bundles of lines sometimes appear like mysterious webs. She often transforms pre-designed papers or textiles into collage-like appliqués, which are usually seamlessly integrated into the pictorial scene through sophisticated overdrawing. She is not afraid of strong patterns and ornaments that energetically rhythmize the surfaces. She then boasts intense colors. She is particularly fond of the color red, which becomes a powerful signal for her.

 

Axel Anklam (born 1971 in Wriezen – 2022 in Berlin) has executed his delicate, organic-looking sculptures with artisanal perfection. Like a draftsman, he used the pictorial elements of line and surface, transferring them into three-dimensional space. He covered the supporting framework—the curved, bent, and tilted metal outlines—with wafer-thin surfaces of epoxy resin or carbon that overlap depending on the viewer’s position. These immaculately lustrous skins reflect their surroundings or, as translucent materials, are permeated by light. Anklam had a musical understanding of sculptural forms. He derived the lengths of his sculptures from the sounds of the strings of a musical instrument and combined these with impressions and memories of landscape formations or human encounters.