Prof. Dr. Ulrika Eller-Rüter
Professor of Painting, Program Director of the Master’s Degree Program in Fine Arts
Department of Fine Arts
www.ulrika-eller-rueter.de; instagram: @ulrika_er
Phone: 02222 93211147
Biography
Ulrika Eller-Rüter works in a multidisciplinary way at the intersection of painting, installation, performance, and music, as well as in participatory art forms in public space. Solo and group exhibitions, performances, and interventions in social contexts have taken her, among other places, to Poland, Lithuania, Italy, Romania, Palestine/Israel, China, Russia, Iran, Nicaragua, and South Africa.
born in Hamburg
1982-88 // Studied painting and graphic arts in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Wuppertal, among others with Michael Badura; vocal training with Claudia Visca (Wuppertal Opera, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna)
1989 // Doctorate on “Kandinsky: Stage Composition and Poetry as the Realization of His Synthesis Concept”
Since 2006 // Professor of painting and art in social contexts at Alanus University of Arts and Social Sciences in Alfter/Bonn
2008 // Founded the Institute for Art in Social Contexts; since then, intercultural, participatory, interdisciplinary projects in public space and performances in Romania, Palestine, South Africa, Nicaragua, China, Russia, Poland, Iran, Lithuania, and Germany
Since 2020 // Member of the Board of Trustees of the Beethoven Foundation Bonn
Lives and works in Wuppertal and Bonn
Visiting professorships
2015 // Visiting professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts, Kraków/Poland
Visiting professorship in the Visual Arts Department at Stellenbosch University/South Africa
2016 // Visiting professorship in the Fine Arts Department at Al Quds University in Abu Dis/Palestine
2017 // Visiting professorship in the Visual Department at Sichuan China University in Chengdu/China
2018 // Visiting professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vilnius, Lithuania
2024 // Visiting Professor, Dalian University, Department Academy of Fine Arts, Dalian, China
2026 // Visiting Professor, Shanghai Art and Design Academy, Shanghai/China
Exhibitions and Projects
Exhibitions (selection)
(S = solo exhibition; G = group exhibition)
2025
- One Artist Show, Art Karlsruhe with Galerie Geißler Bentler, Karlsruhe
- Arrival and Departure, multidisciplinary art project in the old Solingen central station (patronage: Solingen Art Museum, concept: Ulrika Eller-Rüter), Solingen
- Fluctuatio 2, artists’ collective, Zündorf Defense Tower Cologne (G)
- Suitcase Project with Zbiegniew Szot, Szklarnia Gallery, Łódź/Poland (G)
- City Hall Gallery in Koszalin/Poland (G)
- Ca la Vila – Ajuntament de Llíria in Llíria, Spain (G)
2024
- Aveiro Municipal Gallery Morgados da pedricosa, Aveiro/Portugal (G)
- Kazan Biennale with Galerie Galina Seidel, Kazan/Tatarstan (G)
- Kunsthaus sans titre, Potsdam (S)
- Art Karlsruhe with Galerie Geißler Bentler (G)
- Singing and Greening Box, Days of Exile; cooperation with Bonn Opera, Körber Foundation, Bonn (S)
2023
- subkutan, Röntgen Museum, Remscheid (S)
- Kandinsky: Variations on Improvisation 34, Kazan/Tatarstan (G)
- r(hein) fluid 780, SG 1, Kunstraum Duisburg (S)
- Suitcase Project, Gallery Koszalin, Ostrava/Czech Republic (G)
- Dörfler 2, Düsseldorf (Art in the Harbor; concept: Hiroyuki Masuyama)
Art Karlsruhe with Galerie Geißler Bentler, Bonn
2022
- One Artist Show, Art Karlsruhe 2022, with Galerie Geißler Bentler Bonn
- fluctuatio, Giudecca Art District/Creavenice; Eventi Collaterali Biennale Arte, Venice 2022 (G)
- Beyond Code and Time; Arsenal; Eventi Collaterali Biennale Arte, Venice, 2022 (G)
- The Art of Others: Mary Bauermeister shows works from her collection, Galerie Rosemarie Bassi, Remagen
- Sea-Level-Lab, multidisciplinary art project at Viktoriabad Bonn, as part of the KLIMAKUNST project funding 2022 from the Cultural Office of the Federal City of Bonn
- To be in the balance, the artists of Galerie Geißler Bentler Bonn (G)
2021
- Galerie Bentler, Bonn (S)
- Pavilion 03: Arché. Architecture of Universe, Giudecca Art District(GAD), Venice/Italy (G)
- “Tactus – 17th Athens Digital Arts Festival”, Athens/Greece (G)
- InCAST, Tokyo Uptown Koenji Gallery, Tokyo/Japan (G)
- Simferopol State Art Museum, Simferopol/Republic of Crimea (G), (postponed to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic)
- Volgograd Museum of Fine Arts, named after I. Mashkov, Volgograd/Russia (G), (postponed to 2022 due to the coronavirus pandemic)
- Performance: Silent Voices/Voiceless Voices, multimedia performance with concert and dance (performance of the composition Stabat mater by G.B. Pergolesi), St. Johannes Church Koblenz, City Church Solingen
2020
- Sea_Level, Meno Parkas Gallery, Kaunas/Lithuania (S)
- Pavilion O2, Kunsthalle Faust, Hanover (G)
- Ex Machina 2, Hermoupolis, Syros/Greece (G)
- Art Karlsruhe with galerie luzia sassen (G)
2019
- Art Karlsruhe with galerie luzia sassen (G)
- ASP Gallery Kraków, exhibition and performance, Poland (S)
- International Graphic Biennale Kazan, Art Museum Kazan/Russia (G)
- ST-ART Strasbourg/France with galerie luzia sassen (G)
- Night of the Voice, Galerie Lausberg Düsseldorf (performance)
- Voiceless Voices, exhibition and performance Galerie Fiftyfifty, Düsseldorf (S)
- Portraits, Galerie Art-Isotope, Wertheim (G)
- SchattenLicht, Atelierhaus Vok Dams (S)
- Theaterspiel, Galerie Seidel (G)
- galerie luzia sassen, Cologne (S)
2018
- One Artist Show, Art Karlsruhe with galerie luzia sassen (G)
- “Hymn”, performance lecture as part of the Max Ackermann exhibition, Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen (S)
- Lost & Found, Sichuan China Museum (SCU), Chengdu/China (G)
- Onomato, Düsseldorf (G)
- Trinitatis Church, Cologne (S)
2017
- A3 Gallery Moscow, Russia (S)
- ECCE HOMO, Villa Friede, Bonn (G)
- Kafka, Reszel/Poland (G)
- galerie luzia sassen, Cologne (S)
- galerie luzia sassen | kabelmetal, Windeck/Schladern (G)
2016
- Second View, Aria Gallery, Tehran/Iran (S)
- Topography of Freedom, International Gallery, Katowice/Poland (G)
- Places and Spaces, Gallery of Fine Arts Kraków/Poland (G)
2015
- The MEAL, banquet with refugees (performance, exhibition) Künstlerforum, Bonn (G)
- Dis-Placed, Counterpoint Arts, Town Hall Shoreditch Gallery, London/UK (G)
- On the Fading of Memory; Kunst-Raum Weißenohe, Nuremberg (G)
- Artcontainer, Steffisburg, Bern/Switzerland (G)
- War and Peace, Women’s Museum Bonn (G)
- Second Sight: Performance, Rhineland Regional Museum Bonn (S)
- FOOTPRINTS OF LIFE, interventions in public space, Township Kayamandi/Stellenbosch, South Africa (G)
2014
- REST.ART.WORK, Kraków/Poland (G)
- Blue Roof Museum, Chengdu/China (G)
- Performance: “Leçons de Ténèbres”, with singing, percussion, light installation, dance; Cologne, Bonn, (S)
- HORIZONS OF FREEDOM performance EXIT in Montelupich Prison, Kraków/Poland
- Galerie FRIDANORMAJEAN, Herten (S)
2013
- Galerie Fiftyfifty, Düsseldorf (S)
- KAS, European Parliament, Brussels/Belgium (S)
- No Entry? – Wstęp wzbroniony?, Nuremberg-Kraków/Poland (G)
- Performance: Leçons de Ténèbres, Sant Anselmo and Pantheon, Rome/Italy (S)
- Art in Focus – a Palestinian-German encounter of artists and art students, Women’s Museum Bonn (G)
- Mainly Wagner, Galerie H&H, Cologne (G)
2012
- Gallery of the Academy of Fine Arts Kraków/Poland (G)
- Galerie Haus Herbede, Witten (S)
- Galerie H & H, Cologne
- Prison Museum, Abu Dis/Palestine (G)
- Artists Discover Europe, exhibition on the occasion of the award ceremony, Leverkusen (G)
- Academy of Fine Arts, Kraków/Poland (G)
- Identity, Kulturtransporter, Railway Freight Station Kraków/Poland (G)
2011
- Tell me sthe story about your life, Women’s Museum, Bonn (S)
- Art Association Wesseling (S)
- Places, Al Mahatta Gallery, Ramallah/Palestine (G)
- Robben Island Museum, South Africa (G)
2009
- Outer Bailey, Hardenberg Castle, Velbert (S)
- Art Association Bad Honnef (S)
- Avesta Art, Avesta/Sweden (G)
2008
- Kunstverein Hagenring, Hagen (S)
- Gallery of Modern Art, Los Angeles/USA (G)
- Chateau Reaux, Reaux/France (G)
- International Gallery MarziArt, Hamburg (G)
2007
- City Church, Düsseldorf (S)
- RWE Power Headquarters, Cologne (S)
- ElbArt, Hamburg (G)
2006
- Galerie Sichtwerk, Ratingen (S)
- kunstfluss wupper, art campaign as part of Regionale 2006, Bergisches Land (G)
- Galerie “Fiftyfifty”, Düsseldorf (G)
2005
- City Church, Wuppertal (S)
- Galerie “Fiftyfifty”, Düsseldorf
2004
- Backstubengalerie, Wuppertal (S)
- City Church, Wuppertal (S)
- kunstfluss wupper, art campaign between Wipperfürth and Wuppertal (G)
- RegioArte Project 2:1; interdisciplinary art project painting-music, (G)
2003
- Tool Museum, Remscheid (S)
- Kunsthaus Mettmann (S)
2002
- Nature and Humanity, St. Andreasberg (Harz)
- Galerie “blizzart”, Bochum
2001
- Immanuelskirche, Wuppertal (S)
2000
- Barmer Biennale at the Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal (G)
- Elberfeld Town Hall, Galerie KolkmannHaus, participation of the Wuppertal Institute (S)
- Fuhlrott Museum, Wuppertal (S)
Art projects in social contexts / in public space
2015 // FOOTPRINTS OF LIFE, interventions in public space, Township Kayamandi/Stellenbosch, South Africa (G)
2014 // HORIZONS OF FREEDOM “Horyzont Wolności”: Polish-German art project at a “non-place,” a prison in Kraków/Poland; with intervention in public space and exhibition. Participatory actions with inmates, mural painting on site, Kraków, Poland
2013 // End-Sorge: interventions in public space (mural: wall painting at the Ministry of Education; graffiti design of waste objects in urban space—with the participation of young people from Jinotega and Solingen (city partnership), Nicaragua
Multicolour – Project: “in the open space of South Africa” interdisciplinary art interventions at two locations in South Africa, each in townships, in rural areas and in urban space, in collaboration with students from the VAD in Stellenbosch and local artists, South Africa
2012 // Artists Without Borders – a Palestinian-German encounter of artists and art students (Fine Arts Department of Al Quds University Abu Dis/Palestine)
Ma(h)lzeit: art project with guests of the Wuppertal food bank/Wuppertal
Living Room for One Day Bonn Bookcase Stories: art project in public space with the people of Bonn
End-Sorge – garbage trucks as mobile galleries: art project with German and Nicaraguan youth in public space in Solingen
2011 // ART und beziehungsWeise: a Polish-German student exchange exhibition project with the Eller-Rüter class in cooperation with the Rhineland Regional Museum Bonn (Dr. Gabriele Uelsberg) and the Academy of Fine Arts Kraków; award winner in the competition for projects on Polish-German cooperation in NRW Year 2011
Multicolour art project including on Robben Island/South Africa with children and young people from different social and ethnic backgrounds
unterStrom: electrical boxes in the city of Bonn are transformed into color bodies by painting and architecture students at the invitation of Mayor Nimptsch on the occasion of the Germany Festival and branded with “logos” (concept: Eller-Rueter).
2010 // Making Worlds, art project in Roșia/Romania in a Roma village
Parce-val, art project in a socially disadvantaged neighborhood, Antwerp/Belgium
In Abrahams House, art project in an orphanage in Beit Jala/Palestine
2009 // Water Project, Szombathely/Hungary
Living Structure, art project in an orphanage in Beit Jala/Palestine
Traces of Life, art project in a care home in Szombathely/Hungary
2008 // International KUSCH project (art projects support disadvantaged pupils)
2008-10 funded by Comenius/EU; art projects in schools in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods in Roșia/Romania (in a Roma village), Antwerp/Belgium, Szombathely/Hungary
2005 // “City Views”, homeless project in cooperation with Galerie “Fiftyfifty”, Düsseldorf
Funding/Scholarships
• EU, Comenius, Lifelong Learning
• Stiftung Kunst der Sparkasse Köln/Bonn
• RheinEnergie Foundation
• City of Bonn,
• Ministry of Culture, NRW
