Exploring issues related to perception and modes of apprehension of space and time, Wolke’s series of works usually begins on film-like sets, where the artist records the unfolding of staged situations and improvised actions occurring in spaces spanning social hierarchy – from hotel rooms and private apartments to architectural complexes and public spaces, among others. Wolke proceeds to assemble and edit both original and found footage to create distinctly monochromatic visual atmospheres and rhythms that she then translates into painting and sound installations. Using commonplace lighting to model space and generate the grain, textures and slippages of her images and sequences, Wolke also utilizes a variety of devices chosen as much for their technical properties than for their social significance – e.g. CCTV equipment, home video camcorders, inventory cameras, intercom systems, etc. Considering the multiple viewpoints from which an action can be witnessed, Wolke’s work conjures a tension between observation and control, often inviting viewers to navigate environments that interrogate notions of access and inclusion – whether for economic, social, or security purposes. By constantly confronting the logic of live actions, cinema and painting, Wolke ultimately seeks to analyze the progressive inextricability between actual and artificial realities.
Nana Wolke (1994, Ljubljana, Sl) lives and works in New York, US. She holds an MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London and received BFA with honors. She completed her last year of parallel study at Academy for Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana through a study exchange at Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig (class of Prof. Michael Riedel).
Nana Wolke holds an MFA from Goldsmiths, University of London and received BFA with honors from the Academy of Visual Arts in Ljubljana. She completed her last year of parallel study at Academy for Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana through a study exchange at Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst in Leipzig (class of Prof. Michael Riedel).
Wolke’s recent solo exhibitions include Breed, Management, New York, US (2024); Wanda’s, NıCOLETTı, London, UK (2022–23); High Seat, Castor Gallery, London, UK (2022); 4:28 – 5:28 am, VIN VIN, Vienna, AU (2021); and Some Girls Wander by Mistake, Fondazione Coppola, Vicenza, IT (2021). She has participated in the following group exhibitions: Over you/you, 31. Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana (SI); Daddy, G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig (DE); Painters Painting Painters: A Study of Muses, Friends and Companions, Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas (TX); Love is the Devil: Studies after Francis Bacon, Marlborough, London (UK); and No Angels, Wilhelm Hallen, Berlin (DE) among others. In 2021, she was selected as part of Bloomberg New Contemporaries. Wolke’s upcoming projects include a participation in the U3 Triennial at the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana, Sl, and a group exhibition at Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana, Sl.
In 2021, she was selected as part of Bloomberg New Contemporaries with exhibitions at Firstsite Museum and South London Gallery, both in the UK.