A Women Collective in Art Today: Meet cARTelle

Despite the efforts different international institutions take to support the equal representation of women in arts, the world seems to still be falling behind. Enforcing gender quotas in gallery business and institutions is difficult, while supporting women artists while disregarding the quality of their work is pointless. However, we must never forget about women speaking up for themselves outside of institutions and taking a stand with their voices and their art to encourage present and future generations and support the gender equality in arts. With this idea in mind, we should look toward women art collectives more.

One of such collectives, cARTelle from Cologne, grouped four women who put their passion and their power together for a common cause. They united to support each other primarily, but their action speaks volumes and by doing so, they show other women around the world how important mutual empowerment is. Joined together by their love of art, Tanja Bäumler, Susanne Herbold, Alexandra Hülbach and Yve Voermans-Eiserfey showcase different styles and languages, working together for better representation and visibility.

Let’s meet cARTelle!

Buoyant Living — Tanja Bäumler

Filled with bold, clean color, Tanja Bäumler’s work ranges from oneiric forests to contemporary genre scenes filled with character. While her fairytale-like woodlands could be considered escapist or surreal, the human characters she paints are a good study of human nature: usually strong, kind or brazen, happy or angry, in interaction or just acting out. Demarcated by intense emotion, her work takes us on a rollercoaster of similar memories, allowing us the freedom to feel and empathize, whatever the emotion may be. Created on the wave of neo-expresionist ideas, the uniqueness of Tanja Bäumler’s paintings comes with the emotions they bring forward, showing us a real, contemporary, familiar, almost touchable chaos of living.

Light and Abstraction — Susanne Herbold

Susanne Herbold developed an artistic practice rooted in abstraction inspired by various states of human spirit and thought, and enriched it with elements of abstract and post expressionism. Mixed in technique, her visual language is different and tells a contemporary tale of contemplation and light of the human spirit. Glimpses of nature and familiar forms emerge here and there, while the majority of her output remains visceral and associative, and always filled with light.

Coming from the world of tourism, Susanne Herbold transitioned to art knowing the importance of audience and aesthetics. Her art was recognized and awarded with the “Global Art Virtuoso Award” by Contemporary Art Collectors, and she was also featured in the “International Contemporary Masters XV”, an annual publication by the World Wide Art Books. Her work is exhibited internationally and makes part of several private collections.

Two-way Reflection — Alexandra Hülbach

Using colored epoxy resin, sand, wood and ink, Alexandra (Alex) Hülbach creates both vivid depictions of nature or abstract images of particular depth and tactual sensation. Her works are objects in essence, whereas their texture and materiality is as important as their visual appeal. Reflection lies at the core of her art, literal and philosophical. While she strives to give the audience a thrust to contemplate beauty or the importance of nature, her pieces reflect the surrounding light in different ways making the observer view them from different angles. It’s a two-way conversation between the art piece and the observer, while the artist’s idea and process lie at the core. As much as the creative process is demanding and uncertain, the viewing is intuitive, thus reflecting what the artist went through and delivering the message in the best way.

ART IS MY DNA — Yve Voermans-Eiserfey

“ART IS MY DNA” said Yve Voermans-Eiserfey, a graphic designer turned artist who finds her inspiration in the world of nature. Her figurative renderings are filled with portraits of different animals, painted in the post-pop-art maner. As we look at her paintings and objects featuring different creatures, we can relate to all living beings without an intermediary. Her works carry a type of informality of street art, both in the style and color, which makes them more approachable and appealing to the unsuspecting art lover. They are expressive in their own way and decorative as well, which makes Yve Voermans-Eiserfey’s art sharp and collectable.

cARTelle in Cologne 2024

Women artist collective cARTelle consisting of Tanja Bäumler, Susanne Herbold, Alexandra Hülbach and Yve Voermans-Eiserfey will exhibit their works at the Discovery Art Fair Cologne, from 25-28 April, 2024.

Join us and enrich your collection with unique pieces created by these four remarkable artists.

Feature image: Susanne Herbold vor Freak Out 1.0 und 2.0. All images courtesy of cARTelle