We are thrilled to present Sophie Esslinger’s first solo exhibition at the gallery.

– the oscillation between the spheres.
up and down, heaven and hell, day
and night, sleep and consciousness. beyond
– and within the landscape, the body
is constructed, the crossing over from the inner world into the
outer world. a penetration or
piercing in the form of arrows,
dripping stars, and furry celestial bodies.
In the presence of the absent,
a shadowy backdrop and its
sharp, pointed, and soft
protagonists.
The world is in flux, shaping and
promising a panorama—the story
of the eye, of seeing and recognizing.
The world is an artificial one, in which the
temperature scale of an exposed
substance, in extreme heat and bitter cold,
converges. Realisms and
phantasms are explored in every way and
follow a single trail—the dream of
an image without beginning or end—

Sophie Esslinger

***

Sophie Esslinger

Born 1996 in Linz, Austria. Lives and works in Düsseldorf.

2014–2017       Comparative Literature (B.A.), University of Vienna
2017–2021       University of Applied Arts Vienna (under Jan Svenungsson)
2021–2025       Düsseldorf Art Academy (under Thomas Scheibitz)
2025    Master’s degree under Thomas Scheibitz, Düsseldorf Art Academy

Residendies
2026    Passage Residency, Schloss Willebadessen
2025    YARW Residency, Weidingen

Exhibitions (selection)
(2026) stella maris, Jacky Strenz, Frankfurt/Main, DE (S); ATLAS, Jenny up the Hill, Syros, GR (S); Jalousie (c: Svenja Frisch), Galerie 3AP, Düsseldorf, DE (S); Der Sturm ist aus Luft (c: Thomas Scheibitz), SchauFenster Berlin, Berlin, DE (G); PRISMATIC ROOM, Kunstverein Heppenheim, DE (S). (2025) Graduate Exhibition, Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts, DE (DE); TOX INDIGO, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, Berlin (S). (2024) glas körper, Baustelle Schaustelle, Düsseldorf, DE (S); ein fleck sonne (c: Anna Ignatovich) Vienna Collector’s Club, Vienna, AT (S); JOSEFF_ROT HAT EIN BOOT (selected by Thomas Scheibitz), JVDW Gallery, (2023) Durch den Spiegel, Eichenmüllerhaus Lippische Gesellschaft für Kunst e.V., Lemgo, DE (G); Winterausstellung Verein Düsseldorf-Palermo, Haus der Kunst, Palermo, IT, (G). (2022) Kühle Sterne, Galerie Hilger Ballgasse, Vienna, AT (S); Der Bogen im Auge, KIT Kunst im Tunnel, Düsseldorf, DE (G). (2021) Unter Stoffen, Heiligenkreuzerhof, Vienna, AT (G).

Artists As Independent Publishers, Weserburg Museum, Bremen
Shortlist Bank Austria Kunstpreis Kärnten 2021, Kunstverein Kärnten