BIO
Wiebke Mertens (*1997 in Suhl) is a painter who lives and works in Bremen, Germany.
In her figurative paintings, she works on the staging of bodies - she examines the act of posing and its legibility.
Her paintings focus on self-expression and relationships, covering and exposing, clothing and pop culture.
Wiebke Mertens grasps portraiture as a form of interaction.
BIO
Wiebke Mertens (b. 1997, Suhl, Germany) is a painter
working in Berlin and Bremen. She completed her studies
in Fine Arts at the University of the Arts Bremen in 2024,
where she was awarded both the Karin Hollweg Prize and
the Paula Modersohn-Becker Young Talent Prize in the
same year.
Mertens’s practice explores physical expression through
painting. She examines how bodies are staged and how they
relate to one another, often depicting body parts or
fragments of encounters. Her work centers on
communication through gestures, with figures isolated
within the pictorial space.
She is particularly interested in the sincere attempt to
reveal oneself within a social dynamic and the deep desire
to be truly understood. Her paintings capture both so,
gentle gestures and harder, more forceful ones—rendered
with a balance of delicacy and bluntness.
Wiebke Mertens
Güterbahnhof Bremen, Tor 30
Beim Handelsmuseum 9
28195 Bremen
wiebkepmertens@gmail.com
CV
*1997 in Suhl
Education
2017 Media art course with Lena Flohrschütz, HGB Leipzig
2017–2023 Studied fine art in the painting and drawing class with Katrin von Maltzahn and Anne Fellner, University of Arts Bremen
2022 Guest student in the painting class with Anne Neukamp, HfBK Dresden
2023–2024 Master student with Katrin von Maltzahn, University of the Arts Bremen
2025 Painting masterclass with Jossef Krispel, Jewish Art School Berlin
Shows (Solo / Duo)
2024 Paula Modersohn-Becker art price, Barkenhoff, Worpswede
2023 Carried a watermelon, Galerie Herold, Bremen
2023 Walk The Line (together with Anne Moder), Galerie K’, Bremen
2022 leaking (together with Anne Moder), From The A, Bremen
2020 PALAST (together with Anne Moder), Kunst- und Kulturverein SPEDITION, Bremen
Group Shows
2025 Final Exhibition, Jewish Art School Berlin, Alte Münze, Berlin
2025 Georg Meistermann Scholarship (shortlisted), Werkschauhalle Spinnerei, Leipzig
2025 Nordwestkunst 2025, Kunsthalle Wilhelmshaven
2024 Krautzungen: Die Unterirdischen, Westwerk, Hamburg
2024 zip, Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, Bremen
2023 This Is Not A Photo III, Galerie Mitte, Bremen
2023 Container Love, Tor 40, Güterbahnhof, Bremen
2022 12. Werner-Kühl-Prize (preselection), Kreismuseum, Syke
2022 Contemporary Pizza, Galerie Mitte, Bremen, Sangt Hipolyt, Berlin, Kunstraum NeuDeli, Leipzig
2022 Prize for Figurative Art (preselection), Galerie Bodenseekreis, Meersburg
2022 Einfädelspur, Zuostand, Berlin
2022 Mein Ross Braucht Paraden, raus.project Vol. 15, Crawinkel
2022 INDORF OUTDORF, Masters Of Pure Art, Bremen
2022 Fünf Sterne, Ciao, Güterbahnhof, Bremen
2022 My neighbour is a hunter, University of Fine Arts, Dresden
2021 SHORT DATED, Galerie Stephanie Kelly, Dresden
2021 Stereo 2, Kunst- und Kulturverein SPEDITION, Bremen
2020 Stereo 1, Art University, Mainz
2018 say shibboleth, Galerie oqbo, Berlin
2017 Contemporary Hearts, Franz Flemming Studios, Leipzig
2016 WIR, DAS MORGEN, Sächsische Galerie, Chemnitz
2016 error: x, OSTRALE' O16, Dresden
Scholarships / Residencies / Grants
2024 Paula Modersohn-Becker Nachwuchspreis
2024 Karin Hollweg Prize
2023 Artist in Residence, Kombinat e.V., Spinnerei Leipzig
2019–2024 Cusanuswerk study grant - ongoing monthly scholarship
Publications
2025 Divide Magazine Issue 15
2024 Paula Modersohn-Becker Art Prize - Exhibition Catalog
2024 zip - Exhibition catalog
2023 Walk The Line - 7-inch vinyl record
2022 My neighbor is a hunter - Publication by Anne Neukamp's class
2022 Contribution to FLUT magazine for contemporary eroticism - Butter bei die
Fische
2022 Contribution in WERK - Coming of Age
2021 Contribution in ZICK magazine
2021 Stereo 2 - Exhibition catalog
2020 PALAST - Artist book together with Anne Moder
2020 Stereo 1 - Exhibition catalog
2020 Contribution to FLUT magazine for contemporary erotica - Metamorphosis
Other
2025 Curation of the exhibition “Fax From Hell” by Wysocka/Pogo, Galerie Herold, Bremen
Since 2024 Assistant at Sibylle Springer's studio
2022 - 2025 Curation of the CIAO exhibition container Güterbahnhof Bremen, together with Anne Moder
2022 Curator for the raus.project “Mein Ross Braucht Paraden” in Crawinkel with Johanna Seidel (Dresden), Lydi Marx (Berlin), Sophie Meurer (Mainz), Anne Moder (Bremen), Lydia Henkel (Dresden)