Tina Oelker, born 1973 in Westphalia, is a German artist, based in Hamburg. Her ability to create things from within and to simply dare to do so already characterized her in her youth. Detached from family and other norms, she is constantly reinventing herself and experimenting in various disciplines. Her galleries „Durchgang“ and „Hafentor7“ were her first large and public projects. With the launch of „1000 Hasen“ (Hares) Tina gained greater attention. She completed the 1000 originals at the end of 2014 and has been painting abstractly ever since. Both the variety of her hares and her entire repertoire of the last 30 years result in a painting that is entirely her own. She creates a series of vital and powerful paintings in interaction with poetry, prose, concepts and current happenings. The artist often takes up her works again and integrates them into ongoing processes. This results in entire work complexes that she consciously creates and assigns independently of linear time sequences. The artist is often in self-experimentation. As with method acting, Tina captures the themes layer by layer. She then renders them in her abstract way to reveal their authenticity.

Tina Oelker, 1973 in Hamm (Westf.) geboren, lebt seit 1995 in Hamburg. Während ihrer Studien in New York und Hamburg entwickelte sie eine eigenständige Praxis, die Malerei, Text und konzeptionelle Projekte verbindet. Als Initiatorin und Betreiberin der Produzentengalerien Durchgang (2002–2004) und Hafentor7 (2010–2014) setzte sie prägende Impulse in der Hamburger Kunstszene. Im Langzeitprojekt 1000 Hasen (2007–2014) entstand eine umfangreiche, malerische wie konzeptionelle Werkserie. Seit 2015 arbeitet sie am Programm 25 Farben Stockholm, das bislang über 370 Ölgemälde umfasst. 2024 konzipierte sie das neue Projekt Topia als Teil des Programms 25 Farben Stockholm. Der Veracity Report dokumentiert die Entwicklung von Topia und ist integraler Bestandteil dieses Projekts. Ihr Œuvre entzieht sich linearer Chronologie; wiederkehrende Themen führt sie episodisch fort und erweitert sie seit 2021 durch performative Aufführungen. 2017 –2025 gestaltete Oelker die Gesellschaftsabende, einen künstlerischen Austausch mit sozialem Engagement, die ab 2024 vom Veracity Report abgelöst wurden. Sie ist Initiatorin und Mitbegründerin der Künstlergruppe Die Kryptiker (seit 2022).

CV

Early Artistic Development

• 1989 – 1994: Evening classes for modern painting, Eckart Wendler, Hamm-Westphalia
• 1990 – 1994: Exhibition assistance, Federico Schiaffino, Castello Brown, Portofino, Italy
• 1991 – 1993: Nude drawing as a guest at the University of Applied Sciences and Academy in Cologne and Düsseldorf
• 1994: The Art Students League of New York, Hillary Holmes Class, NYC, USA
• 1995: School of Visual Arts, Monica Wellington Class, New York City, USA
• 1998 – 2004: HAW-Hamburg, University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg
  (Prof. Ryoram Merose, Prof. Klaus Waschk, Prof. Hartmut Gudenau,
  Prof. Michael Lingner (HfbK), Prof. Franz Erhard Walther (HfbK))
• 2004: Diploma Design, On the Hare Hunt – The Hare as a Motif in Art and Culture

Awards and Collections

• 2025: Collection Folker Skulima, Berlin, „Tageshase # 0713“, 2014 (1000 Hasen)
• 2022: 1st prize, Art Empire Award, online
• 2010: 1st prize, Noble Project, Hamburg, Germany
• 2010: Collection Falckenberg, Hamburg, „Tageshase # 0261“, 2009 (1000 Hasen)
• 2010: EUROLAND, Hamburg, real estate project developer, 3 of 1000 Hasen
• 2009: Art Award AIR, Artist in residence, Gershwin Art Hotel NYC, USA
• 2008: Brad Pitt, Actor and Producer (USA), „Karohase 06“, 2002
• 2007: Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company GmbH, Hamburg, commissioned painting
• 2003: Tchibo Vorstand, Hamburg (Germany), multiple works
• 2003: Dreier Werke (now Dreier Immobilien), Dortmund (Germany), modular painting

Cultural Projects

• Since 2024: Veracity Report, bi-weekly publication (editor and host)
• Since 2022: Kryptiker (artist group / founder and curator)
• 2021: Suchtherapiezentrum a.v.B. (Search therapy center outside Berlin), Elmshorn
• 2017 – 2025: Gesellschaftsabende (Social Evenings), (curator and host)
• 2010 – 2014: Hasenmanufaktur Hamburg / Hafentor7 (founder and curator)
• 2003 – 2005: Galerie Durchgang (founder and curator)

Exhibitions and Performances

• 2025: Künstlerbörse (group) • 33 Bilder, Brook 3, Hamburg (solo) •TOPIA begins • Vier Jahreszeiten, Kryptiker @ Künstlerforum Bonn (curator/group) • „Persephone zu Gast im Vier Jahreszeiten“ (performance)
• 2024: Art´partment, curated by Leo Lüpertz, Berlin (groupshow) • Kryptiker @ Art Artist, Düsseldorf (curator/group) • Transitions, The Space, Hamburg (group) • Everyone but Caspar, Künstlerhaus Sootbörn, Hamburg (group)
• 2023: Shaped by time, The Space Hamburg (group) • Eisige Versionen, Barlachhalle K, Hamburg (group) • Sense of belonging, The Space, Hamburg (group) • Waves, The Space, Hamburg (group) • Kryptiker, Salon an der Redoute, Bonn (curator/group)
• 2022: 2nd Edition, Art Empire (online) • Tina Oelker Secretariat, 150 Years Fritz Hansen, Design Museum Danmark, Copenhagen, Denmark (performance) • Tina Oelker Secretariat, Jazz and the City, Salzburg, Austria (performance) • Pandora ́s Box, Maximilianpark, Hamm Westf. (solo) • Art is a matter of the mind, kunstgruppe plan B, Künstlerforum Bonn (group) • Pandora ́s Box, Galerie OBEN, Hamburg (solo) • # Ikonen, Galerie OBEN, Hamburg (solo)
• 2021: Suchtherapiezentrum a.v.B. (Search therapy center outside Berlin), Elmshorn (solo) • Die Bank, indoor mural in a former bank branch, Worms, Germany (solo)

• 2020: Veracity Report Part 2 (online)
• 2019: West of where the sun goes down, No Man ́s Art Gallery, Amsterdam (groupshow)
• 2018: Gesellschaftsspiel @ David Peterman ́s Love Podium, Klosterfelde Edition, Berlin (performance) • Explorer, Views of art, Sir Hotel, Hamburg (ongoing project)
• 2017: Gesellschaftsabende (ongoing project, list below*)
• 2016: The banquet of the 7 wise men, interdisciplinary installation, Alte Münze, Spreewerkstättem, Berlin (solo)
• 2015: The world is a pineapple and a hare lives in it, Spreewerkstätten, Alte Münze, Berlin (solo) • Peng!, Kunst im Komm, Wolfenbüttel, Germany (group)
• 2014: Shooting festival reloaded, Closing event, Hafentor 7, Hamburg (curator) • Black Arts Club, Hafentor 7, Hamburg (solo) • Macht, Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany (curator) • Das Leporello, radioplay and shortfilm, Hafentor7, Hamburg • Das Leporello, shortfilm, Chelsea Apt., New York City, USA (premiere)
• 2013: The Waitingroom, Hafentor 7, Hamburg (solo) • Black Arts Club, Hafentor7, Hamburg (solo) • Position. BBK, Fabrik der Künste, Hamburg (group) • # 500, 1000 Hasen, Hafentor7, Hamburg (solo)
• 2012: N° 5, No Man ́s Art Gallery, Paris, France (group) • Tag des offenen Oberhafens, Oberhafenquartier, Hamburg (curator) • Punkte und Pixel, Hafentor7, Hamburg (co curator) • Double Trouble, Tal R, Daniel Richter and Werner Büttner class + graduates of academy of art Vienna, Hamburg and Düsseldorf @ Hafentor7, Hamburg (co curator) • City Hares, Hafentor7, Hamburg (solo)
• 2011: Eiskeller, Tal R class @ Hafentor7 (co curator) • Red Russian Ballroom, Hafentor7, Hamburg (curator) • Bloody Marriage, Hafentor 7, Hamburg (solo) • Oelker + Schiaffino, Believe, Hafentor 7, Hamburg • Oelker + Schiaffino, From Port to Port, Hafentor 7, Hamburg • No Man´s Art Gallery @ Hafentor7, Hamburg (group) • # 400, 1000 Hasen, Hasenmanufaktur Hamburg

• 2010: Wild bleibt wild, Hafentor7, Hamburg (solo) • 1000 Hasen, Kunstbetrieb 7, Ludwigsburg, Germany (solo) • Hasenjagd, KunstRaum Hamm (solo) • Frappant, Open Air Filmfestival, Hamburg (group
• 2009: The European Hare, Alp Gallery, New York City, USA (group) • European Hare, Gershwin Art Hotel, New York City, USA (solo) • Wild, Galerie Forum, Bialystok, Poland (solo)
• 2008: Let‘s Beuys – LOMU, Skam e. V., Hamburg (group) • Replacement, Kunstverein Hamm, Hamm-Westf. (solo) • Das Jagdzimmer, Schloss Ippenburg, Bad Essen (solo) • Bilder- und Liederabende mit Manuel Klein, Poolstr., Hamburg
• 2007: Zwei Soli, Speicherstadt, Hamburg (solo) | Jagdgesellschaft, Kulturparlament Soest e. V., Morgnerstiftung, Soest (group) | Animalia, Museum Kamen, Kamen (solo)
• 2006: Schützenfest, Frise – Künstlerhaus, Hamburg (group) • Homerun, KunstRaum Hamm (solo) • The Wedding Plan, Projekt B-22, Hamburg (solo) • Ball-of-Fame, Umspannwerk, Berlin (group) • Deer Devine, Lunalanding, B-22 group, sculpture@City Nord, Hamburg
• 2005 – Schwimmer, Galerie Hafen + Rand, Hamburg (solo) • Grenzenlos, Kunstverein Plauen, Plauen, (group) • Mund zu Mund Befruchtung, Park Group, Hamburg (solo) • Live Painting , Camel-Circle Projekt, Peute, Hamburg
• 2004 – Beautiful People Performance, 23 cr Gallery, London, England (group) • Kommunikative Materialversammlung, Durchgang, Hamburg (curator) • Wild!, Die Wohnung/Wedding, Lange Nacht der Museen, Berlin (solo) | Cum grano salis, Durchgang, Hamburg (curator) • Viewing appointment, Kontorhaus, Gängeviertel, Hamburg (curator) • Supermarkt, Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg (group)
• 2003 – Shooting festival, Durchgang, opening event (curator) • b present , Pinasberg, St. Pauli, Hamburg (solo) • Freiräumen, Schwankhalle, Junges Theater Bremen (performance)
• 2001 – Amok 2001, index, Hamburg (group)

• 2000: 24 brennt, private call, Hamburg (solo) • Mystik and Erotic, Erotic Art Museum, Hamburg (solo)
• 1998: Live Painting, Schmidts Tivoli Theater, Hamburg • Living People, Erotic Art Museum, Hamburg (performance) • Mystik und Erotik, Galerie Arterie, Hamburg (solo)
• 1996: Life Painting, La Cage, Reeperbahn, Hamburg (performance) • Naked Lunch Hommage, Tempelhof, Hamburger Berg 12, Hamburg
• 1995: Top hat and the red coat, Tunnel and Club USA, New York City, USA (performance)

Contact & Inquiries

Tina Oelker
Karolinenstraße 25
D-20357 Hamburg
Studio@tinaoelker.com
+49 40 23518542