Eva Jeske
*1990 in Freudenberg, GER
Resides and works in Cologne, GER
Eva Jeske creates minimalist abstract works that explore perception, material, and the quiet tension between control and chance. Her drawings and paintings, primarily on paper, often use ink, acrylic, and pencil, materials she chooses for their responsiveness and potential for subtle variation. She works with both traditional and unconventional tools, allowing each piece to develop through direct, hands-on experimentation. Jeske’s process is intuitive and open-ended, shaped by close attention to how materials behave and respond in the moment. Rather than following a fixed concept, she works from a place of trust—letting form, rhythm, and imperfection guide the outcome. Her practice welcomes fragility and irregularity as essential qualities. The resulting works are quiet, concentrated, rhythmical, from times dynamic, always inviting viewers into a slowed-down encounter where the image, material, and viewer interact. Jeske is deeply interested in how we experience and understand the world. Her work continues to engage with questions of knowledge, structure, and the limits and possibilities of perception. Influences from contemporary music, especially its structural and temporal thinking, remain present in her practice, though not always overtly. Her broader body of work includes collaborations in sound art, performance, and writing. In 2019, she co-authored ART.IS.-, an interactive publication with Dutch musician Etienne Nillesen. She has collaborated with artists and ensembles such as Ensemble Herzog | Muche | Nillesen, Claudia Chan, Barbara Schachtner and Eduardo Loría, among others.
Education:
2012-2015 MA in Philosophy at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, Bonn, GER
2010-2012 BA in Philosophy at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, Bonn, GER
Selected exhibitions:
2026
Über Leere und Dichte (group exhibition), Kunsthafen Rhenania, Cologne, GER
Liminal (duo exhibition), Galerie R8m, Cologne, GER
2025
EDITIOON #4, Galerie R8m, Cologne, GER
XMAS Pop-up exhibition (group exhibition), Galerie Dietrich, Cologne, GER
Counting the Waves at Low Tide (group exhibition), Kunsthafen Rhenania, Cologne, GER
2024
Counting the Waves on Foggy Days (group exhibition), Kunsthafen Rhenania, Cologne, GER
Bonecrusher Festival (solo exhibition), Alte Feuerwache, Cologne, GER
Zwischen den Polen (group exhibition), Kunsthafen Rhenania, Cologne, GER
Resonanz Raum (solo exhibition), Galerie Dietrich, Cologne, GER
2023
Pop-up exhibition (group exhibition), Galerie Dietrich, Cologne, GER
Open Studios (group exhibition), Kunsthafen, Cologne, GER
2022
Paint Memories (group exhibition), ZKM, Karlsruhe, GER
I will keep drawing circles until it becomes a painting (solo exhibition), Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Cologne, GER
Since 2021
La Voix Off #6, online series for the Kolumba Art Museum, Cologne, GER
2020
Open Public December, Art Book Fair, Düsseldorf, GER
2019
Open Studio (solo exhibition),Kunsthaus Rhenania, Cologne, GER
Inner Movements (group exhibition), Q18, Cologne, GER
2018
Video-Sound-Painting, (solo exhibition), Regenstein Library, Chicago, USA
Selected performances:
2024
Ensemble Bonecrusher (concert), Bonecrusher Festival, Alte Feuerwache, Cologne, Germany
Ensemble Bonecrusher (concert), Festival Densité, Fresnes-En-Woevre, FR
ECHO:LOT with r a u f e n (music theater), Lokal Harmonie, Duisburg, GER
Ensemble Bonecrusher (concert), Hangar 21, Detmold, GER
2023
Ensemble Bonecrusher (concert), Johanneskirche, Cologne, GER
ECHO:LOT mit r a u f e n, (music theater), BarbaraHof, Cologne, GER
Der Geist der Lupine (concert), Johanneskirche Brück, Cologne, GER
2022
Ensemble BRuCH: AufBRuCH: Urmythos der Unterwelt (music theatre), Alte Feuerwache, Cologne, GER
2019
The Sound and the Unsound (concert), Fuhrwerkswaage Kunstraum, Cologne, GER
The Sound and the Unsound (concert), Glashaus am Worringer Platz, Düsseldorf, GER
Grants
2024 Kulturamt der Stadt Köln, exhibition at Kunsthafen Rhenania, Cologne, GER
2018 UChicago.Arts, University of Chicago, USA
2017-2018 Fellowship of the Alexander v. Humboldt Foundation, University of Chicago, USA
2017 DFG, Alexander v. Humboldt Foundation, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Universität Bonn, Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Mainz for the conference "aesthetic thinking: philosophy and art in dialouge, Kunstmuseum Bonn, GER
Bibliography
Stephanie Loveless, A Year of Deep Listening. Tearra Nova Press: Camebridge, MA, 2024.
Bernd Herzogenrath, (C)ovids Metamorphosis. Eupen: Meakusma, 2024.
Eva Jeske, Etienne Nillesen, ART.IS.-.Cologne: Self Published, 2019.
Collections
Eva Jeske features in various national and international private collections.
*1990 in Freudenberg, GER
Resides and works in Cologne, GER
Eva Jeske creates minimalist abstract works that explore perception, material, and the quiet tension between control and chance. Her drawings and paintings, primarily on paper, often use ink, acrylic, and pencil, materials she chooses for their responsiveness and potential for subtle variation. She works with both traditional and unconventional tools, allowing each piece to develop through direct, hands-on experimentation. Jeske’s process is intuitive and open-ended, shaped by close attention to how materials behave and respond in the moment. Rather than following a fixed concept, she works from a place of trust—letting form, rhythm, and imperfection guide the outcome. Her practice welcomes fragility and irregularity as essential qualities. The resulting works are quiet, concentrated, rhythmical, from times dynamic, always inviting viewers into a slowed-down encounter where the image, material, and viewer interact. Jeske is deeply interested in how we experience and understand the world. Her work continues to engage with questions of knowledge, structure, and the limits and possibilities of perception. Influences from contemporary music, especially its structural and temporal thinking, remain present in her practice, though not always overtly. Her broader body of work includes collaborations in sound art, performance, and writing. In 2019, she co-authored ART.IS.-, an interactive publication with Dutch musician Etienne Nillesen. She has collaborated with artists and ensembles such as Ensemble Herzog | Muche | Nillesen, Claudia Chan, Barbara Schachtner and Eduardo Loría, among others.
Education:
2012-2015 MA in Philosophy at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, Bonn, GER
2010-2012 BA in Philosophy at Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-University, Bonn, GER
Selected exhibitions:
2026
Über Leere und Dichte (group exhibition), Kunsthafen Rhenania, Cologne, GER
Liminal (duo exhibition), Galerie R8m, Cologne, GER
2025
EDITIOON #4, Galerie R8m, Cologne, GER
XMAS Pop-up exhibition (group exhibition), Galerie Dietrich, Cologne, GER
Counting the Waves at Low Tide (group exhibition), Kunsthafen Rhenania, Cologne, GER
2024
Counting the Waves on Foggy Days (group exhibition), Kunsthafen Rhenania, Cologne, GER
Bonecrusher Festival (solo exhibition), Alte Feuerwache, Cologne, GER
Zwischen den Polen (group exhibition), Kunsthafen Rhenania, Cologne, GER
Resonanz Raum (solo exhibition), Galerie Dietrich, Cologne, GER
2023
Pop-up exhibition (group exhibition), Galerie Dietrich, Cologne, GER
Open Studios (group exhibition), Kunsthafen, Cologne, GER
2022
Paint Memories (group exhibition), ZKM, Karlsruhe, GER
I will keep drawing circles until it becomes a painting (solo exhibition), Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Cologne, GER
Since 2021
La Voix Off #6, online series for the Kolumba Art Museum, Cologne, GER
2020
Open Public December, Art Book Fair, Düsseldorf, GER
2019
Open Studio (solo exhibition),Kunsthaus Rhenania, Cologne, GER
Inner Movements (group exhibition), Q18, Cologne, GER
2018
Video-Sound-Painting, (solo exhibition), Regenstein Library, Chicago, USA
Selected performances:
2024
Ensemble Bonecrusher (concert), Bonecrusher Festival, Alte Feuerwache, Cologne, Germany
Ensemble Bonecrusher (concert), Festival Densité, Fresnes-En-Woevre, FR
ECHO:LOT with r a u f e n (music theater), Lokal Harmonie, Duisburg, GER
Ensemble Bonecrusher (concert), Hangar 21, Detmold, GER
2023
Ensemble Bonecrusher (concert), Johanneskirche, Cologne, GER
ECHO:LOT mit r a u f e n, (music theater), BarbaraHof, Cologne, GER
Der Geist der Lupine (concert), Johanneskirche Brück, Cologne, GER
2022
Ensemble BRuCH: AufBRuCH: Urmythos der Unterwelt (music theatre), Alte Feuerwache, Cologne, GER
2019
The Sound and the Unsound (concert), Fuhrwerkswaage Kunstraum, Cologne, GER
The Sound and the Unsound (concert), Glashaus am Worringer Platz, Düsseldorf, GER
Grants
2024 Kulturamt der Stadt Köln, exhibition at Kunsthafen Rhenania, Cologne, GER
2018 UChicago.Arts, University of Chicago, USA
2017-2018 Fellowship of the Alexander v. Humboldt Foundation, University of Chicago, USA
2017 DFG, Alexander v. Humboldt Foundation, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Universität Bonn, Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Mainz for the conference "aesthetic thinking: philosophy and art in dialouge, Kunstmuseum Bonn, GER
Bibliography
Stephanie Loveless, A Year of Deep Listening. Tearra Nova Press: Camebridge, MA, 2024.
Bernd Herzogenrath, (C)ovids Metamorphosis. Eupen: Meakusma, 2024.
Eva Jeske, Etienne Nillesen, ART.IS.-.Cologne: Self Published, 2019.
Collections
Eva Jeske features in various national and international private collections.