Tomma Abts

Tomma Abts (b. 1967) is known for her complex paintings and drawings that, while abstract, are nevertheless illusionistic, rendered with sharp attention to details—such as shadows, three-dimensional effects, and highlights—that defy any single, realistic light source.

Born in Kiel, Germany, Abts studied at the Hochschule der Künste, in Berlin, from 1988 to 1995. Abts’s work has been the subject of major international exhibitions, most recently, in 2018, at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Serpentine Gallery, London. Other prominent institutions that have presented solo shows of the artist’s work include the Aspen Art Museum, Colorado (2014); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf (2011); New Museum, New York (2008; traveled to the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles); Kunsthalle Basel (2005); and the Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2005). Abts’s work has also been included in major international exhibitions such as the Berlin Biennale (2006); Carnegie International, Pittsburgh (2004); and Istanbul Biennial (2001), among others.

In 2006, Abts was the recipient of the prestigious Turner Prize, awarded by the Tate, United Kingdom. The artist has been represented by David Zwirner since 2005, and received her debut exhibition at the gallery in New York in 2008. In 2014, Abts presented a new body of work at David Zwirner, New York. It coincided with Tomma Abts: Mainly Drawings, the inaugural exhibition at the new Aspen Art Museum in Colorado, which surveyed the artist's extensive drawing practice, showcasing over forty works from 1996 to the present. The artist’s third solo presentation with the gallery was on view at David Zwirner, New York, in 2019.

The artist’s work is represented in public collections internationally, including the Art Institute of Chicago; Baltimore Museum of Art; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Staatsgalerie Stuttgart; Tate, United Kingdom; and the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis. Since 1995, Abts has lived and worked in London.