Reinhard Blanck and Stefan Dobadka live and work together since 1984. Reinhard is a photographer (black-and-white photography), Stefan is a painter (oil painting). Their work combines different techniques with photography and painting.
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The artists live in Calais, France, and in Cologne, Germany. For several years there was a beautiful 18th century mansion in Azille, a medieval village between Narbonne and Carcassonne with room for exhibitions and bigger projects. Details are at artisvita.com.
Apart from their paintings they produce from time to time a kind of public art. These works of art are installations into public areas (mainly in cities), where they are abandoned. From 1991 to 1993 they pursued an action called "KunstFenster" (ArtWindow) which were a permanent series of installations into a shop window of their studio, often referring to actual political and social themes.
They have worked with a group of artists within the German AIDS prevention. The group "LebensKunst" ceased its activity. They are still looking for a new group of artists to work with. If you are a member of a group or like to found one with them, write an e-mail.
In 1997,
they moved to the South of France for a part of each year. There they
had numerous group but also solo exhibitions throughout the Languedoc.
From 2005 to 2010, they also ran the above-mentioned exhibition project
in Azille, artisvita.
Between 2011 and 2014, they moved their studio to the North, to Calais,
for family reasons. Since then, their activities are divided between
Cologne and Calais. Since 2020, there is again a larger loft studio in
their house in Cologne.
If you are interested to exhibit their works please let them know. You can contact them here.
Stefan is collecting the works of a German designer from the 50s and 60s, Aloys Gangkofner. A link to the collection is here. It will open in a new window.
Reinhard
is collecting and testing vintage photographic material. He shares his
findings on different websites, about 120 film format folders, about instant photography, about using manual lenses on a Sony A7, about plastic(k) cameras, about very small 135 film cameras,
about subcompact cameras and some odd camera models. All links will open in a new window.
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