About
As an artist, I work with the smallest building blocks of life.
I draw the invisible, under the influence of my critical engagement with crystals and cells as a pharmaceutical chemist holding a doctorate. They oscillate between order and chaos, between space and the space in between.
From this synthesis of my scientific experience with spontaneous, intuitive feeling during the process of creation, I develop a unique formal language. In lending them my creative, multimedia appreciation, I grant to elementary particles and microcosmic structures a specific identity and history.
My work is defined by complex, unplanned and never-corrected creative processes. The characteristic dynamics of my drawings reflect the dialectic between art and science that has defined my life.
I describe myself as a cartographer of my own intuitive processes.
Photo: Petra Rautenstrauch
Denise Schellmann lives and works in Vienna. Drawing is her medium, microscopy her point of departure.
Schellmann trained as a pharmaceutical chemist. A diploma in pharmacy (1999–2006) was followed by a doctorate in the natural sciences at the University of Vienna (2006–2010).
She turned to art in 2008. From 2012 to 2014 Loys Egg mentored her in fine art. In 2019 she completed the Master Art & Science under Virgil Widrich at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, with a thesis realised in collaboration with CERN.
Her work has been shown internationally, including at the Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair in New York, at CERN in Geneva and in Singapore.
CV
Education
2014–2019 Master Art & Science (Virgil Widrich), University of Applied Arts Vienna; thesis in collaboration with CERN
2012–2014 Private studies with Loys Egg, fine art
2006–2010 PhD in natural sciences, medicinal/pharmaceutical chemistry, University of Vienna
1999–2006 Diploma in pharmacy, University of Vienna
Solo Exhibitions (selected)
2026 „Fragments of a Microcosm", Viadukt Screen Prints, Vienna
2024 „Between particles", Bf2, Vienna
2020 „ZWISCHENRÄUME", Galerie Michaela Stock, Vienna
2015 „The Essential Rhythm", INSTINC Artspace, Singapore
Group Exhibitions (selected)
2024 „The Window and the Couch", 74tharts, curated by Simon Rees, WestSpace, Vienna
2023 „HUMAN_NATURE", Künstlerhaus, Vienna
2021 „The apocalypse of the white elephant", Comenduirea Garnizoanei, Timișoara
2020 „14 DAYS stay home notice", INSTINC space, Singapore
2019 „Origin Poetics", Art@CMS, CERN, Geneva
2019 „Origin Poetics", Art@CMS, KASK, Ghent
2017 „Circuit Training" (LHC), Angewandte / CERN (Art@CMS & HEPHY), das weisse Haus, Vienna
Art Fairs
2026 Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair, Powerhouse Arts, New York
2025 PARALLEL Vienna
2015 Affordable Art Fair, F1 Pit Building, Singapore
Grants and Nominations
2020 Work grant, City of Vienna
2018 Sepp Schellhorn Grant, Artist in Residence Seehof Goldegg
2016 Kapsch Contemporary Art Prize, nomination
2015 Auslandskultur Lower Austria, INSTINC AIR, Singapore
Artist Residencies
2025–2026 AIR Viadukt Screenprints, Vienna
2018 Sepp Schellhorn Grant, der Seehof, Goldegg
2015 INSTINC AIR, Singapore
Film: „The Arscientic Andism – my romantic manifesto" (2020, short film, 17 min)
Awards
Under The Radar Festival Vienna 2023 (Audience Award)
Mediterranean Film Festival Cannes 2020 (Best First Time Filmmaker)
Polish International Film Festival Warsaw 2020 (Best Experimental)
Nomination
Top Indie Film Awards Tokyo 2021 (Best Experimental, Best Editing, Best Original Idea, Best Message)
Official Selections
In The Palace Sofia 2021
Jaipur International 2021
Near Nazareth 2020
Open Window Kolkata 2020