Maria Gerbaulet

A rectangular slab of brown clay rests on a gallery floor with white walls and large doors; a metal bar and tensioning elements are attached under the slab.

Tiefstart 2024, clay, clamping elements, metal, webbing, 20 × 520 × 110 cm, photo: Irina Janson

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A long, rectangular brown slab of clay lies flat on a light gray floor in a minimalist, industrially designed room. Metal rods and clamping elements are attached to the corners, and two small square recesses are visible on the slab.

Tiefstart 2024, clay, clamping elements, metal, webbing, 20 × 520 × 110 cm, photo: Irina Janson

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Two square holes in a textured brown clay surface, each with a metal hinge or bracket, with a further metal fastening visible on the top right edge.

Tiefstart 2024, clay, clamping elements, metal, webbing, 20 × 520 × 110 cm, photo: Irina Janson

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Four rectangular glass tanks, filled with yellow liquid (oil) and a floating object each, are mounted in a row on metal brackets on a white wall.

Drain 2024, canola oil, canola wax, drainage, glass basin, each 40 × 25 × 25 cm, photo: Irina Janson

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A glass container filled with yellow liquid is attached to one wall. Inside are two cylindrical objects reminiscent of tree trunks or tree trunk segments, the round ends of which are visible.

Drain 2024, canola oil, canola wax, drainage, glass basin, each 40 × 25 × 25 cm, photo: Irina Janson

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A close-up of a cylindrical object with rough, hairy brown growths, partially immersed in a yellow liquid and reflected on a glass surface below.

Drain 2024, canola oil, canola wax, drainage, glass basin, each 40 × 25 × 25 cm, photo: Irina Janson

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A close-up of a white cylindrical rod attached to a vertical metal bracket with a clamp, against the background of a gray concrete floor.

barren 2024, wax, metal, plastic obstacle pads, 51 × 214 × 32 cm, photo: Irina Janson

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An empty, minimalist room with a large window and a white cylindrical pole standing on metal supports on the plain, light gray floor.

barren 2024, wax, metal, plastic obstacle pads, 51 × 214 × 32 cm, photo: Irina Janson

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A white cylindrical rod is attached with a metal clamp and a white bracket to a vertical metal support frame that rests on a smooth gray base.

barren 2024, wax, metal, plastic obstacle pads, 51 × 214 × 32 cm, photo: Irina Janson

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A minimalist, light-flooded white room with a small window, a radiator underneath, exposed vertical pipes and a vertical row of white oval objects, and metal connections attached to the left wall.

tremulations 2023, foam, plaster, metal hangers, 350 × 16 × 4 cm, photo: Yuefei Li

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A vertical row of white, oval objects mounted on a plain white wall and held in place by two visible metal brackets.

tremulations 2023, foam, plaster, metal hangers, 350 × 16 × 4 cm, photo: Yuefei Li

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A close-up of four white, cracked pieces of plaster arranged in two vertical rows and held together by a metal bracket and a rod attached to a white wall.

tremulations 2023, foam, plaster, metal hangers, 350 × 16 × 4 cm, photo: Yuefei Li

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Two large, irregular flat objects made of light, translucent material lie flat on a gray concrete floor in a barren, white-walled room. The slabs have jagged, uneven edges and a textured surface.

Skudde 2023, wood dust (bounded), sheep wool, 15 × 400 × 180 cm and 15 × 275 × 120 cm, photo: Maria Gerbaulet

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A piece of light brown, frayed fabric lies flat on a pale surface, with jagged edges and an uneven texture. Another similar fabric can be seen blurred in the background.

Skudde 2023, wood dust (bounded), sheep wool, 15 × 400 × 180 cm and 15 × 275 × 120 cm, photo: Maria Gerbaulet

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A tall, narrow white fabric or sheet hangs vertically from the ceiling to the floor in a minimalist, empty room with a gray concrete floor and plain white walls.

Versatz 2023, wall dust, binder, eyelets, 470 × 250 cm, photo: Maria Gerbaulet

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A minimalist, empty room with a concrete floor and plain white walls. A transparent, cream-colored fabric or curtain hangs from the ceiling and partially divides the room. The walls have faint stains and patches.

Versatz 2023, wall dust, binder, eyelets, 470 × 250 cm, photo: Maria Gerbaulet

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A piece of gray, torn material lies partially rolled up on a smooth, light gray floor in a minimalist, empty room with white walls.

Flor 2021, wood dust, binder, acrylic paint, 35 × 400 × 500 cm, photo: Maria Gerbaulet

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A large, gray, crumpled sheet lies spread out on the bare floor in a plain white room, with two corners of the sheet partially bent upwards.

Flor 2021, wood dust, binder, acrylic paint, 35 × 400 × 500 cm, photo: Maria Gerbaulet

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A large concrete column stands in the middle of an empty, unfinished room with plain white walls and a bare concrete floor.

SFA 2022, coal fly ash, 470 × 60 × 60 cm, photo: Maria Gerbaulet

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Close-up, bottom view of a tall concrete column with a rough structure extending upwards to a white ceiling with visible pipes or cables.

SFA 2022, coal fly ash, 470 × 60 × 60 cm, photo: Maria Gerbaulet

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Maria Gerbaulet, photo: Fabian Schwarze

Biography

  • 1994

    born in Sassenberg

  • 2021–2024

    Fine Arts at Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts Kiel, with Prof. Elisabeth Wagner and FORT (Prof. Alberta Niemann and Prof. Jenny Kropp), Master's degree

  • 2023–2024

    Semester abroad at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, AT, with Prof. Nora Schultz

  • 2020–2022

    Spatial Strategies at Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts Kiel, Master's degree

  • 2018–2020

    Professional experience in architecture and interior design

  • 2014–2018

    Interior Design at Detmold School for Architecture and Interior Design (TH OWL), Bachelor's degree

  • 2017

    Semester abroad at IUAV Venice, IT

Jury statement

Thanks to the correlation between fragility and stability, Maria Gerbaulet’s works radiate a deep sense of poetry. At first glance, they appear reserved, but upon closer inspection, they reveal themselves to be highly nuanced. In her work, Maria Gerbaulet often uses delicate, almost immaterial organic or inorganic materials such as ash, wax, dust, or clay. For instance, she creates a static column over four meters high from coal fly ash. Not only is this fragile and volatile material stabilized, it also embodies an almost monumental upward striving. The artist transforms the material from one state of matter to another. From ground wall dust, she creates a wafer-thin curtain; the wall, as the source of the material, serves as the background for the exhibited piece and thus becomes part of the work itself.

Maria Gerbaulet analyzes systems and the environments in which living beings move. Although her works appear formally and chromatically minimalistic and at times nearly abstract, various forms, structures, or titles offer clues to the concrete questions underlying their creation. A fragile bar of wax, for example, refers to horse dressage and the potential vulnerability of animals subjected to the system and discipline they are forced into. Similarly, delicately assembled plaster pieces evoke a human spine, mounted on a wall. They express both the measurability of the gaps between vertebrae and, through the material, human fragility. The jury was also impressed by Maria Gerbaulet’s work due to its subversive questioning of art historical discourses. Art historically, the artist can be situated in the tradition of the Readymade. Maria Gerbaulet places industrially manufactured products, such as a piece of drainage pipe, into new systems that reverse their function, thereby opening up new possibilities for interpretation. Once again, materials or substances we take for granted are presented as fragile and thus transient.

Dr. Florence Thurmes, jury member

Group exibitions (selection)

  • 2025

    27th Federal Competition Federal Prize for Art Students, Bundeskunsthalle Bonn

  • 2024–2025

    Arthur-Petersen-Preis 2024, sp ce, Kiel

  • 2024

    zzzZZZZZZzzZZZzZz, Alte Mu Kreativzentrum, Kiel

  • 2024

    whispercrush, Atelierwerkstatt Arfrade 45, Kiel

  • 2024

    Overstay my welcome, Kleingartenverein Parzelle 10+12, Kiel

  • 2024

    All you have is not just Flesh and Bones., Exhibit Studio, Vienna, AT

  • 2023

    (tremulations), Foyer Kurzbauergasse, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, AT

  • 2023

    Irrlichter, Flämische Straße, Offspace at Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts, Kiel

  • 2023

    fffff, Gallery Evelyn Drewes, Hamburg

Grants and awards

  • 2025

    Federal Prize for Art Students, Federal Ministry of Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth

  • 2024

    Arthur-Petersen-Preis 2024, Kiel

  • 2023

    1st place (realization recommendation), Kunst am Bau visitor center, new building for ministerial use, Postblockareal Nord Berlin

  • 2022

    2nd place, Kunst am Bau, forecourt administration building, Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts, Kiel

  • 2021

    3rd place, Shifting Shores – Fluctuating borders, resilience and exchange processes, Muthesius Transferpark and City of Kiel

  • 2018

    bdia Bachelor's degree with distinction, Detmold

Bundespreis für Kunststudierende 2025