Annick Ibsen

I am a sculptor in clay and a painter. I was born in Paris and moved to Des Moines in 2003, prior to which I experienced a breadth of cultures all over the world. I am self-taught. The human figure has always captivated me. After decades of acrylic portraits, I decided to challenge myself to the new medium of ceramic and fell in love with sculpture. In a way, I wanted to understand sculpture to move beyond it. But volumes are in constant movement, so the challenge is to arrest the figure and see it in 3D, because then I see it for the first time. And as soon as I have given permanence to what keeps evolving, I need to go back and explore the dimension that still escapes me, the negative space. Which is where printmaking and painting allow me to freeze shadows. You could say that all my work is an attempt to translate emotions into form and line. Perhaps sculpture is not the form that fills space, but how the form opens space in relationship to it, including in the mind of the viewer. 

“The object of art is not reproduce reality, but to create a reality of the same intensity.” Alberto Giacometti

GALLERY REPRESENTATION

Moberg Gallery, 2411 Grand Ave, Des Moines, IA 50312

https://www.moberggallery.com/artist/annick-ibsen/

Saatchi Art, https://www.saatchiart.com/aibsen

DSM Magazine Sept/Oct. 2018 feature: https://dsmmagazine.com/2018/08/28/feat-of-clay/

MUSEUM EXHIBITS

Upcoming solo exhibit at the MacNider Art Museum, Mason City, IA, 2025

Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Land/Scape juried exhibition, IA, Feb-May 2024

Rock Island Gallery in conjunction with the Figge Museum and Quad City Arts, “Finding Inspiration: Monet to Matisse” juried exhibit, Gallery, Rock Island, IL, 2019

Blanden Museum of Art, Oak Hill Juried Exhibit, 2017

Des Moines Art Center Gala Exhibition “Built” - Des Moines, IA - 2016

Ankeny Art Center, solo exhibit, “JAZZ”, Ankeny, IA, 2016

Fisher Center for the Arts, solo exhibit, Marshalltown, IA, 2016

San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, 21st San Angelo National Ceramic Competition, TX, 2016

SELECT GALLERY & JURIED EXHIBITS

Surreal Salon 16, juried by Beth Cavener Stichter, Baton Rouge Gallery, LA, Jan 2024

Moberg Gallery solo show, Des Moines, IA, 2023

Principal Financial Group Exhibit, Des Moines, IA, 2020-2021

Warren Cultural Center solo show, Greenfield, IA, 2018

Black Earth Gallery, Sawdust & Shards, Cedar Rapids, IA, 2018

Heritage Gallery Invitational, Des Moines, IA, 2016

ARC Gallery juried exhibition, It Figures: The Body in Art, Chicago, IL, 2016

BNIM Architects installation, “The Three Graces”, Des Moines, IA, 2013-2014

Sioux Falls Art Walk, South Dakota, 2012-2013

Polk County Heritage Gallery, “Global Views: The Art of New Iowans”, Des Moines, IA, 2012

University of Iowa City Hospitals Project Art, Iowa City, IA, 2012

Artstop, People’s Choice Prize for sculpture installation, Des Moines, IA, 2012

Octagon Center For The Arts solo exhibit, “Lovers, Mothers and Their Dreams”, Ames, IA, 2011

Octagon Center For The Arts, National juried exhibit, Ames, IA, 2011

ArtPrize, DeVos Place, Grand Rapids, MI, 2010

ART FAIRS

The Other Art Fair by Saatchi, Revel Fulton Market, Chicago, IL, 2021

Sculpture Objects Functional Design (SOFA) Expo, Chicago, IL, 2018

NewBo Artfest, 2018 Sculpture Invitational, Cedar Rapids, IA, 2018

Art Palm Springs, 2018, Palm Springs, CA

Sculpture Objects Functional Design (SOFA) Expo, Chicago, IL, 2017

PUBLICATION & ART TALKS

Society of the Friends of the National Museum of Ceramics in Sèvres, videoconference, 2022

DSM Magazine Sept/Oct. 2018 feature

Des Moines Art Center book “ft2”, 2016

Juror for Iowa Exhibited XXXI, Heritage Gallery, 2016

Iowa State University, Guest lecturer at the College of Design, Ames, IA, 2015

KCCI TV interview, “In The Artist Studio”, 2012