Peles Duo (formerly Peles Empire) is a collaboration between artists Katharina Stöver and Barbara Wolff that was founded during their studies at Städelschule. The starting point for their work is Peles Castle, a summer residence built for King Carol I at the end of the 19th Century in Romania’s Carpathian Mountains. In its quintessence, the castle is a collection of copies in architecture. Strategies of optical flattening out and illusion, the transformation from 3D to 2D and back to 3D, and not least the question as to if and when a work can ever be understood to be completed — these are some of the motifs Peles Duo addresses. More precisely, their hybrid objects, installations of photographic prints and gypsum-based Jesmonite paintings become collectively produced in-between space.

Katharina Stöver was born in Gießen, Germany in 1982. Barbara Wolff was born in Făgăraș, Romania in 1980. They now live and work in Berlin, Germany.

Collections

Peles Duo’s work is part of public collections worldwide. These include the European Central Bank (Frankfurt am Main), KAI 10 / Arthena Foundation (Düsseldorf), Kunstmuseum Stuttgart and the Bundeskunstsammlung.

Education

Peles Duo studied at Städelschule (Frankfurt am Main), Slade School of Fine Arts (London) and the Royal Academy Schools (London).

Exhibitions

Their work has been featured in exhibitions at Super Super Markt, Suprainfinit (Bucharest), Wentrup Gallery (Berlin), Kunstverein Pforzheim, Sargent’s Daughter (New York), Galerie Johann Widauer (Innsbruck), E-Werk Luckenwalde, Eins Gallery (Limassol), Barakat Contemporary (Seoul), Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Edinburgh), Künstlerhaus Graz, Swiss Institute (New York), Skulptur Projekte (Münster) and the Kunstverein Hannover.