Elvira Bach

Elvira Bach - A happy childhood, art studies and a taste of theatre

Elvira Bach was born on 22nd June 1951 in Neuenhain in the Taunus region and spent a sheltered and happy childhood in a rural environment with her twin sister Ingrid. She attended the State Glass College in Hadamar from 1967 to 1970 before moving to Berlin in 1972 to study at the Berlin University of the Arts. There she became a master student of Hann Trier, who had already made a name for himself as an Art Informel painter. During her studies, she met Helmut Middendorf, Rainer Fetting and Salomé, who studied with the neo-expressionist Karl Horst Hödicke, and often met her fellow students for long nights in ‘Exil’ on Paul-Lincke-Ufer. By the time Bach graduated in 1979, she had already worked for several years as a prop mistress at the Schaubühne am Halleschen Ufer. The experience of the theatre's colourful world of props later also had an impact on her development as an artist; sometimes she would stand at the bar in ‘Exil’ in full costume and watch the men's reactions. Even more inspiring, however, proved to be a stay of several months as ‘Artist in Residence’ in Santo Domingo, which she owed to a scholarship. There in the Caribbean, she sensed "a part of her soul", as she later said.

Participation in documenta VII and other exhibitions

Following her return to Germany, Elvira Bach was invited to take part in documenta VII in Kassel at the age of 29; her large-format, colourful and incredibly powerful portraits of women were very well received and numerous other exhibitions in art associations and museums followed. Although the artist by no means only created self-portraits, traces of her own form and personality can be found in almost all of her works. Bach often adorned her women with all kinds of accessories that she considered part of femininity. The snake symbol also became increasingly important and frequented her pictures more and more, as did a strong erotic component, which was often introduced in various shades in Bach's preferred colour red. Elvira Bach's paintings are characterised by an implicit conflict between orderly form and barely restrained joie de vivre, bordering on wildness and impulsiveness.

Happiness in love, family life and quieter years

Her great love Alioune Lo, whom she met and married in 1983, played a decisive role in the ‘young savage’ Elvira Bach becoming a little calmer and she repeatedly travelled extensively to Senegal, her husband's homeland, which gave her peace, strength and fresh inspiration. Her first son Lamine was born in 1984 and her second son Maodo Lô, born in 1992, plays in the German national basketball team. When her children were still small, Bach hired a nanny and locked herself in her studio for up to eight hours a day so as not to lose her creative energy. The method paid off: Although Elvira Bach's paintings became quieter and less intense during these years, they shone with subtle dynamism.