Jürgen W. Tarrasch

SKILLS:

Hard Skills:

  • Subject knowledge

  • Curriculum planning

  • Studio management

  • Language skills (German, Polish, English)

  • Painting

  • Drawing

  • Fresco

  • Sgraffito

  • Color theory

  • Art appreciation

  • Course evaluation

  • Student evaluation

  • Critiques

Soft Skills:

  • Active listening

  • Strong communication skills

  • Problem solving

  • Interpersonal skills

  • Adaptable

  • Collaboration

  • Creative

  • Teamwork

  • Course materials

EDUCATION:

M.F.A. Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw, Poland, 1993

  • Paintings; Professor Jan Tarasin

  • Wall Paintings; Professor Edward Tarkowski

European Center for Conservation and Historic Preservation, Venice (San Servolo), Italy, 1997

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:

August 2016 - May 2024

Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, Alabama)

Assistant / Associate Lecturer of Art, Painting

  • Develop and implement curriculum for 2 D studio art class: levels 1-4

  • Organize and maintain studio art space to accommodate up to 20 students

  • Mentor and advise student art majors, and participate in recruiting

  • Teach specialty courses during the January E-Term

  • Participate in campus life and activities

OTHER EXPERIENCE:

January 1998 - July 2016

Freelance painter and conservator (Berlin, Germany & Birmingham, AL)

  • Worked on various private commissions and projects including:

    • Murals

    • Paintings

    • Stucco Veneziano

    • Glazing

    • Plaster reconstruction and restoration

    • Gilding

    • Mosaics

    • Tile laying

    • Stucco Marmorino

    • Stucco Lustro

    • Fresco

    • Sgraffito

    • Decorative painting

October 1993 - July 1997

Mühlenbein & Schelkle (Berlin, Germany)

Conservator and Restorer

  • Plaster reconstruction

  • Creation of plaster molds and casts

  • Stucco Lustro restoration

  • Stucco Marmorino restoration

  • Conservation of wall paintings

  • Gilding restoration

  • Conservation of frescoes

  • Conservation of interior wall and ceiling decorative elements

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:

2025

Forthcoming, solo exhibition. The University of Alabama Gallery (Tuscaloosa, AL)

2024

BSC faculty exhibition. Alabama State Council on the Arts (Montgomery, AL)
77 Years of Art. Group exhibition. Durbin Gallery, Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, AL)

2022

Quo Vadis. Duo exhibition. Durbin Gallery, Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, AL) Continuity, 35 Anniversary Exhibition III. Group exhibition. Space One Eleven (Birmingham, AL)

2020

Oculus. Faculty exhibition. Durbin Gallery, Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, AL)

2019

A Touch of Nature. Solo exhibition. Hoover Public Library, Friends Gallery (Hoover, AL)

Inculcate. Faculty exhibition. Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, AL)

2018

Annäherungen. Malerei von Jürgen Tarrasch. Solo exhibition. Kunsthalle Cloppenburg (Cloppenburg, Germany)

2017

Uncommon Territory. Group exhibition. Montgomery Museum of Fine Art (Montgomery, AL)

Structure for Seeing. Duo exhibition, Durbin Gallery, Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, AL)

2015

Group exhibition. Johnson Center for the Arts, Biennial (Troy, AL)

Solo exhibition.The Edge of Chaos, University of Alabama at Birmingham (Birmingham, AL)

2014

Jürgen Tarrasch. Reflection. Solo exhibition. Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art, Piedmont College (Piedmont, GA)

2013

Group exhibition. Alabama State Council on the Arts, Georgine Clarke Gallery (Montgomery, AL)

Interchange. Group exhibition. Space One Eleven (Birmingham, AL)

Group exhibition. Project Row Houses (Houston, TX)

Group exhibition. Johnson Center for the Arts, Biennial (Troy, AL)

Solo exhibition. Galerie Conzen (Düsseldorf, Germany)

2012

Pulp II. Group exhibition. Maus Contemporary, Beta Pictoris Gallery (Birmingham, AL)

Today’s Visual Language. Southern Abstraction. A Fresh Look. Group exhibition. Mobile Museum of Art (Mobile, AL)

Fresco, Paintings by Jürgen Tarrasch. Solo exhibition. Samford University Art Gallery, Samford University (Birmingham, AL)

2011

Group exhibition. Johnson Center for the Arts, Biennial (Troy, AL)

Group exhibition. Alabama State Council on the Arts (Montgomery, AL)

Simple Matter. Solo exhibition. Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art (Auburn, AL) Recollection and Pursuit. Solo exhibition. Ottis and Evelyn Burrow Center for the Fine and Performing Arts, Wallace State Community College (Hanceville, AL)

2010

Artifacts. Solo exhibition. UAB Visual Arts Gallery (UAB/ArtLab, Birmingham, AL)

2008

Abstraction. A New Look. Group exhibition. Space One Eleven (Birmingham, AL)

Group exhibition. Thomas Project/Artist Cooperative (Birmingham, AL)

Solo exhibition. Cabaniss Fine Arts Center, Altamont School (Birmingham, AL)

AWARDS:

2013

SOE CALL Artist, funded by the Joan Mitchell Foundation

2009

Individual Artist Fellowship in the Visual Arts, Alabama State Council on the Arts

Nominated to Southern Artistry. A Multi-Disciplinary Showcase of Outstanding Southern Artists(www.southernartistry.org)

1997

Study grant for restoration program in fresco, stucco marmorino and stuccolustro, European Center for Conservation and Historic Preservation, Venice (San Servolo), Italy

SELECTED SPECIAL PROJECTS:

2023

Restoration of murals in the Andrew Gerow Hodges Chapel at Samford University (Birmingham, AL)

2020

Completion of tile mosaic on stairwell of the Geodome at Birmingham-Southern College (Birmingham, AL)

2017

Restoration of the ceiling of the Thomas Jefferson Tower building (Birmingham, AL)

2015

Invited speaker, Connections in the Creative Process: Art and Science UAB School of Public Health/The Edge of Chaos (Birmingham, AL)

2013

Guest Curator, Structured Paths, 21st Street Studios (Birmingham, AL)

2003

Fresco Palimpsest, International Curatorial Space, with artist Catherine Cabaniss (New York, NY)

1998

Reconstruction of stuccolustro façade on the portico of the Alte Nationalgalerie (Berlin, Germany)

1997

Restoration of stucco marmorino surfaces at the Scuola Grande di San Giovanni Evangelista (Venice, Italy)

1995

Reconstruction of Expressionist wall paintings in the Kreuzkirche (Berlin, Germany) 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY:

2018

“Künstler reist aus Alabama an,” in Münserländische Tageszeitung, 9 June 2018, p. 11.

Heidkamp, Andreas. “Naturgewalten in geometrischen Formen,” in Münserländische Tageszeitung. 11 June 2018, p. 11.

2014

"Tarrasch artwork on display at Piedmont's Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art," www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=271401

2013

Levine, Brett, “Fashion is Art," in B-Metro (June 2013), p. 72-73.

Boyd, Robert, “The Formalists at Project Row House," (April 1, 2013), http://www.thegreatgodpanisdead.com/2013/04/the-formalists-at-project-row-houses.html?m=1

2010

Levine, Brett. Artifacts (Birmingham: University of Alabama/Visual Arts Gallery).

2008

Farnell, Kathie. “Industry to Art. The Thomas Project Blends Art and History,” in Portico (August 2008), p. 42-44.

Nelson, Jim. “Abstract art finds home at Space One Eleven,” in The Birmingham News, 23 March 2008, p. 3F.

2007

Nelson, Jim. “Paintings by Jürgen Tarrasch and Guido Maus,” in The Birmingham News, 6 May 2007, p. 3F.

2004

Keith, Todd. “Art Among the Ruins. Jürgen W. Tarrasch and the Thomas Art Project,” in Portico (November 2004), p. 36-37.

2003

Nelson, Jim. “Recent work by Jürgen Tarrasch,” in The Birmingham News, 27 April 2003, p. 3F (with illustration).

2000

Coman, Victoria L. “Painting by history. Artist displays fresco techniques to Altamont class,” in The Birmingham News, 12 July 2000, p. S1-2 (with illustration).

1998

Hauke, Angelika. “Ausstellung: Entwicklung eines Malers,” in Münsterländische Tageszeitung, 26 October 1998, n. p.

WORK IN COLLECTIONS:

Academy of Fine Arts, Warsaw, Poland

Altamont School, Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama

City of Cloppenburg, Germany

Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art, Auburn University, Alabama

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Alabama

Technical University, Warsaw, Poland

Loomis Sayles & Company, Boston, MA

Numerous private collections in the United States and Europe