GRETE MANTHEY, born 2nd June 1958, is a German artist. Her grandfather and great-grandfather had been lithographs. She grew up in a world of paper and music, as her father played Chopin and Tschaikowski on the piano. She studied psychology at the university of Cologne and since 1982 has been living in Düren (one of the most famous cities for paper industry). Because of the soft water of the river RUR Düren had started making paper of highest quality since 1576.

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In the 1990ies Grete Manthey started aquarell techniques on great Düren paper qualities, later experimenting with paper collages on wood with different - also handmade - paper qualities ... when the INTERNATIONAL ARTACADEMY HEIMBACH started, she learned techniques at Gustavo da Liña (a famous southamerican painter who paints acrylic on himalaya or mulberrytreepaper, which develops into a fabric-like structure) 2013 she attended to a course at MoMA, New York (ART AND INQUIRY) with distinction, presenting the painting of ERNST LUDWIG KIRCHNER named Winter Moonlit Night. At the same time Grete Manthey also started with WOOLEN ART. She limits herself on bags only which are made like collages ... knitted and felted of wool, sewed with patches ... all as if painted like collages... Her bags have names like "HEMINGWAY" and look as found at Hemingway's The old Man and the Sea..., Hesse's SIDDHARTHA or REMBRANDT REVIVAL (with somehow old colours).

Grete Manthey loves strong colours and an amazing mixture of soft and strong media for collages and bags. Another important teacher was Ren Rong who encouraged her to make a fabric-collage and bags showing it as a unit in the exhibition. So the collage ICE, NO CHANCE MELTING was created as a female pink dress collage together with a man's fabric outfit on wood ... and the bag "VISITING VERDI TODAY".

 

 

 

 

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