Denise Rudolf Frank

Denise Rudolf Frank is an Austrian contemporary painter who lives and works in Vienna. After studies in London and almost a dozen moves around Austria, including various neighbourhoods of Vienna, she currently resides in a peaceful and forested area of the city, an environment that the artist finds peaceful enough to be able to work in.

Frank is a graduate of the Akademie der bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts), Vienna, where she not only enjoyed the tutelage of Daniel Richter (born 1962, German Berlin-based artist known for large-scale oil paintings and, since 2006, a professor of fine arts at the Akademie der bildenden Künste) and Kirsi Mikkola (born 1959, Berlin-based Finnish contemporary artist, also working as a professor of fine arts at the Akademie der bildenden Künste) but also studied with Amok Boafo (born 1984, Ghanaian artist whose expressive portraits accentuated by his finger-painting technique have caused a sensation in recent years). Frank later concluded her art studies at the legendary Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London.

Frank’s art, however, stretches further back in time than just the aforementioned art schools. Due to having suffered a horrible trauma (which shut her down completely and stopped her from talking), she was brought to an art therapist at the tender age of three. ‘Drawing or painting was the only way to express myself or get some information about me. I was in art therapy every week for 6 years, so drawing and painting meant getting over feelings and expressing myself.’

The art therapy, thus, opened up a way for Frank to express her feelings through the medium of paint. Art became a psychological lifeline for Frank, who has clung to her paintbrush as an emotional lifesaver ever since. She has upheld and fortified her work process through integrating it into her everyday routine, much like writing a diary. It functions as a reflection of her experiences, and the process of painting mimics the emotional explosiveness of her paintings. ‘It was like writing a diary. It became a habit, so when I don’t do it, I feel very overwhelmed by my surroundings and my dreams. For me, the only logical way to have a life that works was to become a painter. Since I need to do it every day, I can’t do another job.’

Frank’s art has been described as a passionate plea to enjoy life or, if you so like, a call to action. In her deeply personal and cathartic painterly practice, she becomes an energy centre that seeks friction with social conventions, rules, and established structures, and, thus, with temperament and artistic depth, she creates her own, very personal, dreamy view of the world.

In 2025 she collaborated with the Nitsch Foundation, Vienna, Austria, in creating the ARTrium at the luxury five-star hotel Rosewood Vienna. This new exhibition platform, presentingsignificant works by Hermann Nitsch (1938–2022, Austrian contemporary artist and composer whose art encompassed wide-scale performances incorporating theatre, multimedia, rituals and acted violence. A leading figure of Viennese Actionism) alongside powerful pieces by Denise Rudolf Frank, was conceived as a dynamic dialogue between generations, creating a vibrant cultural heartbeat within the legendary hotel, housed in a historic 19th-century building in the heart of the city.

Apart from Firestorm Foundation, Denise Rudolf Frank is represented in the following collections: Pamela Hornig Collection; Dusty Deco Art Collection, Mallorca, Spain; Green Stove Law Collection, Sweden; Jiménez Cólon Collection, Ponce, Puerto Rico; Fornstam Foundation, Sweden; and AMOCA, Artistic Museum of Contemporary Art, Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.

Her works have been shown in solo exhibitions in Berlin, New York, Seoul, Paris and Los Angeles. She has also participated in group exhibitions in Stockholm, Miami and Tokyo.

Denise Rudolf Frank’s solo exhibitions include, amongst others: Unikatessen, Unikatessen Concept Store, Vienna (2016); Denise Rudolf Frank–Werksammlung, Im Kollektiv, Vienna (2017); HVOB, Check Festival, Arena, Vienna (2017); Denise Rudolf Frank meets the Kitchen Club, Sophienalpe, Vienna (2018); The End Has Begun, Projektraum Victor Bucher, Vienna (2018); X DAYS, X Members Club, Vienna (2019); The Conscious Subconscious, Art Factory Gross Siegharts, Thayaland Galleries, Lindenhof Raabs an der Thaya, Austria (2019); The Conscious Subconscious, Peanut Factory, London (2019); Diary, Barock Schlössel, Kunstverein Mistelbach, Mistelbach, Austria (2020); Emotion Explosion, Galerie Clemens Gunzer, Salzburg, Austria (2020); Emotion Explosion, Eligere Gallery, Seoul (2020); Eligere Gallery, Seoul (2021); Pablo’s Birthday Gallery, New York, NY, U.S.A. (2021); NBB Gallery, Berlin (2021); Art Installation, NBB Gallery, Berlin (2021); MISA discoveries, Solo Booth, König Gallery, Berlin (2021);Kardinal König Award, Salzburg, Austria (2021); Galerie Clemens Gunzer, Palais Schottenring, Vienna (2022); Art Geneva, Solo Booth, Pablo’s Birthday Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland (2022); OneOfAny, Sculbtural, Berlin (2022); Face to Face, NBB Gallery, Berlin (2022); Pablo’s Birthday Gallery, New York, NY, U.S.A. (2022); The Cabin, Danny First, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. (2022); Droste Gallery, Paris (2022); Gallery Août, Beirut, Lebanon (2023); V.IEW, Vienna (2024) and ArtSpace Andrew Weber, Vienna, Austria (2025).

To this could be added the following group exhibitions: Masterclass Exhibition, Novomatic Artforum, Vienna (2014); Diploma Exhibition, Albertina Museum, Vienna (2014); Masterclass Exhibition, Novomatic Artforum, Vienna (2016); Rundgang Show, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna (2018); Projectstatement, Detox at the Parallel, Vienna (2018); Group Show, Central Saint Martins, London (2019); Japan Art Festival, Schloss Schönbrunn-Orangerie, Vienna (2019); Sinnesrausch, Galerie Sophia Vonier, Salzburg, Austria (2019); Temporality, Lucerne Studio, London (2019); Japan Art Festival, Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, Vienna, Austria (2019); Living Studio, Frei_Raum, Museumsquartier, Vienna (2019); XCHANGE, Adidas Female Art Project, Berlin (2020); Galerie Clemens Gunzer, Pörtschach, Austria (2020); Vienna Contemporary, Galerie Clemens Gunzer, Vienna (2020); NBB Gallery, Berlin (2020); MISA, St. Agnes, König Gallery, Berlin (2021); Pablo’s Birthday Gallery, New York, NY, U.S.A. (2021); KIAF PLUS, Eligere Gallery, Seoul (2022); Chronicles 5, KPM, Berlin (2022); Playground, Breach Miami Gallery, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. (2022); Dallas Art Fair, Gallery Droste, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. (2023); NOW NOW Vol. 2, Breach Miami Gallery, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. (2023); Salon Basel, Breach Miami Gallery, Basel, Switzerland (2023); Jenise & Dordy, two person show with Jordy Kerwick, CFHILL, Stockholm (2023); Grounding, two person show with Anouk Lamm Anouk, Pablo’s Birthday Gallery, New York, NY, U.S.A. (2023); EXPO CHICAGO, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. (2023); Dallas Art Fair, Galerie Droste, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A. (2023); CHRONICLES Vol. 7, Galerie Droste, Berlin (2023); One Off Any, Art Week Berlin, Berlin (2023); UNVT Art Fair, Madrid (2024) and Nitsch Foundation, Vienna, Austria (2025).

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