Frank-Joachim Grossmann

Frank-Joachim Grossmann (born June 7, 1958 in Jena) is a German artist and graphic designer. He works and lives in Römerberg near Speyer.
Career
Grossmann studied graphic design at Städtische Fachhochschule Mannheim under Wolf Magin and Hubert Gems together with Armin Liebscher from 1978 to 1983. In 1980 he completed an internship offered by Bernd Benedix and Paul In den Eicken. From 1995 to 1998 he studied communication design in Stuttgart at Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart at Manfred Kröplien and Günter Jacki.
From 1983 to 1984 Frank-Joachim Grossmann worked as a workshop manager of the printing workshop at Kulturzentrum Alte Hauptfeuerwache in Mannheim. From 1992 to 1999 he taught as a lecturer at Fachhochschule Mannheim, from 1993 to 2001 and again from 2005 to 2008 at Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe under Gunter Rambow.
From 2001 to 2002 Grossmann was Professor for Fundamentals of Media Design at Fachhochschule Ulm. From 2002 to 2012 he held a professorship for typography and computer graphics at Fachhochschule Schwäbisch Hall. Since 1998 Grossmann has been a lecturer in media design and interface design at Hochschule Worms as well as a lecturer for typography for online media at DHBW Mosbach.
In 2002 Grossmann was a visiting professor at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore (USA), in 2007 he was a visiting professor at the Academy of Arts Tbilisi in Georgia and in 2011 he was a reviewer of the accreditation process for course offers in communication at IB-Hochschule Berlin.
Artistic works
Particularly in his early creative phase up to about 1995 Grossmann was interested in the art of drawing. He specially sought to capture whatever he saw by means of a pen or a charcoal pencil. The art historian Clemens Jöckle describes how Grossmann, in his large-format drawings in delicate colors, makes the human image appear like an archaic face on a monochrome surface. Similarly, for the art historian Jürgen Linde, Grossmann's lines in particular provide access to his early works. At the same time he succeeds in creating a tension between the photorealistic exactness of an object and its Sfumato-like blurring on the picture's surface. For the cultural scientist Uli Rothfuss, Grossmann's works are supported by a filigree quality. They strive for perfection without wanting to impress. A joint study trip to Georgia and a book project with literature by Uli Rothfuss and watercolors by Grossmann bear witness of his esteem for Grossmann's art.
Graphic works
Since 1995 in his graphic prints Grossmann has been turned towards typography and the relationship between colors and forms. He tries to show the areas of tension within the dynamically set colored letters. His works vary from large-format woodblock color prints to smaller digital prints. In several commissions, Grossmann has also work on the range of possibilities for poster and book design as well as logos. For Jürgen Linde of Kunstportal Baden-Württemberg his creative skills are particularly evident in the various media: from posters, web design and logos up to graphic printing processes such as lithography, wood and linoleum printing and etchings. With regard to these graphic works by Grossmann, Uli Rothfuss on the other hand concurrently emphasizes the artist's awareness of the arrangement of colors and forms, so that they are memorized, so that they have an effect. Additionally Johannes Meinhardt observes that the starting points for Grossmann's prints are letters or numbers. These are then interlaced again in such a way that new surface elements and thus complex, ambiguous prints are created.
Awards
* 1984: 1st prize Künstlerbund Rhein Neckar: Jugend gestaltet<ref name="AK" />
* 1988: “The Modern Wine Label” 1st prize GEWA-Druckerei Bingen am Rhein<ref name="AK" />
Individual exhibitions
* 1984 “Galerie für junge Künstler” at Forum der Jugend Mannheim
* 1987 Galerie Hartmannstraße Ludwigshafen
* 1989 Künstlerhaus Speyer (together with Armin Liebscher)
* 1990 “Traces” at Kulturzentrum Alte Feuerwache Mannheim (together with Norbert Nüssle and Rainer Negrelli)
* 1991 Schlossscheune Fußgönheim (together with Armin Liebscher)
* 1992 “Kultursommer ’92” in Ludwigshafen Town Hall (together with Armin Liebscher)
* 1993 Kunstverein Speyer (together with Finn Cato Gabrielsen)
* 1994 Jenaer Kunstverein
* 1994 Bankhaus Wölbern in Hamburg
* 1995 Galerie Armand Gaasch Dudelange (Luxembourg)
* 1995 Galerie Roter Turm Grünstadt Asselheim
* 1995 Arte Facte Mannheim
* 1996 “Faktum Wein” at Weinkontor Schwarz in Speyer
* 1999 Feuerbachhaus Speyer
* 2007 Feuerbachhaus Speyer
* 2014 “Buchstaben_folgen” in Galerie Josef Nisters in Speyer
* 2015 “Word and Picture” in Pfälzische Landesbibliothek Speyer
* 2018 “From A to Z” Künstlerhaus L6 Freiburg im Breisgau
Memberships
* since 1984 Bundesverband Bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler
* 1984-2001 Der Anker Ludwigshafen
* 1984-2001 Künstlerbund Rhein-Neckar
* 1986-1987 Gruppe “Trotzdem” Heidelberg
* 1986-2001 and 2005-2011 Künstlerbund Speyer
* since 2011 Allianz deutscher Designer
* 2016-2019 Type Directors Club New York
* since 2020 Typographische Gesellschaft Munich
Works
Works in (Public) Collections<ref name"AK" /> ===
* BASF
* City of Mannheim
* Kunsthalle Mannheim
* City of Speyer
* Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis
* Art Collection Rheinland-Pfalz
* Art Collection Baden-Württemberg
* Saar Ferngas
* Cultural Dialogue Armenia
Posters (selection)<ref name"AK" />===
* Feuerwache Mannheim
* Fachhochschule Mannheim
* Künstlerbund Rhein-Neckar
* Künstlerbund Speyer
* KlangForum Heidelberg
* Hermann-Hesse International Society
* City of Speyer
Book design
* Wolfgang Dierl, Werner Ring: BLV Bestimmungsbuch Insekten Mitteleuropäische Arten, BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, München 1988, . (Collaboration on illustrations on pages 207, 211 and 213)
* Karl Häusler, Peter Pfeifer, Heribert Rampf: Elemente der Zukunft: Chemie 2 Realschule Bayern, Oldenburg/München 1989, . (Collaboration on illustrations)
* Hans Peter Thiel, Marcus Würmli: Wir schützen unser Leben - Das Bild Umwelt-Lexikon, Ullstein Taschenbuch Verlag, Frankfurt/Berlin 1990, . (Collaboration on illustrations)
* Brockhaus-Enzyklopädie: Band 11, IT-KIP, Verlag F.A. Brockhaus, Mannheim, 19th edition, . (Collaboration on illustrations on pages 320, 334, 337 and 383)
* Volker Demuth: Bits and Bones, Weilerswist 2001, . (Design of the book title)
Web design
* ConCoquo
* City of Speyer
Typography
* Font “Grossi”, in: Typodarium 2015, Verlag Hermann Schmidt, Mainz 2014.
* Font “Orion” and font “Takefive”, in: Typodarium 2016, Verlag Hermann Schmidt, Mainz 2015.
* Font “Stealthy Font”, in: Typodarium 2017, Verlag Hermann Schmidt, Mainz 2016.
Publications
* Frank-Joachim Grossmann, in: Speyerer Künstler der Gegenwart, edited by Clemens Jöckle and Cornelia Vagt, Speyer 1990, pp. 49-51.
* Frank-Joachim Grossmann, in: 10 Jahre Künstlerbund Speyer e.V., edited by Künstlerbund Speyer e.V., Speyer 1994.
* Poster, In: Looking for Transmission - Die Form als Argument, edited by Günter Jacki, Wasmuth Verlag, Tübingen 2006, , pp. 158-159.
* Watercolors in: Uli Rothfuss: vom atmen der steine, with drawings from Frank-Joachim Grossmann, POP-Verlag, Ludwigsburg 2006, .
A broader selection of publications from Grossmann is stored in the Palatinate State Library in Speyer.
Archival documents
* Poster collection (stock Y24) in Landesarchiv Speyer
* Poster collection in Stadtarchiv Speyer
* Buchinstitut der Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart
Literature
* Clemens Jöckle: Grossmann, Frank-Joachim. In: Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon. K.G. Saur. Berlin / Boston 2019.
* Kunstverein Speyer (ed.): Junge Kunst im Kunstverein Speyer - Frank-J. Grossmann, Finn Cato Gabrielsen; Exhibition June 6 to June 27, 1993, Haus des Kunstvereins Speyer. Speyer 1993.
* Jürgen Linde: Design for Conviviality. In: Kunstportal Baden-Württemberg. 2015.
* Ulrich Rothfuss: seine kunst ist wie er selbst: frank-joachim grossmann. In: Kunstportal Pfalz. December 3, 2007.
* Saarländisches Künstlerhaus: Zeichnen zeigen - Zeichnungen der 90er Jahre. Saarbrücken 1994.

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