Artnews.org: Filipp Rosbach Leipzig

Valentina Seidel: Robert Bridgewater with Kate Mac Caughey, sculptors, Daventry Street, Melbourne, AU, 01/05 [inspired by ›Arnolfini Wedding‹, Jan van Eyk], 78,5 x 78,5 cm, Ed. 5
/Courtesy Filipp Rosbach Galerie

Mapping the Artist. In ›Exchange‹, a project commenced in 2000, Valentina Seidel investigates which iconographies artists preferably utilize in photographic representations [of themselves].

Valentina Seidel is interested in interplay, the individual exchange with the persons she photographs: She does not determine the places and poses on the photographs, but gives them the opportunity and inspiration to show themselves in their respective ambience. The artists, and occasionally, the designers, gallery owners and art mediators invited by her to participate in ›Exchange‹ are actively involved in all the phases of the project.

They are even allowed to help select the final photograph for publication. As the artists themselves look for the places in which they want to be photographed, each picture to some extent reflects their work. Today, the artist is characterized not so much by the genius of his style, but rather by his investigative instinct. At a time in which the work of many artists is no longer defined by ›originality‹, but rather in terms of found material culled from a vast pool of existing sources, one also expects an artist to know his locality well—in terms of producing an apposite portrait of himself. The photos, it is hoped, express all the featured artists’ liking for the exceptional, unusual, and overlooked and, ideally, reflect the atmosphere pervading their respective works.

The sculptor Robert Bridgewater and his girlfriend Kate McCaughey restage Jan van Eycks famous Arnolfini Marriage: Furnishing their newly–renovated home, the couple coincidentally finds itself surrounded by objects that echo the middle–class domestic environment of the early 15th century. The photograph thus testifies to a long tradition, and rather than claiming total difference in an avant–garde manner, the artist sets great store on being perceived as working with an acute consciousness of historic continuity.

Thus, besides revealing individual traits of the respective artists and other personas from the world of art, Valentina Seidel’s photographs really do represent—along the social standing—their corresponding professions. The elective affinity between the persons photographed and their respective choice of setting testifies to a developed sense of ambiguity and openness. They render visibly tangible the innate peculiarities not only of the artists, but also of art.
—Wolfgang Ullrich /excerpt, Valentina Seidel ›Exchange: Portraits with Artists‹

Valentina Seidel

1973 born in Regensburg, Germany

Lives and works in Leipzig, Germany

Education

1992/93 practical trainings in photography, International Summeracademy of Fine Arts Salzburg, Austria, under Michael Schmidt and Nan Goldin
1994-1999 Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig/Germany, Department of Photography; Diploma 1999
1999-2001 postgraduate studies at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig/Germany, Class of Photography and Media, Prof. Joachim Brohm

Grants

2007 Working grant from Kulturstiftung Sachsen, DE; Artist residency Künstlerhaus Lukas/Ahrenshoop, DE.
2006 »exchange: bauhaus people today«, collaborative photo-project with international participants and employees of the Bauhaus Dessau foundation, Dessau, DE.
2005 »Artconnexions«, Art-project of the Goethe Institute with the region of South-East Asia/Australia/New Zealand; in cooperation with the Institute of foreign affairs [ifa], Stuttgart: Project-work in collaboration with australian and vietnamese artists in Melbourne, AU. Catalogue and exhibitions: Goethe Institute Singapore, Hanoi und Jakarta; RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, AU.
2004/05 »European Eyes on Japan, Japan today, vol.7«, curator: Mikiko Kikuta; 5 weeks of project-work in Japan, collaborations with japanese artists und curators. Catalogue, exhibitions: Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery, Yokohama; Iwate Museum of Art, Morioka; Museum of Fine Art, Gifu, JP.
2003 DAAD-Scholarship [German Academic Exchange] in Brussels and Antwerp, BE. Collaborative works with belgium artists and curators.
2002 »Wanted«, collaborations with male prisoners in Torgau/Saxony; A project supported by the Ministry of Justice, State of Saxonia, DE; Exhibition and catalogue.

Since the year 2000 collaborative, photographic portraits with people from the field of the arts

Solo Exhibitions

2009 »Exchange: Bauhaus People Today«, Filipp Rosbach Galerie, Leipzig, DE
2008 »Exchange: Portraits with Artists«, Neuer Kunstverein Regensburg, DE
»Exchange: Portraits with Artists«, Filipp Rosbach Galerie, Leipzig, DE, [catalogue]
»select.jp« Galerie Michael Wiesehöfer, Cologne, DE, [with Joachim Brohm]
2002 »Wanted«, Prison of Torgau, Germany; supported by the Saxonian Ministery of Justice, Dresden, DE, [catalogue]
2001 »exchange« Kunstverein Leipzig, DE, [catalogue]

Group Exhibitions

2009 »French Wall #3«, Filipp Rosbach Galerie, Leipzig, DE
2008 »Kopf oder Zahl, Leipziger Gesichter und Geschichten 1858-2008«, The 150th Anniversary of the Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig, DE, [catalogue]
»French Wall #2«, Filipp Rosbach Galerie, Leipzig, DE
»Tunnel«, 5. Leipziger Jahresausstellung Leipzig, DE, [catalogue]
»Rock´n Roll Hoover/Dust Exterminator«, Filipp Rosbach Galerie, Leipzig, DE
»reloaded/ creative strategies on cars«, Friedrich Franz Palais, Bad Doberan, DE; in collaboration with the jewellery-artist Susan Pietzsch, [catalogue]
2007 »French Wall #1«, Filipp Rosbach Galerie, Leipzig, DE
2006 »Grand Ouvert«, Filipp Rosbach Galerie, Leipzig, DE
»Asia city strangers«, Galerie Fotohof, AT, [catalogue]
»European Eyes on Japan, Japan Today Vol.7«, Museum of Fine Art Gifu, Gifu, JP, [catalogue]
»Artconnexions«, ifa Galeries: Stuttgart und Berlin, Germany, [catalogue]
2005 »Nur Hier?«, part I and part III, Gallery of the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig, DE
»Wrappinghood«, Middelsbrough Institute of Modern Art, UK, collaboration with the jewellery artist Susan Pietzsch, [catalogue]
»Artconnexions«, Goethe Institute in cooperation with ifa: Goethe Institutes of Singapore, Hanoi und Jakarta, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne, AU, [catalogue]
»European Eyes on Japan«, Kanagawa Prefectural Gallery, Yokohama; Iwate Museum of Art, Morioka, JP, [catalogue]
2004 »Accrochage«, Galerie Archetype, Brussels, BE, collaboration with Paul Casaer
»Jewels of the third millenium - Immateriell jewellery«, Schloß Plüschow und Stadtgalerie Kiel, DE, collaboration with Susan Pietzsch, [catalogue]
»brillant[e]«, Kunst Meran/im Haus der Sparkasse, Meran, IT, [catalogue]
2000 »Mühlheimer Medienmeile«, Mühlheim a.d. Ruhr, DE, [catalogue]
»Kunstförderpreis der Stadtwerke Halle«, Villa Kobe, Halle a.d. Saale, DE, [catalogue]
1999 »Aenne-Biermann-Preis for German Contemporary Photography«, Museum of Applied Arts Gera, DE, [catalogue]

Bibliography

»Kopf oder Zahl, Leipziger Gesichter und Geschichten 1858-2008«, Museum der Bildenen Künste Leipzig, Leipzig, DE; catalogue 2008
»reloaded/creative strategies on cars«, Schmuck2, Bad Doberan, DE; catalogue 2008
»Exchange: Portraits with Artists«, monograph, Fotohof Edition, Salzburg, AT, 2007
»Asia City Strangers«, Fotohof Edition, Salzburg, AT; catalogue 2006
»Artconnexions«, Goethe Institute Melbourne, AU; catalogue 2005
»European Eyes on Japan«, EU-Japan Fest Committee, Tokyo, JP; catalogue 2005
»Wrappinghood«, Middelsbrough Institute of Modern Art, UK; catalogue 2005
»Immaterieller Schmuck, Schmuck2 in cooperation with the Künstlerhaus Plüschow; Plüschow and Stadtgalerie Kiel, DE; catalogue 2004
»brillant[e]«, Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg, DE; catalogue 2004
»Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig/Academy of Visual Arts«; Institut für Buchkunst, Leipzig, DE, 2003
»Simple Beads and Cultured Seeds«, Schmuck2 in cooperation with the Künstlerhaus Plüschow, DE; catalogue 2002
»Valentina Seidel: Wanted«, Prison Torgau, DE; catalogue 2002
»Valentina Seidel: Exchange«, Kunstverein Leipzig, DE; catalogue 2001

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