The delicate large and powerful small

On the work of Christine Bachmann

The artist Christine Bachmann has an interest in motifs that at first seem to come from a personal experience but then gradually open into complex and overarching themes. Her observant eye is often unfolded into photographic series. In the process, the visual and technical conditions of photography are reflected. The results are not self-contained narratives but rather open-ended visual meditations. They materialise from the small and the large, from the transparent and the clouded, from the tangible and visible and the concealed, from light and darkness. Each of the photographs in a series stands on its own, but is also a component of an overarching essay. For example, in the project “Undine geht” (“Undine leaves”), Bachmann portrays women of various ages as nudes, in space, in nature, in the water, alluding to Ingeborg Bachmann’s 1961 story “Undine geht”. The women, with their completely everyday bodies, act with full dignity and self-assertion. Bachmann deepens the levels of time and reality by embedding her portraits into iconic depictions of femininity, creating self-determined perspectives. Another group of images explores family and German history to address memories and the past, reverberations in the present and layers of personal remembrance. One of the photographs shows Ludwig Engelhardt’s sculpture of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in Berlin, which was once part of a large ensemble of monuments. A woman is facing them, as if engaged in conversation. What remains of their ideas? A different group of photos looks at the current pandemic situation – what can be seen from a window in the big city? Do the fog and curtains of rain symbolize distance and isolation? Is the beauty of nature and everyday life being rediscovered?

Heidi Stecker, 2020

 

Christine Bachmann is a Berlin-based visual artist - photographer - writer - illustrator - musician

 

Education

2011 Master Class Prof. Arno Fischer, Ostkreuz School of Photography, Berlin
2009 Workshop Thomas Hoepker, Berlin
2007-2010 studied Photography at "Neue Schule für Fotografie", Berlin
1998-2001 German literature studies, Psychology, Musicology in Jena and Weimar

Awards/Grants

2022 Grant Käthe-Dorsch-und Agnes-Straub-Stiftung
2018 Publication grant Käthe-Dorsch-und Agnes-Straub-Stiftung
2016 Grant Käthe-Dorsch-und Agnes-Straub-Stiftung
2011 New York Photo Awards, 2nd Place Student Fine Art Image
2004 Grant Stiftung West-Östliche Begegnungen

Member
since 2024 artothek berlin 
since 2023 SALOON Berlin and Netzwerk Lyrik Berlin 
since 2022 bbk berlin

2015-2022 GEDOK BERLIN

Exhibitions (selected)
2024 Nie war sie so wertvoll wie heute - Neuzugänge der artothek berlin, Pavillon am Milchhof, Berlin
2022 Practices of Attention, L36, Art Festival Ortstermin 22, Berlin
2018 Eine Enzyklopädie des Zarten, Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin
2017 Acqua Alta, Schöneberger Art
, GEDOK Galerie, Berlin
2016 dis/appear - Photographic Materialities, GEDOK Galerie, Berlin
2016 GEDOK URBAN, Aspects of Berlin Art, Kommunale Galerie Berlin
2015 Finsternis - Eclipse, GEDOK Galerie, Berlin
2015 neu/e/zugänge, GEDOK Galerie, Berlin
2014 Fluchten - Escapes, GEDOK Galerie, Berlin
2014 2041.Endlosschleife, Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart
2014 It's your choice II, Showroom Galerie ARTAe, Leipzig, Germany
2014 Crossing the Bridge, The Photographic Salon, Picture Berlin, Lehrter 17, Berlin
2014 line.light.signs, Israel-Germany, Kunstzentrum Karlskaserne Ludwigsburg
2013 Das Antlitz!, Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Germany
2013 Waves, QQArt Galerie, Hilden, Germany
2012 Kleister Nord, Gleimtunnel, Berlin
2012 Artconnect Berlin 1.Anniversary, Berlin
2011 New York Photo Awards, Photographic Centre PERI, Turku, Finland
2011 New York Photo Festival, The Powerhouse Arena, New York City
2011 Leistungsschau, Kunsthalle am Hamburger Platz, Berlin
2010 ENDE_NEU_01102010, Neue Schule für Fotografie, Berlin
2007 Bilder aus Berlin, PHOTOPLATZ Hotel Bogota, Berlin

Publications (selected)

2018 "Undine geht", Book, self published
2017
in "Eine Enzyklopädie des Zarten", Anne Brannys, Frankfurter Verlagsanstalt
2017 in "American B", Paripé Books, Spain/Argentina
2014 in "Encyclopedia on Tenderness", Dissertation at Bauhaus University Weimar, author Anne Brannys
2014 in line.light.signs, exhibition catalogue, Art Center Karlskaserne Ludwigsburg
2013 in Poladarium 2014, published by Seltmann+Söhne
2012 in Der Greif, Issue #6
2011 in Ein Magazin über Orte /A Magazine about Places, No.9 - Berlin


selected Online Publications & Features
Conscientious - J.M. Colberg, Der Greif - Guest Room - Joerg Colberg, see-zeen magazine, Fatal Flaw Magazine, dieNacht - Magazin, The Sonic Blog, C 41 Magazine, kwerfeldein - Magazin, F-STOP Magazine, Camera Obscura, Artconnect Berlin

Collections
Photo Library Kunsthalle Turku, Finland

Screenings
2008 KINOKI, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2006 die naTo, Leipzig, Germany
2006 Young Theatre Goettingen, Germany