Katharina Sieverding

Katharina Sieverding, born in Prague in 1944, is a German photographer. Her work consists largely of autobiographical photography and has received international acclaim for more than four decades. Her serial photographic works are an expression of reflections on her own identity as well as on the individual, incorporating themes of gender discourse, the necessity of the emancipation of the artist’s role, and current social, political, and cultural issues. After studying stage design, film, and sculpture as a student of Joseph Beuys at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Sieverding debuted at documenta in 1972, and has proceeded to take part in many national and international exhibitions since then. From 1992 to 2010 she was appointed professor at the Universität der Künste, Berlin. During these years, she has also taught at several international universities including Hochschule für Bildende Künste Hamburg, the Center for Contemporary Art in Kitakyushu, the International Summer Academy Salzburg, Atlanta Art College, Washington University, the China Academy of Arts in Hangzhou and at FAMU Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

Important solo exhibitions include the Solomon R. Guggenheim, the Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, the ICA, Boston, as well as the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, the Stedelijk Museum, Museum Folkwang, and the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. Some of Sieverding’s major group exhibitions include The Paris Biennale (1965; 1973), the Venice Biennale (1976; 1980; 1995; 1997; 1999), documenta (1972; 1977; 1982), the Shanghai Biennale (2002), as well as extensive shows at MoMA P.S.1 and Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. In 2017, the Bundeskunsthalle Bonn staged a major retrospective. In 2017, she was awarded the Käthe-Kollwitz-Preis. In 2004, Sieverding was awarded the prestigious Kaiserring of Goslar. Sieverding lives and works in Düsseldorf.