The delicate large and powerful small
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 (*1979) 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, c/o berlin
2007-2010
studied Photography at "Neue Schule für Fotografie",
Berlin
1998-2001
German literature studies, Psychology, Musicology in Jena and
Weimar
Online courses
2025
Doris Dörrie, Evening Pages, Literaturhaus
München,
2024 Doris
Dörrie, Evening Pages: Mitbringsel, Literaturhaus
München
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)
2025
Studioausstellung artothek berlin, Kunststation
Kleinsassen
2024 Werke der artothek Berlin, Kulturzentrum
Peter Edel, Berlin
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)
2025 freebadboy
ep, music album, self published
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
Private collections
Screenings
2008
KINOKI, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
2006 die
naTo, Leipzig, Germany
2006 Young
Theatre Goettingen, Germany