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,
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)
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)
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