Ulla von Brandenburg
Ulla von Brandenburg’s work develops itself in a variety of mediums and forms, on different scales and with the help of various media: films, performances, installations and objects, music, drawings … If the ensemble draws inspiration from literature, art history and film, architecture and theater, it is a large and complex work that Ulla von Brandenburg builds, bringing human crafts and practices at the center. Showing great interest in popular ceremonies, minority societies and the subject of ritual in general, Ulla von Brandenburg creates images which gradually distance themselves from reality and shift our expectations. Abstraction, collage, colorimetry, psychoanalysis, bodily and costume patterns, gesture as form are all research sources from which the artist nourishes her work. Her immersive and labyrinthine installations made of fabric, her upside-down architectures and workable wooden structures are designed as watching apparatuses for her films. Ulla von Brandenburg considers the viewer as an actor of the work, someone who takes part in its creation. As testify her Tableaux vivants – that have become moving and dancing performances – her collection of fabric and quilts, the hand-made fabrication of color dyes and painted curtains, had-crafted objects etc.
Born in 1974 in Karlsruhe, Ulla von Brandenburg lives and works in Paris. Her work is included in many French and international collections, including the Musée National d’Art Moderne / Centre Pompidou (Paris), Tate Modern (London), Kunsthalle Hamburg, and Mamco, Geneva. Recently, several exhibitions have been dedicated to her: Manchmal Ja, manchmal Nein, Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (2016), 24 Filme, kein Schnitt, Mamco, Geneva (2014), Innen ist nicht Aussen, Secession, Vienna (2013) and Die Straße, Art: Concept, Paris (2013). In 2015-2016, her performance Sink Down Mountain, Valley Rise Up scheduled during Performa 15 (New York), at The Common Guild (Glasgow) and at the Kaaitheater (Brussels ) was critically acclaimed. She is represented by Art : Concept, Paris; Pilar Corrias, London; Produzentengalerie, Hamburg.