Sebastian Klug (* 1981 in Munich) is a photographer and visual artist based in Berlin. His practice spans between photography, sculptures and installations. He started using photography whilst studying architecture, documenting his view on Berlin's vibrant night life with a Nokia 6300 mobile phone camera in low light levels. The atmospheric visual diary that mixes the grain, noise and strange colors of his phone’s pictures with that of his nocturnal encounters was chosen as a highlight at the European Month of Photography Festival in Berlin in 2010 and shown across venues in various cities including Venice, London, Istanbul, Copenhagen and Helsinki.
As a trained architect, he seeks to combine his passion for photography with that for spatial thinking. He started working on a series of woven objects by cutting and interweaving two prints of a photograph in 2012. These hybrid compositions emphasize the material qualities of the image carrier and play with optical distortions. Manually produced pixels, the three dimensional structure and haptic features of the applied materials form an indivisible, multi-sensory entity. Through experimenting with a range of techniques, formats and materials, his work gains more and more sculptural qualities and develops continuously into space. In 2021 he is invited by MUCA Munich to create an immersive, site specific installation forKUNSTLABOR 2. In the result, a wave-like all-enclosing structure of photo strips in deep blue form a unique environment and recall underwater-cave formations or space photography.
Following this new experience, Klug shifted his focus from the production of wall pieces towards the creation of fully immersive installations and environments. He experiments with moving installations, free-standing sculptures and walk-in spaces that re-bond with his desire to create spatial experiences. In a parallel movement, he begins to use images from research on specific topics. Using imagery from social media about body transformation for the free shaped "Skinny Guys" - series opens a conceptual frame of reference. While cutting and stapling are technical analogies to cosmetic surgery, the idea of the free malleability of our bodies is transferred into the meandering coils of the found images that have become physical working material. By cutting off parts of images in which SUVs are staged as lifestyle objects in front of wild nature, he finds the sculptural form of the kinetic installation "Schöne Welt". In the walk-in installation "Fuji San” it is the famous Japanese mountain that, by cutting off parts of the images, is transformed into a hollow space, while random and kitschy elements of the photographs posted online by tourists are at center of the work.
His recent works have been shown at Freundeskreis Willy-Brandt-Haus in Berlin, Photoszene Festival Cologne, Artspace Bremerhaven, Feel Festival and Schlosskirche Rumpenheim. He has been featured as "Artist Quarterly" at Sotheby's Munich in 2019, was nominated for "Preis der Nationalgalerie" in 2021 and is awarded with "Rumpenheimer Kunstpreis DIANA" in 2023.
CV
Born 1981 in Munich
2002-10 Architecture Studies at TU Cottbus (Diploma with Prof. B. Schuster, Vordiplom: Prof. A. Oestreich)
2004-05 Erasmus Year at IUAV Venice (project with Prof. F. Venezia, stage design with Prof. M. Palli)
2006-07 Free-Mover Semester at ETSA Granada, Spain
2016-17 Photography Studies at Neue Schule für Fotografie, Berlin
Selected Solo/Duo Shows
2023 Himmelszelt, installation, Schlosskirche Rumpenheim, Offenbach
2023 Materealities, with Antonia Gruber, Freundeskreis Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin & Photoszene Festival, Cologne
2022 Werkschau, KUNSTLABOR 2, Munich,13. - 23.10.
2022 Don't look know, A voyeuristic view, with Nadja Lana, curated by Suzy Royal, Gallery N° 10, Berlin, 8.4. - 20.5.
2021 Polyflowers//Technocolor, with Vanessa Leissring, Photoszene United Festival, Cologne, 25.5. - 14.8.
2020 Photographic Landscapes, European Month of Photograph Berlin, Mainoeuvre, Berlin, 1.10. - 8.11.
2020 Fragmented Realities, with Markus J. Becker, Andreas Reinisch Project, Berlin, 10.9. - 15.10.
2019 Interwoven, Artist Quarterly, Sotheby's Munich, 4.7. - 29.9.
2018 Blue Memories, Monat der Fotografie Off, Bernheimer Contemporary, Berlin 18.10.-18.11.
2016 Diese Ausstellung, Münchner Kammerspiele (Tamtam Bar), 26.10. - 3.11.
2015 Sleepers, Giftraum, Berlin, 13. - 15.2.
2014 O du mein holder Abendstern, Team Titanic, Berlin, 7. - 10.1.
2013 Nattens Møder i Berlin, Mellemrummet, Copenhagen, 1.8. - 30.9.
2013 Dissolutions, Factory Street Gallery, Helsinki, 24.5. - 8.6.
2010 Durch die Nacht, European Month of Photography (highlight), Galerie Ina Köhler, Berlin. 16.10. - 10.1.11
Selected Group Shows/Other Participations
2023 Darkness Falls, group show, Glasgow Gallery of Photography
2023 Weite Felder, group show, Kunstgut Krahne/ Kloster Lehnin
2023 Keep Your Eyes Peeled, group show, AFF Galerie, Berlin
2023 Hdden Message, group show, Glue Berlin
2023 Feel Festival, installation, Bergheider See, Lichterfeld-Schacksdorf
2022 Artspace Bremerhaven, festival, Die Alte Bürger, Bremerhaven, 27. - 28.8.
2022 Damnatio Memoriae, group show by Hvallo Collective, Gefängnis am Amtsgericht Köpenick, Berlin, 18. - 25.6.
2022 Bauwende Festival (Architects4Future Berlin), site specific installation, Atelier Gardens, Berlin 26. - 29.5.
2022 Mindscape, with Yvonne Andreini, Maike Freese, Anne Cécile Surga, Emeli Theander, Manuela Toselli,
curated by Luisa Catucci and Suzy Royal, Studio Y. Andreini Berlin ,14. - 29.5.
2021 KUNSTLABOR 2, Museum of Urban and Contemporary Art Munich, room installation, Munich, 16.10. - now
2021 Widerschein, kinetic installation as part of Tag des Offenen Denkmals, KUKUK Berlin, Berlin 11. - 12.9.
2021 Photoscenes, Flies and other Dots (Direkte Auktion), group show and auction, Pirol Studios, Berlin, 31.8. - 3.9.
2019 Stadtansichten in zeitgenössischer Malerei, Grafik und Fotografie, Klostergalerie Hochfranken, Hof, 29.4. - 29.9.
2019 Other Identity - altre forme di identità culturali e pubbliche, Guidi & Schoen, Genoa, 9. -29.3.
2018 Ansbach Contemporary 2018, biennial for contemporary art, Ansbach (Bavaria), 17.8. - 30.9.
2018 Here3, Cavallerizza Irreale, Turin, 18. - 27.5.
2018 Wonderland, Bernheimer Contemporary, Berlin, 24.4. - 2.6.
2017 Streamflow, with Alex Deubl and Cristiano Tassinari, Bernheimer Contemporary, Berlin, 17.10. - 30.11.
2017 A Contemporary Show, Conception Arts, Dovetail Brewery, Chicago, 21. - 23.10.
2017 Weinonsten, curated by Sandra Schlipkoeter and Ellen DeLaine, Hilbertraum, Berlin, 12. - 21.5.
2017 Art Karlsruhe, art fair, Karlsruhe, 16. - 19.2.
2016 When did we stop playing?, Anna Laudel Contemporary, Istanbul, 16.12. - 12.2.17
2016 Berlin Art Week Exhibition, Enter Art Foundation, Berlin, 14. - 25.9.
2016 Borders + Cities Skin, Venice Art House, Venice, 28.5. - 28.7.
2016 Other Identity, Loggia della Mercanzia, Genoa, 6.2. - 7.3.
