Ulla von Brandenburg at Pérez Art Museum Miami

Alluding to diverse histories rooted in Western traditions, Ulla von Brandenburg (b. 1974, Karlsruhe, Germany; lives in Paris) makes films, drawings, performances, wall paintings, and installations to create multilayered narratives. Her work often references late 19th century expressionist theater, magic, occultism, pre-Freudian psychoanalysis, color theory, and early 20th century Hollywood cinema to investigate how these “pre-archaic” forms relate to modern-day social norms. She creates her own visual vocabulary, combining a range of media to make immersive installations that reconsider contemporary collective experiences. Von Brandenburg often uses the motif of the theater curtain—a threshold between reality and artifice—interpreted as a tool to challenge the relationship between actors, audience, and the stage. She is also interested in the study of European carnival as a legitimate form of social transgression when individuals employ the notion of mask to explore alternative identities. Engaging with popular customs, von Brandenburg’s work takes the viewer to the space that separates reality and imagination, where time is insignificant, prompting new collective associations. At PAMM, the artist will produce a large-scale installation at the museum’s double height project gallery. Project Gallery: Ulla von Brandenburg is curated by María Elena Ortiz, Assistant Curator, at PAMM.

Ulla von Brandenburg studied Scenography and Media Art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Karlsruhe, and fine art at the Academy of Fine Arts, Hamburg. Recent solo exhibitions of her work have been presented at Secession, Vienna; Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich; ACCA, Melbourne; La Fondrerie Darling, Montreal; Kasseler Kunsteverein, Kassel; Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; Kunsthaus, Hamburg; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin; Palais de Tokyo, Paris; and CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco. Significant group exhibitions have presented in venues including Performa 15, New York; Musée National d’art Modern/Centre Pompidou, Paris; MAMCO, Geneva; 19th Biennale of Sidney; CAC, Vilnius; Witte de With, Rotterdam; 11th Biennale of Lyon; Schrin Kunsthalle, Frankurt; Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit; 53rd Venice Biennale; ICA, Boston, and Tate Modern, London. Her work belongs to several prestigious collections such as the Musée National d’art Modern/Centre Pompidou, Paris; Tate Modern, London; Kunsthalle of Hamburg; Musée National d’art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva, among others. She lives and works in Paris.