# Elias Wessel

Elias Wessel (born 1978) is a visual artist living and working in New York and Germany.

## Early life

Wessel was born in Bonn, West Germany in 1978.

## Education

* 1999–2000 University of Heidelberg; Art History
* 2000–2003 University of Mannheim – Faculty for Art and Design; Visual Communication
* 2003–2007 University of Art and Design, Offenbach am Main; Fine Art Photography, Theory of Perception, History and Theory of Visual Communication

## About

Elias Wessel is committed to developing photographic concepts and procedures which culminate in abstract images that reflect contemporary discourses within society. The works function as both a contribution to the issues of social and political development and the historical conversation between photography and painting.

## Solo exhibitions (selected)

* Elias Wessel: Delirious Images – Fotografien für die nächste Gesellschaft. Kunstsammlung im Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin, March 4–May 7, 2023.
* Elias Wessel—It’s Complicated, Is Possibly Art. 1014, New York, September 7–23, 2022.
* Elias Wessel – I Don’t Care. I Love my Phone. Kunstsammlung SAP, Walldorf, January 28, 2021 – April 30, 2022.
* Elias Wessel : La somme de mes données. Palais Beauharnais, Paris, January 28–December 28, 2020.
* Elias Wessel: Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität [The Sum of My Data. Digitization, Surveillance, Identity]. Kunstverein Speyer, December 2, 2018 – January 13, 2019.
* Werke aus »Die Summe meiner Daten« [Selected Works From ›The Sum of My Data‹]. Internationale Photoszene-Festival Köln, Kunstraum Ruttkowski, Cologne, September 1–30, 2018.
* In The End, Though, Nothing Is Lost. Deutsches Haus at New York University, NYU Arts & Science, New York, April 6–May 26, 2018.
* Sprung in die Zeit [Leap into Time]. No Cube – Raum für Kunst und Medien, Münster, February 18–March 25, 2018.
* Elias Wessel: Die Summe meiner Daten [The Sum of My Data] – B/W Series. Baustelle Schaustelle, Essen, January 12–February 25, 2018.
* Elias Wessel: History of Touches. Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, New York, November 10–December 15, 2017.
* Die Geschichte vom Vergessenen [The Story of The Forgotton]. Heinrich-Hoffmann Museum, Frankfurt am Main, February 24–July 19, 2017.
* Sprung in die Zeit – Zum Wesen der Bilder [Leap into Time – On the Essence of Images]. Raum für Kunst und Gegenwart, Ansbach, December 19, 2016 – February 26, 2017.
* Elias Wessel: Stuck Together Pieces! 1014, New York, November 2, 2016 – May 31, 2017.
* Spuren der Wirklichkeit [Traces of Reality]. Goethe-Institut, Frankfurt am Main, August 5–October 5, 2016.
* Landscapes. Künstlerbund Speyer, April 17–26, 2015.
* Elias Wessel: There Must Be More To Life. Art Directors Club, New York, September 2012.

## Group exhibitions (selected)

* zu mir und zu dir. Franz Jyrch, Maria Sainz Rueda, Elias Wessel; Former Synagogue Walldorf, June 25–July 24, 2022.
* Das Objekt im Fokus [Eyes on the Object.] Karl Blossfeldt, Alfred Ehrhardt, Walker Evans, Candida Höfer, Günther Selichar, Josef Sudek, Michael Wesely, Elias Wessel, Edward Weston, Erwin Wurm and others; SpallArt Collection, Salzburg, August 1, 2020 – May 7, 2022.
* Objects. Stories. Experiences: Extraordinary Things. Assembly Required, Brooklyn, NY, October 2–30, 2021.
* Ich bin ganz von Glas – Marianne Brandt und die gläserne Kunst von heute [I Am All of Glass – Marianne Brandt & the Art of Glass Today.] Sächsisches Industriemuseum Chemnitz, September 28–December 1, 2019.
* Works from the AXA Art Collection – Adolf Luther, Günther Uecker, Elias Wessel. Art Basel, Basel, March 29–31, 2018.
* Photo – BauSchau Projekte 2007–2018. Düsseldorf Photo 2018 at Baustelle Schaustelle, Düsseldorf, February 16–25, 2018.
* Grieger Relaunch. Thomas Demand, Andreas Gursky, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, Damien Hirst, Elias Wessel and others; NRW Forum Düsseldorf, November 28–December 4, 2017.
* Doll Parts. Leslie Lohman Museum, New York, May 18, 2017.
* Wiesinger, Stünkel, Wessel: Sichtbarkeiten [Visibilities.] Museum Heylshof and Museum Andreasstift, Worms, August 2–September 27, 2015.
* Freistil – Ein transatlantischer Blick [Freestyle. A Transatlantic Perspective.] Kunstverein Speyer, May 10–June 7, 2015.
* IV International Artists in Residence. Exhibition Hall of the Art Fund, Kursk, September 24–November 24, 2014.
* Being Changed – A Group Exhibition of International Contemporary Art. MoCA – Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, March 8–April 14, 2013.
* Sagmeister. Another Show About Promotion and Advertising Material. Sejong Museum of Art, Seoul, September 22–November 25, 2012.
* Art from the Heart. Vanderbuilt Republic, 25CPW, Central Park West, New York, November 2011

## Publications (selected)

* Wessel, Elias (2023): Ästhetik des Konflikts [Aesthetics of Conflict]. Dortmund: Verlag Kettler. ISBN 978-3-98741-044-4.
* Robinson, Carl et al. (2022): Painting, Photography, and the Digital: Crossing the Borders of the Mediums. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 1-5275-8917-X
* Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texte aus einem a/sozialen Netzwerk 2019–2021. Ist möglicherweise Kunst [Textfetzen. It's Complicated: Texts From an Anti/Social Network 2019–2021. Is Possibly Art.] Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos. ISBN 978-3-86599-527-8
* Wessel, Elias / Berg, Stephan / Graser, Jenny (2020): Elias Wessel : La somme de mes données. Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Paris (ed.), Berlin-Paris: Phoebe Verlag. ISBN 978-3-00-064672-0.
* Wessel, Elias / Graser, Jenny (2018): EliasWessel. Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität [The Sum of My Data. Digitization, Surveillance, Identity.] Kunstverein Speyer e. V. (ed.), New York-Speyer: Phoebe. ISBN 978-3-00-061315-9.
* Wessel, Elias et al. (2018): Landscapes – In the end, though, nothing is lost. Deutsches Haus at New York University, NYU Arts & Science (ed.), New York: Phoebe. ISBN 978-3-00-059460-1.
* Wessel, Elias / Gisbourne, Mark (2017): Elias Wessel. Photographische Arbeiten aus den Jahren 2014–2017 [Photographic Works Between the Years 2014–2017.] 1014 and Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany New York (ed.), New York: Phoebe. ISBN 978-3-00-057962-2.
* Wessel, Elias / Oreamuno, Ignacio / Dailey, Meghan (2014): Elias Wessel: There Must Be More To Life. Hamburg: NBVD 2014. ISBN 978-3-939028-40-6.

## Essays (selected)

* Neuberger, Christoph (2022): »The Way Back From the Digital to the Analog: On Elias Wessel’s ›Textfetzen.‹« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texte aus einem a/sozialen Netzwerk 2019−2021. Ist möglicherweise Kunst [Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texts From an Anti/Social Network 2019–2021. Is Possibly Art.] Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos.
* Gelfert, Axel (2022): »The Newsfeed as an Algorithmic Palimpsest.« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texte aus einem a/sozialen Netzwerk 2019−2021. Ist möglicherweise Kunst [Textfetzen. It's Complicated: Texts From an Anti/Social Network 2019–2021. Is Possibly Art.] Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos.
* Hermann von, Hans-Christian (2022): »Unsubstantiated Presence – Can Elias Wessel’s ›Textfetzen‹ Be Read?« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texte aus einem a/sozialen Netzwerk 2019−2021. Ist möglicherweise Kunst [Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texts From an Anti/Social Network 2019–2021. Is Possibly Art.] Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos.
* Brenne, Andreas (2021): »Photographs for the Next Society.« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Ästhetik des Konflikts. Arbeiten aus den Jahren 2017–2021 [Aesthetics of Conflict. Works 2017–2021.] Dortmund: Kettler Verlag.
* Herschel, Hans-Jürgen (2021): »Variations on ›The Joy in What Remains.‹« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Ästhetik des Konflikts. Arbeiten aus den Jahren 2017–2021 [Aesthetics of Conflict. Works 2017–2021.] Dortmund: Kettler Verlag.
* Kopplin, Bärbel (2021): »Fotografie als Versuchsanordnung und Denkprozess.«
* Guerin, Frances (2021): »Unsettled in the Interstice: Elias Wessel’s ›Die Summe meiner Daten.‹« In: Robinson, Carl (2022): Painting, Photography, and the Digital: Crossing the Borders of the Mediums. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
* Wolff, Frank (2020): »Beyond the Digital Promise: Virtual Communities and Democracy in Recent Contemporary History.« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Ästhetik des Konflikts. Arbeiten aus den Jahren 2017–2021 [Aesthetics of Conflict. Works 2017–2021.] Dortmund: Kettler Verlag.
* Berg, Stephan (2020): »The Trace of the Body« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2020): Elias Wessel : La somme de mes données. Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Paris (ed.), Berlin-Paris: Phoebe Verlag.
* Graser, Jenny (2018): »Abstrakte Realitäten. EliasWessel – ›Die Summe meiner Daten.‹« In: Wessel, Elias / Graser, Jenny (2018): Elias Wessel. Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität. Kunstverein Speyer e. V. (ed.), New York-Speyer: Phoebe Verlag.
* Schoen, Christian (2017): »Sprung in die Zeit. Anmerkungen zum Wesen der Bilder.«
* Wolff, Frank (2017): »The soothing power of speed: Elias Wessel’s Landscapes in the cultural history of Russian space perception« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2018): Landscapes – In the end, though, nothing is lost. Deutsches Haus at New York University, NYU Arts & Science (ed.), New York: Phoebe.
* Gisbourne, Mark (2017): »Visions of Synthesis. The Photography of Elias Wessel.« In: Wessel, Elias / Gisbourne, Mark (2017): Photographische Arbeiten aus den Jahren 2014–2017 [Photographic Works Between the Years 2014–2017.] New York: Phoebe Verlag 2017.
* Graser, Jenny (2015): »The ›Landscapes I-VII‹ (2014) By Elias Wessel – ›In the End,Though, Nothing Is Lost.‹« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2018): Landscapes – In the end, though, nothing is lost. Deutsches Haus at New York University, NYU Arts & Science (ed.), New York: Phoebe Verlag.

## Collections (selected)

* Kunstsammlung des Deutschen Bundestages, Berlin (2020)
* Kunstsammlung Spallart, Salzburg (2019, 2021)
* Kunstsammlung AXA, Cologne (2015, 2021)

## Selected works

* Textfetzen, 2021–2022
* Deepfakes – Privacy, 2022
* Ereignishorizonte, 2021
* Quick Response, 2021
* Schöne neue Welt – The Moving Images, 2020–2021
* Schöne neue Welt, 2019–2020
* It's Complicated, 2019–2021
* Images Through an Algorithmic Lens, 2018–2019
* Die Freude am Rest – Zur Entmaterialisierung der Bilder, 2018
* Die Summe meiner Daten – On Series, 2017
* Die Summe meiner Daten – B/W Series, 2017
* Die Summe meiner Daten – Off Series, 2017
* Hinter den Dingen, 2017
* Jejune, 2016
* Liebst, 2016
* Feral, 2015–2016
* Cityscapes, 2014–2015
* Landscapes, 2014
* Sprung in die Zeit, 2014