JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

Introduction
Jens Sundheim, born 1970 in Germany, living in Dortmund, Germany

Biography
Jens Sundheim studied Photography in Dortmund and Exeter, England. He attended the master course Arno
Fischer at Ostkreuzschule Berlin in 2010 and recieved his MA Photography at HAW Hamburg in 2013.
Sundheim is chairman of Künstlerhaus Dortmund artist association since 2019. Also since 2019 he has a teachingposition at the Technical University of Dortmund, Department for Art and Art Science.
Sundheim's work has been shown in exhibitions and festivals worldwide including Rencontres d'Arles
Photographie, Triennale der Photographie Hamburg, Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Fotomuseum Antwerp, Tokyo
Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Singapore Photography Festival, Catherine Edelman Gallery Chicago,
NCCA Moscow and apexart New York. In 2022 he had a solo exhibition at KIKA Gallery in Kyoto, Japan.
For his work Sundheim received several awards including grants by various foundations, the state of NRW andGoethe-Insitute Moscow. In 2021 he was awarded NRW CityArtist. His work is part of puclic collections such asMuseum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, The New York Public Library, Ruhr Museum Essen and NordicoMuseum Linz.
Jens Sundheim's works have been published widely as well as being the topic of artistic and academic research.

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

Artist Statement
Photography has something magical for me.
Growing up amidst the technology and space boom of the 1980s, I bought my own computer when I was 12.
The screen became a window into a world of new, fantastic and hardly imaginable possibilities. Later, during mystudies of computer science, I got more intensively in touch with photography – and soon I realized: I am much
more interested in looking into the viewfinder of the camera. To look not only at the virtual space beyond ascreen, but at the real, existing world in front of my eyes – and to take photographs. The viewfinder of the camera
became my new window into a world of magical possibilities.
Searching, researching, collecting, I explore my living environment with the camera. Sometimes more
documentary, sometimes more conceptual in approach, the camera serves me as an instrument of reassurance.
Of my environment, of my fellows, and ultimately also of myself.
Webcams and their automatically generated imagery hold great fascination for me. In conceptual, mostly longterm projects, I examine the use, significance and aesthetics of the images produced and negotiate the utopian
potential of these devices as a worldwide and (almost) universal photography machine, but also as an instrumentof control and surveillance.
My documentary-oriented works often have a proximity to scientific-technological themes and examine futurerelated places such as masterplanned cities, universities or futuristic-looking landscapes.

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

About the work
»Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«C-prints, 40x40 cm / 60x60 cm / 100x100 cm, artist book

Scientists aim to gain knowledge and deepen our understanding of the world.
Just as science, photography offers a tool to explore the world. A tool considered as non-judgemental andtherefore close to a neutral scientific approach. Photography renders things visible – it shows what has occured in
front of the camera. French philosopher Roland Barthes phrased it for all time: that has been.
The work depicts the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, a complex built in the 1960s following ideas of the1920s area of modernism. It was once referred to as »the university of the future«, designed for an extensive andall-encompassing knowledge transfer.
Feeling like an explorer myself I examined the university grounds, using my camera as a scientific instrument.
Starting outside I gradually worked myself in, passing lecture halls, libraries, and numerous laboratories andscientific areas, including the Botanical Garden constructed for research.
The work approaches the complexity of human knowledge and traces its visibility. Reoccurring geometric forms
hint at the multi-layered interaction of natural and cultural spheres in scientific research.
The series is enriched by studio images of scientific models I encountered in various faculty archives. Thesemodels aim to visualize and impart knowledge gained so far.

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

NA 02/93
from »Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«, C-Print, 100x100 cm

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

MABF 0/582
from »Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«, C-Print, 100x100 cm

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

Campus NAfrom »Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«, C-Print, 100x100 cm

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

NS 18from »Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«, C-Print, 60x60 cm

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

RUB 01from »Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«, C-Print, 100x100 cm

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

Tropical Greenhousefrom »Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«, C-Print, 100x100 cm

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

NC 03/99
from »Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«, C-Print, 100x100 cm

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

HZO 01from »Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«, C-Print, 100x100 cm

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

BM 7801
from »Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«, C-Print, 60x60 cm

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

Chinese Garden
from »Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons«, C-Print, 100x100 cm

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIEtel. +49 231 1304 8026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de
CVJens Sundheim, born 1970 in Germany. Lives and works in Dortmund, Germany
Awards & Grants
20222022

NRW artist grant
Förderkorb artist grant

2022
2022

Georg Koppmann Prize, nomination
Songs of Concrete project grant

2021
2021

CityArtist 2021 award
VG Bildkunst artist grant

2021
2020
2020
2019
2017
2015
2014
2012
20112010
2009
2007
2007
2006
2006
2005

NRW artist grant
NRW artist grant
Förderkorb artist grant
Kolga Tbilisi Photo Award, shortlisted
PhotoIreland Festival, exhibition award
LWL Gotland scholarship and artist residency
Plat(t)form, Fotomuseum Winterthur, nomination
Grant, Goethe-Institut Moscow
Grant, Kulturstiftung Sparkasse Unna
DEW21 art prize, finalist
Grant and artist residency, Atelierhaus Salzamt, Linz AT
Photo España Descubrimientos Award, nomination
BFF Trend Award, winner
Japan Media Arts Festival, jury recommendation
Fotoprojekt Emscher Zukunft, winner
Backlight Award, nomination

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2022
Shadows of a Distant Truth, KIKA Gallery, Kyoto JP
2018
The Traveller, Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago US
2017
Of Ants and Star Polyhedrons, PhotoIreland Festival, Dublin IE
2016
Wandel, with Dagmar Lippok, Osthaus Museum Hagen2015
Westfalenstipendiat 2015, Gocart Gallery, Visby SE
2013
Vom Zustand der Menschen und dem Leben auf dem Mars, Museum für Kunst
und Kulturgeschichte, Dortmund
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022
Blickfelder, Museum Schloss Moyland, Kleve
2022
Team Super, with Dagmar Lippok, Osthaus Museum Hagen
2021
Mãn Nhãn/Voyeuristic, Goethe-Institut Hanoi VN
2021
Mensch Arno, siehste ..!, Treptow Ateliers, Berlin
2020
NewMediaFest 2020, online

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIEtel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de
2019
2018

Kolga Photo Festival, Tiflis, Georgia
Tiamat – All These Worlds Are Yours Exept Earth, 7 Mallory St, Hong Kong

2018
2017

Stadtoasen, Nordico Museum, Linz AT
STARS – Cosmic Art from 1900 up to the Present, Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz AT2017
2016

Landscapes: New vision through multiple windows, Japan Media Arts Festival, Singapore
Absence of Logic, Despacio, San José, Costa Rica

2016
2016

Expanding Photography, Galerija Meno Parkas, Kaunas LT
The end of privacy, Frascati Theater, Amsterdam NL

2015
2015

Public Eye: 175 Years of Sharing Photography, The New York Public Library US(No) Privacy, Fotodok, Utrecht NL

2015
2015
2015
2014
2014
2014
2013
2013
2013
2013
2013
2012
2012
2011
2011
20112010
2010
2010
2010
2010
2009
2009
2009
2009
2009
2008
2008
2007
2006
2006
2006

Profiled: Surveillance of a Sharing Society, apexart, New York City US
Surveillance Blind, Goethe-Institut Washington US
When We Share More Than Ever, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
An Ocean of Possibilities, Singapore International Photography Festival
An Ocean of Possibilities, Noorderlicht Photofestival, Fries Museum, Leeuwarden NL
Photographing the Future, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
40x50x60, aff Galerie, Berlin
Concrete Poetry, Kunstmuseum Bochum
Photographing the Future, Museum Erarta, Sankt Petersburg RU
From Here On, Arts Santa Monica, Barcelona ES
Photographing the Future, National Center for Contemporary Arts, Moscow RU
From Here On, Fotomuseum, Antwerp BE
Visions of Media Art: The Mechanical Eye, Medienwerkstatt Wien, Vienna AT
Trophäen, Nordico Museum, Linz AT
From Here On, Rencontres d'Arles Photographie, Arles F
Landscaping, European Month of Photography Luxembourg, Clervaux LU
DEW21 Kunstpreis, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Dortmund
Landpartie, Kunstmuseum Ahlen
Duets and Duels, National M.K.Ciurlionis Art Museum, Kaunas LTNO ISBN, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig
History and Culture of the Ruhr Area, permanent exhibition, Ruhr Museum, Essen
space shuttle 2.0, Fotogalerie, Vienna AT
The Pursuit of Happiness, Noorderlicht Photofestival, Groningen NL
Kaunas Photo Festival, Kaunas LT
International Photobook Festival, Kassel
Vision – Aussicht aufs Leben, Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie, Darmstadt
Glamour and Globalization, Progr, Bern CHtransmediale.08 festival for art and digital culture, Berlin
Photo España Descubrimientos Award, Museo de Arte Comtemporáneo, Madrid ES
Glamour and Globalization, Hartware MedienKunstVerein, DortmundTravelling New Territories, Zurich CH
Japan Media Arts Festival, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography, Tokyo JP

JENS SUNDHEIM FOTOGRAFIE

Sunderweg 1
D - 44147 Dortmund
tel. +49 231 13048026
mob. +49 179 4931754
www.jens-sundheim.de
mail@jens-sundheim.de

Teaching, Talks & Lectures
2022
Teaching assignment Experimental Photography, Department for Art and Art Science,
2021

TU Dortmund University
Teaching assignment, Department for Art and Art Science, TU Dortmund University

2021
2020

Guest Lectures, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Dortmund
Artist Talk, GPS lecture series: The Traveller, Hanover

2019
2018

Teaching assignment, Department for Art and Art Science, TU Dortmund University
Tiamat Artist Talk, 7 Mallory St, Hong Kong

2017
Artist Talk, PhotoIreland Festival, Marsh's Library, Dublin IR
2016
Artist Talk, Frascati Issues: The end of privacy, Frascati Theater, Amsterdam NL
2015
Data Gathering: A Public Conversation, apexart, New York US
2013
Future, panel discussion and workshop, Siberian Centre for Contemporary Arts, Novosibirsk RU
2013
Life on Mars, Museum für Kunst und Kulturgeschichte Dortmund
201118³Fotoshow,Dock18,ZurichCH
2009
The Traveller, live performance, Dock18, Zurich CH
2006
Darmstädter Tage der Fotografie Festival, Darmstadt
2005
Backlight Festival, Tampere FI
Education
2013
2010
2002
1997
1990–94

MA Photography, HAW Hamburg
Masterclass Arno Fischer, Ostkreuzschule, Berlin
Diploma Photography, University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Dortmund
Erasmus scholarship, University of Plymouth, Exeter, EnglandComputer Science, Dortmund University

Other Activities
member of Kuenstlerhaus Dortmund artist association, Chairman since 2019
member of Westdeutscher Künstlerbund artist association
Works in Collections
The New York Public LibraryMuseum für Kunst und Gewerbe HamburgNordico Museum, Linz
Ruhr Museum, Essen
Gotlands art collection, Visby SE
Kulturstiftung Sparkasse Unna