Astrid Busch
Astrid Busch was born in Krefeld in 1968 and lives in Berlin and Düsseldorf. She studied fine art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Nuremberg and at the Berlin Weißensee School of Art, most recently as a master student of Prof. Katharina Grosse.
Astrid Busch's work includes installations, photographs, works on paper, objects and moving images. The artist deals with various aspects of photography. Her works refer to found and self-created images that she collects, rephotographs and transforms from specific locations. She often condenses her material into spatial image arrangements, which ultimately result in photographs under complex lighting conditions, which she translates into space on various image carriers or further develops them as sculptures. By folding, bending or even crumpling, each of her works has its own sound. Through this sculptural intervention, the work gains three-dimensionality and can now take up space.
Some of her new motifs were created by overlaying structures created with artificial intelligence.
In the series “Mapping Mysteries” and “Sea Territories” the artist expands her preoccupation with ports and container shipping worldwide and the increasing traffic at sea. She develops fictional territories, self-composed areas that are reminiscent of maps, water maps, paths and borders, but are also open to freely composed, painterly images that, contrary to the character of territories, suggest an openness.
In the new series “Honeytrap” she continues the theme of the “Sea Territories” series in an even freer implementation: lines, paths and structures are condensed into map-like compositions. The works invite encounters with unknown spheres in which deception and reality subtly merge. The works capture fleeting moments that evoke unexpected associations. Our perception of space and time is questioned. The artist combines different media and time levels, creating a dense network of references and a variety of possible interpretations.
“Honeytraps” are tactics often used by intelligence or security services to manipulate or blackmail targets through romantic or sexual seduction. This is a covert form of deception to gain information or compromise people. In relation to her works, the artist points out a level of deception or hidden messages and enigmatic symbols that may lead us on the wrong track or distract/irritate the viewer's thinking.
The motifs are based on compositions that combine your own photographic images with AI-generated shapes and structures. The connection between images generated by an AI image generator and your own photographic images enter into an exciting dialogue. Painterly interventions are integrated into the creation process. Here too, photography is brought close to painting, drawing and objects.
Born 1968 in Krefeld. Lives and works in Berlin.
| 2003 | Master class with Prof. Katharina Grosse |
| 2000-2002 | Diploma Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee, Germany |
| 1996-2000 | Akademie der bildenden Künste Nuremberg, Germany |
| 1990-1993 | Trained as a carpenter, Dusseldorf, Germany |
Grants and residencies
| 2023 | Working Grant „Neustartplus“, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn |
| 2022 | Grant by BBK Bundesverband Berlin for innovative art project Working Grant „Neustart Kultur“, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn Nominee for contemporary talents competition, Fondation Francois Schneider, France |
| 2021 | Paper Art Award (silver), Haus des Papiers, Berlin Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, New York INITIAL Special Grant, Akademie der Künste, Berlin Artist in Residence, Museum Kunst der Westküste, Föhr, Germany Cultural exchange stipend for Istanbul of the Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Berlin |
| 2020 | Working Grant „Neustart Kultur“, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn Residency scholarship, Kunstdepot Göschenen, Switzerland Cultural exchange stipend for Brasilia of the Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Berlin Production Grant, Paper Residency, Berlin |
| 2019 | Project Grant, Kunststiftung NRW Project Grant, Erwin und Gisela von Steiner Stiftung, Munich, Germany Artist in Residence, State Silk Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia Nominee for art award of Haus am Kleistpark |
| 2018 | Residency scholarship, Cultural Center “Fort!”, Le Havre, France |
| 2017 | Residency scholarship, Frauenkulturbüros NRW for Yerevan (Armenia) and Tiblisi (Georgia) Residency scholarship, Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen, Germany Artist in residence, Westwendischer Kunstverein, Gartow, Germany Project Grant, Käthe Dorsch und Agnes Straub Stiftung, Berlin |
| 2016 | Working Grant, Stiftung Kunstfonds, Bonn Residency scholarship, La Forme Lieu d’exposition Art Contemporain Architecture, Le Havre, France |
| 2014 | Project Grant, Berlin Senate for cultural affairs |
| 2013 | Residency scholarship, Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems, Germany |
| 2012 | Project Grant, Hypo-Kulturstiftung Munich, Germany |
| 2011-12 | Cultural exchange stipend for New York City of the Senate Department for Culture and Europe, Berlin |
| 2010 | Artist in Residence, Künstlerhaus Lukas des Landes Mecklenburg Vorpommern |
| 2009 | Project Grant, Erwin und Gisela von Steiner Stiftung Munich Project Grant, Werkleitz Center for Media Art, Halle, Germany |
| 2008 | International Workshop, Triangle Arts Association, New York, USA |
| 2006 | Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt Fellowship, Post-Graduate Program for Women Artists, Berlin Working Grant, Käthe Dorsch Stiftung, Berlin |
| 2005 | Artist in Residence, Pilotprojekt Gropiusstadt, Berlin |
| 2004-05 | Working Grant, Berlin Funding for Graduates (Nafög) Travel Grant, DAAD, UK |
| 2003 | awarded Aenne Biermann Preis for German contemporary photography, Gera |
Public collections
Haus des Papiers, Museum für Bildende Papierkunst, Berlin
Hetjens – German Ceramic Museum, Düsseldorf
State Silk Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia
Museum Goch
Artothek Nuremberg
Kunststiftung NRW, Düsseldorf
Kunstsammlung Jena
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein
Technikmuseum Berlin
Museum für angewandte Kunst, Gera
Solo exhibitions
| 2024 | Galerie Rupert Pfab, Düsseldorf Mapping Mysteries, Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg Urban Echoes (with Patricia Lambertus) Essenheimer Kunstverein |
| 2023 | Virgin Galactic (with Tycho van Zomeren), Frank Taal Gallery, Rotterdam Raum.Zeit.Falten (with Christiane Fleissner), Städtische Galerie Dachau World in Minds, Studio im Hochhaus, Berlin Came so far for beauty (with Jennifer König) XPINKY Berlin hosted by KOP.12, Essen Northern Light, Kunstbrücke am Wildenbruch, Berlin |
| 2022 | je n’aime pas les angles droits, Maison des Arts Solange-Baudoux, Evreux, France Viking Venus, Galerie Rupert Pfab, Dusseldorf, Germany I remember birds and stones, Hay Art Cultural Center / Museum of Modern Art, Yerevan, Armenia Porschestraße 60, Wolfsburg, in cooperation with Städtische Galerie Wolfsburg, Germany Supercluster, Künstlerloge Ratingen, Germany |
| 2021 | weder Wüste noch Wald, Kunstraum Munich, Germany Flächennutzungsplan, Kunstraum Korn, Berlin |
| 2020 | Bloody Bay Oasis, Galerie Rupert Pfab, Dusseldorf, Germany Driven by Dreams, Kunst-Station, Main Station Wolfsburg, Germany geraubt, gefälscht und gierig gesammelt, Hetjens – German Ceramic Museum, Dusseldorf Dye Room, Avalanche Art Space, Great Barrington, Massachusetts, USA |
| 2019 | la mer, le vent, la pluie, Pavillon am Milchhof, Berlin Sexton Blake, Galerie im Alten Küsterhaus, Meerbusch, Germany Hyperloop, DB Museum / Museum for Communication, Nuremberg, Germany Heart Pitch, Galerie Julia Ritterskamp, Dusseldorf, Germany |
| 2018 | sur mer, Kunstraum Neu Deli, Leipzig, Germany sur mer, Cultural Centre Fort!, Le Havre, France |
| 2017 | scenarios in question, Art Space Hammerschmidt und Gladigau, Erfurt, Germany |
| 2016 | ce n’est pas un désert, ni une fôret, La Forme Gallery, Le Havre, France Faked Death, Kunstzentrum Karlskaserne, Ludwigsburg, Germany |
| 2015 | All colors agree in the dark, Kunsthaus Erfurt, Germany reenter your life, Art Space Spor Klübü, Berlin The Hurlyburly is done, Galerie des Westens, Bremen, Germany |
| 2014 | Post Privacy, Art Space Delikatessenhaus Leipzig, Germany Funky Town, Kunstverein Gera, Germany White Wash, WestGermany, Office for postpostmodern communication, Berlin |
| 2013 | Paradise Shores, Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems, Germany Made in Balmoral, Gallery of Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems, Germany Pie in the Sky, Art Space Berlin Weekly, Berlin |
| 2012 | Juniper Shade, German Consulate General, New York, USA Casting Clouds, Deutsches Haus, New York, USA Architectural Cream, Triangle Arts Association, Brooklyn, New York, USA |
| 2011 | Back Room, Art Space Delikatessenhaus Leipzig, Germany bis auf weiteres…, Astrid Busch & Susanne Kutter, Apex pro art e.V. Göttingen, Germany |
| 2009 | Pleasure Beach, Stedefreund, artist-run gallery, Berlin |
| 2007 | Astrid Busch, Galerie Alexandra Saheb, Berlin Ein Anderer, Art Space Delikatessenhaus Leipzig, Germany 35 Minuten, Stedefreund, artist-run gallery, Berlin |
Group exhibitions
| 2024 | Zwischenwelten. Dialog der Dimensionen, Bilker Bunker, Düsseldorf DOORS. The present is a transitory space, the pool, Düsseldorf |
| 2023 | Schöne fremde Freiheit, Galerie Rupert Pfab, Düsseldorf Fantôme Show 2023, Laura Mars Gallery, Berlin Lange Sicht, Villa Heike, Berlin Paper and Sound Festival, Freundeskreis Willy-Brandt- Haus, Berlin Au 79 Scheiße und Gold, boa-basedonart Gallery, Düsseldorf Produktive Räume. Kunst und Design aus Krefeld, Haus Lange Haus Esters, Krefeld High Densitiy Soft Blur, KOP.12 Essen at XPINKY Berlin Shift!, Künstlerhaus Sootbörn, Hamburg Fluidum, Milchhof Pavillon, Berlin get together, L’oiseau présente at BcmA art space, Berlin |
| 2022 | Raumkonzepte aus Papier, Galerie Nanna Preußners, Hamburg, Germany |
| 2021 | Voids of Presence – Between Past and Future, Galerie Nord / Kunstverein Tiergarten, Berlin where the movement stays, with Ki Jun Kim, Art Space Soma 300, Berlin where the movement stays, with Ki Jun Kim, by ZER01NE Day, Seoul, Korea Körperschaften, Art Space STRoux, Berlin See Stücke – Fakten und Fiktion, Alfred Ehrhardt Stiftung, Berlin Füllhorn, Galerie Julia Ritterskamp, Dusseldorf, Germany Haus des Papiers, Museum für Bildende Papierkunst, Berlin Starke Frauen in Kunst und Kultur, Artists Association Malkasten, Dusseldorf, Germany |
| 2020 | See Stücke – Fakten und Fiktion, Museum Kunst der Westküste, Föhr, Germany Cold Turkey, Art Space GLUE, Berlin Rings Like Silver Shines Like Gold, Galerie im Alten Küsterhaus, Meerbusch, Germany Viral Empath, Art Space Kreuzberg Pavillon, Berlin (nicht) noch mal, bitte, Neuer Kunstraum, Dusseldorf, Germany Alles III, Studio im Hochhaus, Berlin |
| 2019 | September in Berlin, Pavillon am Milchhof, Berlin Subversiv. Nominierung zum Kunstpreis, Haus am Kleistpark, Berlin Die Grosse, Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf, Germany Territory and Disruption, State Silk Museum, Tbilisi, Georgia Der Schein der Dinge, Scotty, Project space for contemporary art and experimental media, Berlin Alles II, Studio im Hochhaus, Berlin |
| 2018 | Catching the light, Kai10/Arthena Foundation, Dusseldorf, Germany Tempel der Möglichkeiten, Art Space SALVE, Berlin Fischers Fritze, Goethe Institut Yerevan, Armenia 100, Galerie Axel Obiger, Berlin Alles I, Studio im Hochhaus, Berlin |
| 2017 | Artisterium, 10th International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Tbilisi History Museum, Georgia Festival Fotografischer Bilder, Städtische Galerie im Leeren Beutel, Regensburg, Germany COLLAGE I – METHODE, Fotogalerie Vienna, Austria Background, Galerie Duchamp, Yvetot, France STRATIFIED. Fragmentierte Welt(en), das weisse haus, Vienna, Austria |
| 2016 | Meet me at the Newsstand, Art Space kiosk.6, Weimar, Germany Verrat der Dinge, Kunsthaus Nuremberg, Germany DIS/APPEAR – Fotografische Materialtäten, Gedok Galerie Berlin Proche banlieue, Studio im Hochhaus, Berlin The Berlin Case, Boris Yeltsin Center, Ekaterinburg, Russia on the move, temporary Project Space Greifenhagenerstr. 26, 10437 Berlin |
| 2015 | you knee them in the chin, Art Space Spor Klübü, Berlin Kunstschau, das weisse haus, Vienna, Austria |
| 2014 | Scraps of Poetry, Deutsches Haus, New York, USA Die vier Säulen, Kunstwerk Köln, Germany criss-cross, Art space Hammerschmidt und Gladigau Erfurt at Kunstquartier Bethanien, Berlin DEW21 Kunstpreis, Museum für Kunst-und Kulturgeschichte Dortmund, Germany UM Festival, Uckermark, Germany Focus Female, Kunsthaus Erfurt, Germany Echo Chamber, CIAT Contemporary Institute for Art and Thought, Berlin Abspann, Galerie Axel Obiger, Berlin |
| 2013 | In Medias Res, Thermen am Viehmarkt, Trier, Germany Unwilderness, Art Space „b-05“, Montabaur, Germany Grantees of Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Staatskanzlei Reinland Pfalz, Mainz, Germany |
| 2012 | Dumbo Arts Festival, New York, USA re*turn, Halle 20, Art Space „Auf AEG“, Nuremberg, Germany the presence of the past in the future, Stedefreund, artist-run gallery, Berlin |
| 2011 | Space Release, Stedefreund, artist-run gallery, Berlin A Gift to Birds, organised by Max Sudhues, Project Space „Das Gift“, Berlin |
| 2010 | The Hidden Space, Standpoint Gallery, London, UK welten, Project Space „Forum Factory“, Berlin Invitation, Kunsthaus Erfurt, Germany Treacherous Path, organized by Julia Staszak, Galerie Nature Morte, Berlin Step toward home, Galerie Dam, Stuhltrager, Berlin Drizzle, Stedefreund, artist-run gallery, Berlin |
| 2009 | Armella Show, organized by Kunsthaus Erfurt, Altes Innenministerium, Erfurt, Germany Attention, Erlkönig, Gebäude, … , Kunstverein Freunde aktueller Kunst, Zwickau, Germany lebt und arbeitet in…, Kunsthaus Nuremberg, Germany Feel the force, curated by Clare Goodwin and Liz Murray, CGP artist led gallery, London, UK Photocinema, International Festival of Photography, Derby, UK |
| 2008 | Stedefreund at Wharf Road Project, V22, The Wenlock Building, London, UK Three positions – one place, Monat der Fotografie, Golab, Lab for analog photography, Berlin Open Studios, Triangle Arts Association, New York, USA Wide angels, mit Sinta Werner and Markus Wüste, Stedefreund, artist-run gallery, Berlin |
| 2007 | Scheinriesen, Stedefreund, artist-run gallery, Berlin Fotosommer Stuttgart, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany Große Kunstausstellung, Kunsthalle Villa Kobe, Halle, Germany 13. Weldekunstpreis, Sparkasse Heidelberg/Schwetzingen, Germany Alles Gute liebe Kunst, Stedefreund, artist-run gallery, Berlin |
| 2006 | MAGMA, Goldrausch 2006, Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin |
| 2005 | Hockstrecksprung, Galerie Alte Schule, Berlin egal wo kann ich wandern, curated by Michael Bach, Galerie Lorch&Seidel, Berlin 7+, Festival of photography, temporary Project Space „White Trash“, Berlin Everybody’s darling, Art Space Schreiber Villa, Leipzig, Germany |
| 2004 | 7, Month of Photography, temporary Project Space „Torstraße 205“, Berlin |
| 2003 | 6. Aenne Biermann Preis, Museum for Applied Art, Gera |
| 2001 | Raus 2001, Projection on the back side of the New Museum, Nuremberg, Germany Knaupp&Co, Tilly-Kaserne, Nuremberg, Germany |
