Katja Liebmann
*1965 in Halle an der Saale
grew up in Berlin, based in Oldenburg/Germany
Education
Royal College of Art, London
Master of Fine Arts / Printmaking, 1997
Kunsthochschule Berlin, Berlin
Master of Fine Arts / Painting, Printmaking 1995
Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg, Painting 1989-91
The work of Katja Liebmann records the energy, isolation and alienation of urban life whilst maintaining a reflective, dreamlike quality. Much of her work is printed using low tech nineteenth century processes and sunlight to produce rare and timeless photographs. Besides cityscapes, landscapes are another big topic. With her background in painting, citing Rembrandt, Turner, Poussin, and Titian as inspiration, Katja describes herself as a ‘painterly soul’. On a quest for beauty and harmony, seeking order from chaos, her images are characterised by a softness and longing which she likens to German Romanticism.
Liebmanns use of the early photographic technique is not a sentimental choice however; for her it simply presents the best means to portray the ephemerality of time and existence.
Katja Liebmann first gained critical acclaim for her low-tech camera series ‘Gotham City ‘, which was acquired by the Saatchi Collection in 1998. She was nominated for the 1998 Citibank Photography Prize (now the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize) and was awarded the DAAD scholarship in 1995.
Exhibitions / Awards / Collections / Teaching / Talks / Texts / Publications
Exhibitions
2024
BLUES / 2
Gallery J. J. Heckenhauer, Munich, Germany
24 October – 30 November 2024
BLUES – Katja Liebmann at the State Museum Oldenburg
(Landesmuseum für Kunst und Kultur, Schloss, Oldenburg)
13 April – 21 July 2024
ART KARLSRUHE / Gallery – J. J. Heckenhauer, Munich
22 – 25 February 2024
2023
ART MIAMI 2023 / HackelBury Fine Art, London
5 – 10 December 2023
Blaues in Rothspalk – KUNST HEUTE in MV
Studio 18279 – Rothspalk
23 September – 8 October 2023
PHOTOFAIRS New York – HackelBury Fine Art, London
8 – 10 September 2023, Javits Centre, New York
DIE ERFAHRUNG DER LANDSCHAFT
Galerie Dittmar
Groupshow
Georg Baselitz · Karl Bohrmann · Mona Breede · Enrico Della Torre · Marcel Gähler ·
Anna Gille · Sharka Hyland · Katja Liebmann · Arnulf Rainer
2022
DUST IN THE WIND
HackelBury Fine Art, London, (s)
2021
PARIS PHOTO / HackelBury Fine Art, London
11 – 14 November,2021, Grand Palais Ephémère, Paris
WAITING II
HackelBury Fine Art, London
group exhibition
Galerie Dittmar, Berlin, Solo Exhibition
CITIES AND LANDSCAPES IN MOTION – Retrospektiv II
PHOTO LONDON DIGITAL / HackelBury Fine Art, London
WAITING
HackelBury Fine Art, London
group exhibition
2020
Gallery Dittmar , Berlin, “Berlin . London . NewYork – retrospective 1”, (s)
2019
HackelBury Fine Art, London, “Twenty one”
HackelBury Fine Art, London, “Early Work”, (s), PARIS PHOTO 2019 / PHOTO LONDON
2018
HackelBury Fine Art, London, “Twenty”
2017
Gallery Berlinicke, Wildeshausen, “Beds and Mashinery” , (s)
2015
Westwerk, Leipzig, “The 22th Annual Artshow”
Gallery Lake, Oldenburg, “Solid Sleep” , (s)
2014
Gallery Dittmar, Berlin, “Nature”, (s)
Museum for Industrial Culture, Nuremberg
“A gram of Light”,(g), curated by Christoph Schaden
2013
Museum for Art and Art History, Oldenburg, “Green Art 2”
2012
Artothek, Oldenburg, “New acquisitions”
Gallery Dittmar, Berlin, “Blue Leafs”, (s)
2010
Bremer Landesmuseum / Pelzerhäuser Emden, “Sehnsuchtsorte II “
Gallery Herold, Bremen, “Journey / Houses “, (s)
Art Gallery Wilhelmshaven, “Destination Wilhelmshaven”
Omsk Museum of Visual Arts, (with Goethe-Institute Novosibirsk), “Reverse”
HackelBury Fine Art, London, “Journey / Houses” , (s)
2009
Gallery Dittmar, Berlin, “German Landscapes” , (s)
Art Society Vechta, “German Landscapes”
Museum for Art and Art History, Oldenburg, “Bright Spots” – current positions /aesthetic experiments”
Goethe Institute Ankara, “The space between man and camera”, Artist talk and Exhibition, (s)
Novosibirsk State Art Museum, “Genius loci”, VI. Novosibirsk Graphic Art Biennial ´09
2008
Bishkek Art Center, Kirgisien, “Crossroads. Nomadic knowledge and art strategies”, (Sp. by IFA and Goethe Institute)
Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg, “Truth is what connects us”, (on the occasion of the Karl Jaspers Year 2008) , (s)
2006
Art Society Oldenburg (Oldenburger Kunstverein), “ECHT”, work from 1993-2006 , (s)
2005
Gallery Dittmar, Berlin, “London – Bilder”
2002
Charles Saatchi Gallery, London, “Landscapes, Part II”
HackelBury Fine Art, London, “100% Photography”
Flowers East, London, “St. James Group Photography Prize 2002”
2001
HackelBury Fine Art, London, “Berlin 328” , (s)
Goethe Institute, London, “Berlin Ornaments” , (s)
2000
Hasselblad Centre, Goeteborg, “Modern Times III”
Sotheby’s, London, Contemporary Art Exhibition 2000, (g)
1999
Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery , “Inspirit”
Photographers Gallery, London, “Londinia”
The Lux Center, London, LEA Gallery, “Eyes of March”
1998
Victoria Miro Gallery, London,“Urban Landscapes”
The Photographers’ Gallery, London, Citibank Photography Prize, (today: “Deutsche Börse Photography Prize”) with Andreas Gursky, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Thomas Demand
1997
National Portrait Gallery, London, “The John Kobal Photographic Portrait Award”,
Shoreditch Town Hall, London, “Gloves Off! “
1996
David Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, London, “Liquid”
Centre for Contemporary Arts, Rouen, “Palimpsest Berlin”
Cityhall, 6 th arrondissement, Paris, “Palimpsest Berlin”
Awards & Scholarships
2002 Shortlisted for “St. James Group Photography Prize”
2001 “Scholarship of the Hasselblad Foundation”, Goeteborg, Sweden
1998 Shortlisted for the “Citibank Photography Prize”, London
(“Deutsche Börse Photography Prize”), London
1997 “Deloitte & Touche Prize for Excellence”, R.C.A, London
“John Purcell Paper Prize”, London
1996 “Renaissance Art Award”, Aylesbury / London
1995 “DAAD Scholarship” for London
Collections
The graphic Collection of the Royal College of Art, London,
The Victoria and Albert Museum, London,
Charles Saatchi Collection, London,
The Rubell Collection Miami,
LzO Art Collection, (Landessparkasse zu Oldenburg),
Collection of the Bishkek Art Centre, Kyrgyzstan,
The Omsk Museum of Visual Arts, among others.
Teaching
Lecturer in / early photographic processes /
printmaking at Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg.
Visiting Lecturer at:
London College of Printing, London
Royal College of Art, London
Camberwell College of Art, London
Kent Institute of Art & Design, Kent
Haccetepe University, Ankara
Talks / Interviews
Interview by Tracy Calder: “Remembrance of Things Past”
at Black & White Photography Magazine Nr.236, December 2019
Interview by Daniel Pateman: “Katja Liebmann – Early Work”
at Photomonitor Magazine, May 2019
https://www.photomonitor.co.uk/early-work-2/
Talk Nigel Warburton – Katja Liebmann
at the Opening Preview of “Early Work”,
1 May 2019, at HackelBury Fine Art
Interview by Alisa Mc Whinnie: “Into the Blue”
Black & White Photography Magazine, May 2010
Goethe Institute Ankara, “The space between man and camera”,
Artist talk and solo exhibition at Goethe Institute gallery,
Artist lecture and workshop at Hacettepe-University, Ankara, March 2009
Texts
“Cyanotypes as memories” , Artdoc Magazine, 12/2021
The article features ‚Dust in The Wind‘, the work of 2020/21
Isolde Loock / Text / Private View, 15 Oktober 2010 ,
KATJA LIEBMANN „Die Fahrt / Häuser“, Gallery Herold, Bremen
Jürgen Weichardt, Foreword, Catalogue:
Katja Liebmann, “Deutsche Landschaften”, “German Landscapes”
ISBN: 3-9806903-7-7, published by Galerie Dittmar, Berlin, 2009
text by Jürgen Weichardt, transl. by Dan Loganathan
Peter Dittmar / Text Private View, 6 December 2014,
“Natur”, Photographic work by Katja Liebmann
Selected Publications
2014 A Gram of Light, Catalogue, Museum for Industrial Culture, Nuremberg
2009 Bright spots / Licht Blicke, Catalogue, Museum for Art and Art history, Oldenburg
2009 German Landscapes, Catalogue, Edition Dittmar, Berlin
2010 Destination Wilhelmshaven, Catalogue, Art Museum (Kunsthalle) Wilhelmshaven
2001 I am a Camera, Catalogue, The Saatchi Gallery, published by Booth-Clibborn Editions
1999 Modern Times III, Catalogue, Hasselblad Centre, Göteborg
1998 The New Neurotic Realism, Catalogue, The Saatchi Gallery, London
1997 The Citibank Photography Prize / Deutsche Börse Photography Prize,
Catalogue, The Photographers Gallery, London
