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Laura J. Padgett explores unoccupied spaces, both real and imaginary, to reveal truths that are often overlooked. She travels along the complex interfaces between memory and the present, between private and public, between nature and culture.

Like her subject, her photography and film inhabit the spaces between photographic storytelling and installation, language and image, history and current affairs. While she works within photographic media, the results are always more than photographic objects.

Laura J. Padgett (b. 1958 in Cambridge, USA) received her BFA in painting from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. She continued her studies in film and photography with Peter Kubelka and Herbert Schwöbel at the Städelschule from 1983 to1985 and received her MA in Art History and Aesthetics in 1994 from the Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe University, both in Frankfurt am Main.

Since the 1990s Laura J. Padgett has produced a complex body of work. She exhibits widely, while also participating in international film screenings, at, for example, Galleria d’Arte Moderna, Bologna, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Städel Museum, Frankfurt, House of World Cultures, Berlin, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art, Nicosia, and Museum Giersch, Frankfurt am Main.

In addition to her exhibiting activities, the artist regularly writes on film, art and aesthetic theory. Since 1990 she has taught and lectured at various universities among them Bauhaus-University in Weimar, Hochschule für Gestaltung in Offenbach, Paderborn University and the Hochschule-Rhein-Main in Wiesbaden. Most recently she lectured at the German Jordanian University in Amman. Laura J. Padgett lives and works in Frankfurt am Main.

Her work is held in various major public and private collections, including Städel Museum, Graphics Collection, Frankfurt am Main, Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, Amsterdam, Fotomuseum Winterthur, DZ BANK Art Collection, Frankfurt am Main, Museum of Modern Art, Museion, Bozen, The Sir John Soane Museum, London, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Dommuseum, Mainz, Museum Simeonstift, Trier, Museum Wiesbaden, as well as other institutions.

Solo Exhibitions (Selection)

2024
Strata, Galerie—Peter—Sillem, Frankfurt am Main 

2023
Regeneration Permanence, Jewish Museum Frankfurt

2022
Regenerating Permanence, Galerie—Peter—Sillem, Frankfurt am Main 
Regenerating Permanence, exhibition within the exhibition Hans Leistikow: A Return to Modernism, in the Quadrangle of the Dommuseum Frankfurt

2019
Open Equations, Galerie—Peter—Sillem, Frankfurt am Main

2017
somehow real, Museum Giersch der Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main

2016
Confined Space, Galerie Rautenstrauch, in Onomato Künstlerverein, Düsseldorf
Many Told Tales, Galerie Straihammer & Seidenschwann, Vienna

2015
Confined Space, Heussenstammstiftung, Frankfurt am Main

2014
MONUMENT, 18. Künstlerfahnenfestival, Eppingen

2012
Standardeinstellung, Neuer Giessener Kunstverein

2011
frames of reference, Gallery Martina Detterer, Frankfurt am Main

2008
seeing things, The Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art, Nicosia (Catalog)
holding onto things, Gallery Seitz & Partner, Berlin

2006
slow motion, Gallery Odakule, Istanbul

2005
inside-out, Gallery Seitz & Partner, Berlin

2004
vorübergehende Ortschaften, Gallery Martina Detterer, Frankfurt am Main

2003
conversation pieces, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main (Catalog)
improbabilities, Gallery Seitz & Partner, Berlin

2001
morning glories, AusstellungsHalle Schulstrasse 1A, Frankfurt am Main

1999
Marginalia, Goethe Institut, Warschau
ein Moment der Klarheit – an enlightened Moment, Anna Amalia Bibliothek, Weimar
Foto-Text-Arbeiten, KunstRaum – Klaus Hinrichs, Trier

1998
systematische Erneuerungen, dirty windows, Berlin

1996
common occurrences, KunstRaum – Klaus Hinrichs, Trier

1994
Telltales, Forum der Frankfurter Sparkasse 1822, Frankfurt am Main (Catalog)


Group Exhibitions, Film Screenings (Selection)

2023
EVER.PRESENT.PAST. 30th Anniversary Exhibition, Hessian Cultural Foundation, Museumslandschaft Hessen Kassel, Museum Wilhelmshöhe
51st Festival La Rochelle Cinéma, International Film Festival, Le Cinéma Experimental : Braquage

2022
Il Cinema Ritrovato, Super 8, 9.5MM & 16 MM: Another Gaze, Cineteca di Bologna

2021
Im Garten, Experimental Film Program, Filmmuseum Frankfurt am Main

2020
CROSSROADS Filmfestival 2020, San Francisco Cinemateque
The Niche — A Missing Link, Augmented Reality Projekt for Luminale 2020, Frankfurt am Main


2019
Remake. Frauenfilmfestival, Kinothek Asta Nielsen, Frankfurt am Main
Bollwerk — Zeitgenössische Kunst in den Dillenburger Kasematten, Dillenburg
Our House. Festival der Selbstverwaltung, Kurzfilmprogramm, Pupille, J. W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main

2018
Les Rencontres Internationales, Film Screening SOLITAIRE, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin
Les Rencontres Internationales, Film Screening SOLITAIRE, Cité, Paris
Kinothek-Asta Nielsen, Film Screening SOLITAIRE with the documentary film Hannah Arendt in Conversation with Günter Gaus
Media City Film Festival, Filmscreening SOLITAIRE, Windsor, Kanada / Detroit, MI, USA
35. Kasseler Dokumentarfilm- und Videofest, Filmscreening SOLITAIRE
IAPT Photobook, Korai Project Space, Nicosia, Cyprus

2017
LOKALE GRUPPE Annual Exhibition of the Darmstädter Sezession, Kunsthalle Darmstadt

2016
MADE FOR AROLSEN – Reise nach Arglosen, Museum Bad Arolsen (Catalog)
Schnitt-Schnitt, Kunsthalle Darmstadt - Film Screening

2015
Still, The Still Life in Contemporary Photography, Traveling Exhibit Lower Austria Society for Art and Culture (Catalog)
32. Kasseler Documentary and Video Festival, Kassel (Catalog)
Movie Night, Ethan Pettit Gallery, Brooklyn, New York

2014
Alle Tage wieder – let them swing!, Kino Arsenal, Berlin and Museum of World Cultures, Frankfurt (Catalog)
The Face of the City, Stadtvisionale, Evangelische Akademie, Frankfurt am Main

2013
Give me five!,  New Acquistions in the Graphics Collection, Städel Museum
Eine Winter-Reise, Galerie Seitz & Partner, Berlin
No-Men’s Land, Neuer Kunstverein Aschaffenburg
Am Anfang war das Wort…?, Quadrart Artspace, Dornbirn, Austria

2012
„wie gemalt“ (“picture perfect”), Kunstmuseum Ahlen (Catalog)
Himmelüber, Römer9, Frankfurt am Main
Personal Choice, curated by Peter Weiermair, AusstellungsHalle 1A, Frankfurt am Main Speaking of Reality, mit Marianna Christofides, TheArtSpace, Düsseldorf

2011
Luis Camnitzer’s: The Last Book (contribution), New York Public Library

2010
„wie gemalt“, (“picture perfect”) Kunsthalle Erfurt

2009
Books, Books, Books, Nothing but Books, Ursula Blickle Foundation (Catalog)
OBERFIN, Oberfinanzdirektion, Frankfurt am Main
Kleine Formate, Gallery Martina Detterer, Frankfurt am Main

2008
Arch/Spaces, Swiss Museum of Architecture, Basel Pharos = 10, The Power Station, Nicosia Municipal Arts Center, Nicosia A book for a lifetime. Artspace und the Goethe-Centre, Nicosia

2007 Unverzagt! The Hotel Balzer, Künstlerhaus Schloß Balmoral, Bad Ems (Catalog) Documenta 12. Plattform, in collaboration with Archplus Räume – Kraftfelder, Gallery Seitz & Partner, Berlin

2006 Lightcone Preview Show, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris Heaven, London Biennale

2005 Stabwechsel, Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf, CH
Wohnen, „real to reel“ Film program at the Mousonturm, Frankfurt am Main
Kleine Formate, Gallery Martina Detterer, Frankfurt am Main

2004
Relating to Photography, Highlights from Private Collections, Fotografie Forum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main
Querschnitt_Sezione Trasversale, GAS Art Gallery, Turin
Gallery Seitz & Partner, Berlin

2003
D’Après, GAS Art Gallery, Turin (Catalog)
Kleine Formate, Gallery Martina Detterer, Frankfurt am Main

2002
Desire, Gallerie d’Arte Moderna, Bologna (Catalog)

2001
Recovered and Restored Film Festival (S-8 Section), Cineteca di Bologna
Filme aus Frankfurt, Künstlerhaus Kino, Wien
Mega Pearls, Haus am Kleistpark und Gallery weisser elefant, Berlin (CD-ROM)
Desire, Ursula Blickle Foundation

2000
Heimat Kunst, House of World Cultures, Berlin (Catalog)

1999
Die Liebe zu den Dingen, (For the Love of Objects) Kino Arsenal, Berlin pleasure principle, (props), Kunstamt Kreuzberg / Bethanien, Berlin Focus
Städtisches Museum Simeonstift, Trier

1997
essential byproducts, Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin
fototexttextfoto, Frankfurter Kunstverein und Fotomuseum Winterthur (Catalog)

1996
fototexttextfoto, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Bozen / Bolzano Prospect 96
Photography in Contemporary Art, Frankfurter Kunstverein (Catalog)

1994
Art in Frankfurt, Museum of Modern Art – Schirn Kunsthalle (Catalog)
4th International Week of Experimental Film, Madrid

1992
Listen im Portikus, Portikus (Catalog)
43rd International Film Festival, Film-Video, Montecatini Terme
Viper Filmfestival, Bern

1991
37th International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen (Catalog)


Residencies, Grants, Awards

2017
Marielies Hess-Kunstpreis 2017

2013
Artist Contacts Residency in Lebanon, Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa), Stuttgart

2008
Photography Residency, Dover Arts Development, Dover, England

2004
Artists in Residence in Burgdorf, Switzerland from the Frankfurt Cultural Office

2001-2002
Studio Residency in London from the Hessian Cultural Foundation

1996/97
Studio Residency at Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral, Bad Ems

1978
Ford Foundation Grant in Painting


Work in Public Collections (selection)

Schloss Wilhelmshöhe, Graphic Collection, Hessen Kassel Heritage
Jewish Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg
Städel Museum, Graphics Collection
DZ BANK Art Collection, Frankfurt am Main
Sammlung Deutsche Bank
Museum Wiesbaden
Huis Marseille, Museum for Photography, Amsterdam
Museum of Modern Art, Museion, Bozen
Dommuseum, Mainz
Fotomuseum Winterthur
Museum Simeonstift, Trier
The Sir John Soane Museum, London
The State of Rheinland Pfalz
The State of Hessen
The City of Frankfurt
The City of Burgdorf, Switzerland

Teaching Positions


2020
Lecturer, Analoger Filmschnitt (found footage), Universität Paderborn

since 2019
Lecturer (film), Institut für Theater-, Film- und Medienwissenschaft der J. W. Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main

since 2010 
Lecturer for Photography and Art History, Hochschule RheinMain, Wiesbaden

2017—2019
Mentor, Kunst-Mentorin-Projekt des Kulturbüros Rheinland-Pfalz

2017 and 2018
Flying Faculty at the German-Jordanian-University, Amman, lectures in Photography, Art History and Design Visualisation

2010- present
Lecturer in Photography and Art History at the Hochschule RheinMain, Wiesbaden

2016/2017
Lecturer in Found Footage – Film Editing, University of Paderborn

2015
Rankin Visiting Scholar, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

2003-2007
Lecturer in Photography, Film, and Art Theory at the Art and Design University, Offenbach am Main

2005
Lecturer in analog and digital Film Editing and Film History, University of Paderborn

2001/2002
Lecturer in Art Criticism and Theory at the Art Academy of Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz

since 2000
Contributing Editor of the Film Journal Frauen und Film

1994-99
Lecturer in Photography at the Bauhaus University, Weimar


Guest Lectures / Artists’ Talks

2015
„Photographing without distraction“, Frei Kunstakademie Frankfurt am Main
[en]visioning the interior, Lebanese American University, Beirut / Byblos

2014
Artist’s Talk in conjunction with the Phd Programm „The Photographic Dispositif“, Hochschule der Künste, Braunschweig

2013
Lebanese American University, Beirut / Byblos

2012
Summer Academy (Workshop), Photography Forum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main

2011
Lebanese American University, Beirut

2011
Summer Academy (Workshop), Photography Forum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main

2010
1st International Conference on Photography and Theory, Cyprus University of Technology, Limassol, Cyprus, 2010

2009
The Oslo School of Architecture and Design (AHO)

2008
Summer Academy, Photography Forum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main
Marta Hoepffner Society for Photography, Hofheim am Main
ARTALK, in conversation with the curator Denise Robinson Nicosia, Cyprus
Symposion: Film as Material – Filmic Experiments: Women Filmmakers in the  Bundesrepublik, 17.-18. July 2008 at Paderborn University

2006
1st International Photography Biennial, Istanbul
On Photography and Text
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Institut für Theater-, Film- und Medienwissenschaft, Frankfurt am Main

2004
Hochschule der Künste, Braunschweig

2003
Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Institut für Theater-, Film- und Medienwissenschaft, Frankfurt am Main

2000
Falmouth College of Arts, Falmouth, UK Yale Art College, Wrexham, UK
Mount Ida College, Boston, USA


Public Art Projects

Deutsche Flugsicherung, Langen, 2010
Robert-Bosch-Hospital, Stuttgart, 2010
New Justice Department, Darmstadt, 2006
Ministry of Justice, Wiesbaden, 2002
Civic Center, Frankfurt am Main, 1995