In her artistic practice, Karin Sander questions given situations in relation to their structural, social, and historic contexts and renders them visible through different media. She stages locations with installations, architectural interventions, and sculptures, and creates new codes for existing systems and orders.
Karin Sander (b. 1957 in Bensberg, Germany) lives and works in Berlin and Zurich. Recent solo shows include the Architecture Biennale (with Philip Ursprung, 2023); the Kunsthalle Tübingen, Germany (2021); Base/Progetti per l‘arte, Florence, Italy (2020); Haus am Waldsee, Berlin (2019); Kunstmuseum Wintherthur, Switzerland (2018); The National Museum of Art, Osaka, Japan (2018); GfZK, Leipzig, Germany (2017); and Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany (2017). Recent group exhibitions include Villa Schöningen, Potsdam, Germany (2022); Akademie der Künste, Berlin (2021); Copenhagen Contemporary, Denmark (2021); San Francisco Museum for Modern Art, California, USA (2020); Kunshalle Nürnberg, Germany (2019); and Casa del Lago – Goethe Institute, Mexico City, Mexico (2017). In addition to her teaching at ETH Zurich, where she spent 15 years building up the Chair of Architecture and Art at the Department of Architecture, and was responsible for the artistic training of students, Karin Sander's works are featured in exhibitions worldwide. Her works are in private collections and public galleries such as the Museum of Modern Art (New York and San Francisco, USA), the Metropolitan Museum (New York, USA), Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach (Germany), the Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea (Santiago di Compostela, Spain), Kunstmuseum und Staatsgalerie Stuttgart (Germany), the National Museum of Art in Osaka (Japan), Kunstmuseum St Gallen (CH), and Kunst Museum Winterthur, (CH).
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Karin Sander
Ideoscapes 13 Jul - 2 Sep 2023 i8 GalleryKarin Sander's Ideoscapes at i8 gallery features maquettes of 12 Icelandic mountain landscapes retrieved and printed directly from Google Earth 3D geospatial data.Read more -
Late Summer Show
Margrét H. Blöndal, Ásgerður Búadóttir, Eyborg Guðmundsdóttir, Kristín Jónsdóttir frá Munkaþverá, Arna Óttarsdóttir, Ragna Róbertsdóttir, Karin Sander, Júlíana Sveinsdóttir 22 Aug - 19 Oct 2019 i8 GalleryRead more -
KARIN SANDER
11 Aug - 24 Sep 2016 i8 GalleryKarin Sander’s body of work seems extremely disparate at first glance, bringing together works that seem very distant from one another, such as vegetables nailed to a wall or enlarged...Read more -
Works on Paper
Birgir Andrésson, Hildigunnur Birgisdóttir, Hreinn Friðfinnsson, Ignacio Uriarte, Janice Kerbel, Karin Sander, Kristján Guðmunddsson, Lawrence Weiner, Ólafur Elíasson, Ragna Róbertsdóttir and more 5 Sep - 31 Oct 2013 i8 GalleryFeaturing 30 artists, Works on Paper uses the conventional subtitle as title to emphasize the exhibition’s shift in focus; from paper as merely media toward a wider interpretation for its...Read more -
KARIN SANDER
Guestbook 28 Apr - 4 Jun 2011 i8 GalleryKarin Sander’s work reveals form present but unseen—exposing, with exquisite subtlety, the sculpture inherent in her extant subjects. Pieces such as highly polished chicken eggs, reflecting wallpieces, and machine-made precision...Read more -
Winter Show
Karin Sander, Þór Vigfússon, Ólafur Elíasson, Hreinn Friðfinnsson, Kristján Guðmundsson, Ragna Róbertsdóttir, Ragnar Kjartansson, Sigurður Guðmundsson, Lawrence Weiner and more 13 Dec 2008 - 10 Jan 2009 i8 GalleryNew works by Karin Sander, Þór Vigfússon, Kelly Jazvac, Ólafur Elíasson, Gabríela Friðriksdóttir, Hreinn Friðfinnsson, Finnbogi Pétursson, Ívar Valgarðsson, Guðrún Einarsdóttir, A.K Dolven, Kristján Guðmundsson, Hrafnkell Sigurðsson, Ragna Róbertsdóttir, Ragnar...Read more -
Summer Show
Ólafur Elíasson, Karin Sander, Roni Horn, Birgir Andrésson and more 20 Jul - 2 Sep 2006 i8 GalleryRead more -
KARIN SANDER
17 Mar - 29 Apr 2001 i8 GalleryKarin Sander, who has shown widely throughout the world, is among the preeminent artists of her generation. Her recent body of work, involving small human figures standing on pedestals, challenges...Read more
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Karin Sander: Point of Interest
Art Flow, Zürich 30 Jan - 31 Dec 2025The artist Karin Sander (*1957), who lives in Berlin and Zurich, works site-specifically. Sander addresses existing situations and thematizes their specific contexts. She highlights issues...Read more -
Karin Sander and Philip Ursprung: Neighbours
Pavilion of Switzerland, Giardini della Biennale di Venezia 20 May - 26 Nov 2023Karin Sander and Philip Ursprung represent Switzerland at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di VeneziaRead more -
Karin Sander: The King is Dead, Long Live the Queen
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden 13 May - 8 Oct 2023Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, presents The King is Dead, Long Live the Queen. With a selection of contemporary works by thirty-one female artists of different generations and cultural influences, the exhibition at the Museum Frieder Burda presents exclusively female positions and their wide spectrum of themes.Read more -
Karin Sander: Blanc de Blancs
Villa Schöningen, Potsdam, Germany 19 Mar - 8 May 2022From 19 March to 8 May 2022, Villa Schöningen presents 54 works of art by 38 contemporary artists. As much as these works differ from...Read more
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Karin Sander: People on Stone Plinths
KØS Museum of Art in Public Spaces, Køge Torv, Denmark 15 Aug - 26 Sep 2021We are used to powerful or famous people being carved in stone and lined up in the square on a pedestal. But at Køge Torv,...Read more -
Karin Sander
Kunsthalle Tübingen, Germany 27 Mar - 4 Jul 2021Over the past four decades Karin Sander has developed an artistic position of her very own in the tradition of Post-minimalism. She smashed the rigid...Read more -
Karin Sander: SKULPTUR / SCULPTURE / SCULTURA
Museion, Bolzano, Italy 30 May - 20 Sep 2020In her exhibitions, Karin Sander humorously alludes to readymade situations, taking as her theme common cultural scenarios in their institutional and historical contexts. In doing...Read more -
Karin Sander: 43°45’51.8″N 11°15’46.8″E
Base Progetti per l'arte, Florence, Italy 8 Feb - 21 Mar 2020Base / Progetti per l'arte presents the exhibition entitled 43°45'51.8″N 11°15'46.8″E that Karin Sander, an artist who has been proposing a conceptual reflection on the...Read more
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Karin Sander: A to Z
Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany 25 Jan - 3 Mar 2019On the occasion of its reopening, Haus am Waldree presents a comprehensive solo exhibition with Karin Sander. The work of this award-winning artist, who has...Read more -
Karin Sander: ZEIGEN. An audio tour
Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig (GfZK), Germany 17 Mar 2017 - 14 Jan 2018In her project ZEIGEN. An audio tour , Karin Sander invited artists whose work is featured in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art...Read more -
Karin Sander: Identities on Display
Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany 3 Mar - 10 Jun 2017For the 25th anniversary of the Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders, the artist, who was born not far from the museum in Bensberg, is showing an extensive...Read more
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CHART 2024
Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark 29 Aug - 1 Sep 2024i8 Gallery's presentation at Chart 2024 features artworks by established artists associated with the gallery’s history. The exhibition showcases important works from each artist’s respective...Read more -
Frieze London 2023
The Regent's Park 11 - 15 Oct 2023i8 Gallery's presentation for Frieze London 2023 features artists who are key figures within the gallery's history. Two new works by Olafur Eliasson (b. 1967,...Read more -
Frieze London 2020
8 - 11 Oct 2020Read more
b. 1957 in Bensberg, Germany
Lives and works in Berlin and Zürich
EDUCATION AND MORE
2007-2024
Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zürich, Switzerland
1999-2007
Professor at the Art Academy Weissensee, Berlin, Germany
2003
Professor at the Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland, New Zealand
1989-1990
Independent Studio Program (I.S.P.) at Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA
1981-1987
Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Kuenste Stuttgart, Germany
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
49H29M53S, Akademie der Künste in cooperation with n.b.k., Berlin
2023
Karin Sander, Galerie Nächst St. Stephan Rosmarie, Vienna
Ideoscapes, i8 Gallery, Reykjavík
Neighbours, Swiss Pavilion at the 18th Biennale Architettura, Venice
2022
What you see is not what you get, Esther Schipper, Berlin
2021
Karin Sander, Kunsthalle Tübingen, Tübingen
2020
43°45’51.8″N 11°15’46.8″E, Base / Progetto per l'arte, Florence
Skulptur / Sculpture / Scultura, Museion, Bolzano
2019
Karin Sander: A - Z, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin
Karin Sander: Telling Art & Futures – Die Dialektik des Utopischen, Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg, Berlin
Karin Sander, Galerie Hussenot, Paris
KARIN SANDER. BOOKS AND WORKS, Esther Schipper, Berlin
2018
Karin Sander, Kunstmuseum Winterthur | Beim Stadthaus + Reinhart am Stadtgarten, Winterthur
Karin Sander – Kitchen Pieces, Carolina Nitsch Contemporary Art, New York
ZEIGEN. An Audiotour through the collection of NMAO, The National Museum of Art, Osaka
2017
Kunst, Esther Schipper, Berlin
Identities on Display, Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach
ZEIGEN. An Audio Tour through the collection of the GfZK Leipzig, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig
2016
Mixed Media – Dieter Roth & Karin Sander, Safn, Berlin
Karin Sander, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
Karin Sander – Kitchen Pieces, Galeria Helga de Alvear, Madrid
Karin Sander – Announcement, Johnen Galerie, Berlin
Karin Sander, Kunsthalle Marcel Duchamp, Cully
2015
Karin Sander, Galerie Barbara Gross, Munich
Karin Sander, Tongewölbe t25, Ingolstadt
Karin Sander: Hausgäste, Kunstmuseum Ravensburg / Museum Humpis-Quartier / Museum Ravensburger / Wirtschaftsmuseum Ravensburg
2014
Karin Sander – Patina Paintings, Atelier Amden, Amden
Karin Sander, Galerie Nächst St. Stephan, Vienna
2013
ZEIGEN. An Audio Tour through Copenhagen, Nikolaj Kunsthal, Copenhagen
Conversation Drawings, Galerie Ute Parduhn, Düsseldorf
Karin Sander: Visitors on Display, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg
2012
Zeigen. An Audiotour through Baden-Württemberg, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe
h=400cm, Galerie Esther Schipper, Berlin
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
Water Never Sleeps, Sláturhúsið, Egilsstaðir
Love in times of bureaucracy, Nova Space, Weimar
Passing Through. The Collection as an Intermediate Stop: From Monica Bonvicini to Karin Sander, Kunst Museum Winterthur, Winterthur
ART FLOW (Point of Interest), Art Flow Limmattal, Zürich
2024
Monochromy. On the aesthetics of published art, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen
Keep See, Keep Seeing, G Museum, Nanjing
KölnSkulptur #11, Skulpturenpark Köln, Cologne
Sculptures of the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart
The World in my Hand, Alexander-Tutsek-Stiftung, Blackbow, Munich
2023
KunsthalleKarlsruhe@ZKM, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe im ZKM, Karsruhe
Fragment of an Infinate Discourse, Städtische Galerie im Lenachhaus, Munich
Some Recent Works - new acquisitions, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavík
Fragment of an Infinite Discourse, Lenbachhaus, Munich
The King is Dead, Long Live the Queen, Baden-Baden
2022
Fragile! Alles aus Glas, Kunstmuseum Ahlen
Blanc de Blancs, Villa Schöningen, Potsdam
ThisPlay, Arter, Istanbul
Time 2 Time, Slewe Gallery, Amsterdam
2021
Light & Space, Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen
友達と – “tomodachi to”. With friends, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf
So wie wir sind 3.0 / The Way We Are 2.0, Weserburg, Bremen
2020
Alptraum (nightmare), Torrance Art Museum, Torrance
The Art of Diminished Difference, House of Arts, Brno
Transcoding, SOCIÉTÉ d'électicité, Brussels
Ei / Egg, Nassauische Kunstverein, Wiesbaden
2019
Out Of Order, Neues Museum Nürnberg, Nürnberg
Late Summer Show, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik
Open Codes. We are data, Akzuna Zentroa, Bilbao
REALLY - Sequences IX, Reykjavik
Hidden Beauty, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nürnberg
Ferocious Glitter, Gallerí Úthverfa / Outvert Art Space, Ísafjarðarbær
19´ LIFE, GlobArt Academy, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Vienna
Frozen Gesture, Kunst Museum Winterthur, Winterthur
2018
Nature Unleashed – The Image of Catastrophe since 1600, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg
Collection 25, Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea, Santiago de Compostela
The Future is Female, Parts Project, The Hague
Just so Stories, 1978-2018, Galerie nächst St. Stephan – Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Vienna
Rehearsal, Old Bailey Galleries, Hong Kong
Exhibiting the Exhibition, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden
Alice Attie, Karin Sander, Jongsuk Yoon, Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna
THE WORLD ON PAPER - DEUTSCHE BANK COLLECTION, PalaisPopulaire, Berlin
paperwork, Office Works, FAHRBEREITSCHAFT, Berlin
Travellers: Stepping into the Unknown, National Museum of Art Osaka, Osaka
2017
All the Words to Say Rock – Nature and Conflict, Centro de Artes Visuales Fundación Helga de Alvear, Cáceres
Open Codes – Living In Digital Worlds, ZKM – Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe
Myth, Music, and Electricity – A Concert with Visual Artists, Herkulessaal, Munich
German Encounters – Contemporary Masterworks from the Deutsche Bank Collection, Doha Firestation, Doha
Bin überfordert / I’m overwhelmed, Freehome, Berlin
The Vague Space, Museum Weserburg, Bremen
Ways Out From the World, Cappadox Art Festival, Cappadocia
Mentally Yellow (High Noon) - The KiCo Collection, Kunstmuseum Bonn / Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich
Copy/Paste, KAAF non-profit Institute / Tarahan Azad Gallery, Teheran
Out of Office, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt / Städtische Galerie, Bietigheim-Bissingen
BW – Conceptual Art from the Sontheimer Collection, Landesvertretung Baden-Württemberg, Berlin
Mexibility – Estamos en la ciudad, no podemos salir de ella, Casa del Lago / Goethe Institute, Mexico City
Flair, Fridman Gallery, New York
Serialities, Hauser & Wirth, New York
Deutscher Ritualismus, Philipp von Rosen Galerie, Cologne
2016
ten years. projects & editions, Haubrok Foundation, Berlin
Blurry but Clear, Ariel Sanat, Istanbul
Akademie der Künste zu Gast in den Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Chemnitz
Bild – Schrift – Zeichen, Esslinger Kunstverein in der Villa Merkel, Esslingen
TEXT - Selected Text-based Works from the Collection of Pétur Arason and Ragna Róbertsdóttir, National Gallery of Iceland, Reykjavik
Karin Sander, Igor Jesus and Igor Bošnjak – Artists´ Film International, Museum Art Architecture Technology (MAAT), Lisboa / Istanbul Modern, Istanbul / Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
North American Tour 2016, No Show Museum, Benoni (Johannesburg)
Sammeln ist wie Tagebuch führen – Kleinskulpturen aus 50 Jahren, Galerie Rainer Wehr, Stuttgart
paperfile on tour, Artothek Galerie / Kunstverleih der Stadt München, Munich
The Distance of a Day, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Rheinsberg 25, Akademie der Künste zu Gast in Rheinsberg, Schloss und Park Rheinsberg, Rheinsberg
La Collection mise à nue par ses artistes, même, Lab’Bel, Suresnes
Human Scale, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
BRD, Haubrok Foundation, Berlin
Home Improvements, FraenkelLAB, San Fransisco
Der Schatten des Körpers des Kutschers, Kunstsaele, Berlin
2015
Der Raum zwischen den Personen kann die Decke tragen, Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst, Bremen
All my Dreams, Galerie Ute Parduhn, Düsseldorf
Contemporary Art from Germany, Museum of Art, Ein Harod
Talking Picture Blues (Voices Rising), Songwong Art Center, Seoul
Volumes !, Galerie Anselm Dreher, Berlin
Ansichten XXIII „natural affaires“, Quadrart, Dornbirn
Oliver Mosset / Karin Sander – white paintings / mailed paintings, Galerie Lange + Pult, Zürich
Longing Objects. Sammlung der Kunsthalle Göppingen und Gäste, Kunsthalle Göppingen, Göppingen
Künstlerräume, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart
Sommer Kino, Johnen Galerie, Berlin
Prinzip Labor, Humboldt Lab Dahlem, Berlin
Figure 8, Clifton Benevento, New York
Köln Skulptur #8, Skulpturenpark Köln, Köln
So ein Ding muss ich auch haben, Gegenwartskunst aus dem Lenbachhaus und der KiCo Stiftung, Städtische Galerie Lenbachhaus, München
Travelling the World – Art from Germany, Busan Museum of Art, Busan
...y el tiempo se hizo, Centro de Artes Visuales Helga de Alvear, Cáceres
Void: There’s Nothing More Left, But A Little Trace From Human Being, Gingko Space, Peking
A man walks into a bar. . . . me, Collectors Room Berlin, Berlin
Künstler als Auftraggeber von zeitgenössischer Architektur, Bielefelder Kunstverein, Bielefeld
Ansichten XXII „Insight/Outside“, Quadrart, Dornbirn
Kunst für Alle, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
The Lulennial: a slight gestuary, LULU, Mexico City
2014
By destiny: Overview of the Arario collection, Arario Museum, Seoul
Weiss – Aspekte einer Farbe in Moderne und Gegenwart, Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg
Weltreise, Krasnoyarsk Museum Center, Krasnoyarsk
Ladies first, Schauwerk, Sindelfingen
Solides Fragiles, Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM), Luxemburg
Panoramic Avenue, Kunstsaele Berlin, Berlin
Pierogi XX: Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Pierogi, New York
Freundliche Übernahme, Marta Herford, Herford
Paper Work, Ceal Floyer / Karin Sander, Galerie Esther Schipper, Berlin
Datascape, LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, Gijon
This Page Intentionally Left Blank, Akbank Art Centre, Istanbul
When Now is Minimal. The Unknown Side of the Sammlung Goetz, Museum für moderne und zeitgenössische Kunst, Bozen
Translation Movement, Travesia Cuatro, Guadalajara / Travesia Cuatro, Madrid
The Paths of German Art from 1949 to the present, Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MMOMA), Moscow
Partons de Zero (let's start from zero), Le Plateau Paris Contemporary Art Centre / FRAC, Paris
the distance between you and me, Haubrok Foundation, Berlin
Drive the Chance, 100plus, Zürich
Kunst ist, wenn... 25 Jahre Kunsthalle Göppingen, Kunsthalle Göppingen, Göppingen
lens based sculpture - Die Veränderung der Skulptur durch die Fotografie, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz
International Women's Day, Artworks from the collection of Slava Nakovska and Nedko Solakov, Institute of Contemporary Art, Sofia
This Page Intentionally Left Blank, Akbank Art Centre, Istanbul
2013
At Work - Atelier und Produktion als Thema der Kunst heute, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen
AUF ZEIT. Wandbilder, Bildwände, Kunsthalle Baden-Baden / Kunsthalle Bielefeld
Talking Picture Blues, Kunstsaele, Berlin
WHEN NOW IS MINIMAL – Die unbekannte Seite der Sammlung Götz, Museion, Bolzano
Works on Paper, i8 Gallery
Nur hier. Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn
KölnSkulptur #7, Skulpturenpark Köln, Cologne
Faden. Deutscher Künstlerbund Projektraum, Berlin
WHITE – Photography, Art, Design, Fashion, Film, Netherlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam
Akt mit Pyramide. Die schönsten Zeichnungen der Graphischen Sammlung, Museum Pfalzgalerie, Kaiserslautern
SABER DESCONOCER – 43 Salón (Inter) Nacional de Artistas, Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellin, Medellín
VOM LAGER ZUM LADEN 25 Jahre Neue Kunst im Hagenbucher, Neue Kunst im Hagenbucher, Heilbronn
WALL, Canzani Center Gallery, Columbus
Datascape, Borusan Contemporary, Istanbul
Weltreise. Kunst aus Deutschland unterwegs. Werke aus dem Kunstbestand des ifa 1949‐heute, ZKM, Karlsruhe
Unter Dem Strich, Galerie Ute Parduhn, Düsseldorf
Un-drawn Drawings. Works of paper. Galerie Hussenot, Paris
Pre-Show: Identities on Display, Humboldt Lab Dahlem, Berlin
Intimate Distance, Arario Seoul, Seoul
Sobre Papel / On Paper, Centro de Artes Visuales Helga de Alvear, Cáceres
System und Sinnlichkeit. Die Sammlung Schering Stiftung Zeitgenössische Zeichenkunst, Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin
2012
Ort einer Handlung. 45 Jahre Galerie Anselm Dreher mit einer Intervention von Karin Sander, Galerie Anselm Dreher, Berlin
Reality Bites. The document in contemporary art, Works from Kiasma collection, Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki
Bilderbedarf. Braucht Gesellschaft Kunst?, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden
360°: Die Rückkehr der Sammlung, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Stuttgart
Contemporary Galleries 1980-NOW, MoMA, New York
Niet Normaal: Difference on Display, Bluecoat, Liverpool
Kunst mit Schokolade, Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch
Ab in die Ecke!, Städtische Galerie, Delmenhorst
Die Eroberung der Wand, Landes-Stiftung Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck, Rolandseck
How to Make, Kunsthaus, Dresden
Public Abstraction, Private Construction IV V, Kunstverein Arnsberg, Arnsberg
Konter Frei – Zum Porträt heute, General Public, Berlin
In Formal Structures, Andrae Kaufmann Gallery, Berlin
Vorführraum, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld