ABOUT
Sebastian Acker is a German artist exploring the material and fictional relationship between the natural and – what has come to be considered – the human. In a multi-disciplinary practice, he interrogates the idea of the “artificial” by creating intricate, speculative scenarios, which undermine culturally-imposed dualisms that have traditionally defined our perception of the natural world. Through his ongoing investigations into the legacies of romanticism and the notion of untouched wilderness, he opens up a space for the observer to reconfigure their social constructions of the non-human environment – a process the artist terms “unlearning nature”. With the aid of visual technologies, remote fieldwork and provocative aesthetic strategies, he creates unsettling and playful situations that force the observer to address the urgent moment of ecological crisis whilst questioning the efficacy of art as a tool of conveyance.
Born in Lichtenstein, East Germany in 1981, Sebastian Acker studied at Chelsea College of Arts before completing an MFA at Slade School of Fine Art in London.
Recent solo exhibitions: Kunstverein Dresden (2022), Black Flamingo, Fahrbereitschaft/Haubrok Foundation in Berlin (2018) and Neuer Ravensburger Kunstverein (with Phil Thompson, 2017).
Recent group exhibitions: Galerie Schloss Biesdorf Berlin ‘Residenzpflicht’ (2023), SAP Space Berlin ‘Before, During, After’ (2023), Manifesta 12 in Palermo ‘May The Bridges I Burn Light The Way’ (2018) and Institute of Contemporary Arts in London ‘Diving into a Teacup’ (2018).
He has been the recipient of the Arts Council England Grant, the AHRC Scholarship, the Neustart Kultur Grant from Deutscher Künstlerbund, the Stiftung Kunstfonds Publication Grant and the 20 Seconds for Art Award by KÖR at the Vienna Viennale. His artist book Traces of Other Places, was published by Kerber in 2021.
Sebastian Acker lives and works in Berlin.
LINKS
Sebastian Acker
Studio Mareschstr. 15
12055 Berlin
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