Annegret Soltau Biography

She is most renowned for her hand-sewn photomontages, a series of images stitched together to create provocative narratives that distort the human body. Soltau also works across photography, collage, performance, and video.

Early Years

Soltau was born in Lüneburg, Germany. She grew up on an isolated farm with her grandmother. Her relationship with her mother was turbulent and she never had a relationship with her father, who died in the Second World War.

Although her childhood lacked art and culture, Soltau believes her isolation helped her to find a creative flair and artistic passion. Her remote surroundings encouraged her to find things that she otherwise would not have found.

In 1972, Soltau studied Painting and Graphic Arts at the University of Fine Arts in Hamburg. Artists David Hockney, Kurt Kranz, and Hans Thiemann taught her while she was studying. In the same year, she attended classes at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. In 1973, Soltau was awarded the German Academic Exchange Service scholarship to study in Milan.

Annegret Soltau Artworks

Annegret Soltau's artistic practice contributed greatly to the development of experimental and performative art during the 1970s and 80s. Her work is also considered an important reference for early feminist art of the same period.

Selbst (Self) (1975)

Selbst (Self) (1975) is a photographic series of self-portraits taken during a private performance by the artist. In 1975, Soltau tied up both herself and members of the audience, covering their faces with black thread. In Selbst (Self), Soltau documents this experience of physical distortion, while also piercing and sewing the physical image with thread.

The sewn self-portraits have become a unique trademark of Soltau's practice. Her work challenges representations of the female figure by distorting and puncturing it. Every stich Soltau makes is a reference to the marginalised position of the female body in society.

Schwanger (Pregnant) (1980)

In this work, Soltau explores her own experience of pregnancy as a theme. She used herself as a model, capturing her body as it changed and developed throughout her pregnancies.

Soltau's work considers how women combine creativity and motherhood. Despite fearing the idea of motherhood and how it might affect her role as an artist, Soltau felt inspired to create a series of photos and videos that documented her bodily transformation.

'Generative' Series (1994–2005)

In this series of work, Soltau plays with the limitations of age by merging cross-generational images of women's bodies. She uses her signature device of stitching and sewing to fuse together four generations of women in her family.

Soltau's dissection of imagery explores themes of gender, identity, and bodily transformation. Her 'Generative' series depicts new meanings beyond what it means to be women in a patriarchal society. The sutures connect, repair, and map Soltau's journey of identity exploration.

Awards and Accolades

In 1982, Soltau was awarded a fellowship from the Kunstfonds Art Foundation in Bonn, Germany. In 1987, she also completed a Residence Fellowship at Villa Massimo in Rome.

Soltau was the recipient of the Wilhelm Loth Prize in Darmstadt in 2000 and the Marielies Hess Art Prize in Frankfurt in 2011. She was awarded the Johann-Heinrich-Merck Honor by the City of Darmstadt in 2016.

Exhibitions

Annegret Soltau has exhibited her work at shows both nationally and internationally.

Her solo exhibitions include Annegret Soltau: KörperSPRACHE, Galerie Anita Beckers, Frankfurt (2021); Spider, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London (2020); Shared Self, Haleh Gallery, Berg am Starnberger See (2019); SELBST, Maurer Zilioli Contemporary Arts, München (2018); Personal Identity, Maurer Zilioli Contemporary Arts, Munich (2015); Time-Experience, Maurer Zilioli Contemporary Arts, Brescia (2013); Works 1975–2009, Galerie Friebe, St. Gallen (2009).

Group exhibitions include imPERFEKT, MEWO Kunsthalle, Memmingen (2021); MOTHER!, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art , Humlebæk (2021); Maternality, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London (2020); Cut and Paste: 400 Years of Collage, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh (2019); Women Look At Women, Richard Saltoun Gallery, London (2018); Life in the Bubble, Grundemark Nilsson Gallery, Berlin (2017); Self / Portraits: Relating Narratives, Visual Research Centre, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee (2016).

Collections

Soltau has work in collections across the world, including Centre Pompidou in Paris, Deutsche Bank Collection in Frankfurt, Hamburger Kunsthalle in Hamburg, the International Center of Photography in New York, and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh.

Website and Instagram

Annegret Soltau's website can be found here, and her Instagram can be found here.

Phoebe Bradford | Ocula | 2021