SONIA LEIMER

Sonia Leimer studied architecture at the Akademie der bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts) Vienna, Austria, where she also taught 2012–2015.

In her work, Sonia Leimer explores our perceptual foundations, which are formed on the basis of individual, historical, and media-related patterns of experience. As products of concrete historical contexts, rooms and objects undergo a transformation in which history and societal changes become palpable.

Urban spaces and hypothetical territories are key themes in Sonia Leimer’s work. Her sculptures, videos and installations find expression somewhere between real locations (transformed into the imaginary contexts of the cinema industry) and undefined dimensions–like the dimensions of cosmic galaxies that are so far away, they seem almost virtual. Sonia Leimer’s works leave scattered clues and traces without ever forming a complete identity, to the point of becoming visual enigmas requiring constant re-interpretation.

In 2017, Sonia Leimer participates in the Vladivostok Biennale for Visual Arts. She took part in the Moscow Biennale, Russia, in 2013 and 2015 and the Manifesta 7 Rovereto, Italy, in 2008.

Selected solo exhibitions: Los Angeles Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California (2014); Museion, Bozen, Italy (2012); MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, California (2012); Kunstverein Basis, Frankfurt/Main, Germany (2011); BAWAG Contemporary, Vienna, Austria (2010); Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, Austria (2010).

Her works can be found in museum and private collections, such as the Belvedere, Vienna, Austria; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California; Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria; Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, Austria; Wien Museum, Vienna, Austria; Gaby and Wilhelm Schürmann collection, Herzogenrath, Germany; and numerous corporate collections.

Sonia Leimer was awarded the MAK Schindler grant, the Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Prize, and the Audi Award.