Sebastian Klug is a visual artist and photographer based in Berlin. He started using photography whilst studying architecture and since 2008 has exhibited widely. His work has been shown as a Highlight at the European Month of Photography Festival in Berlin during 2010 and across venues in various cities including Venice, Munich, Amsterdam, London, Helsinki, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Turin, Chicago, Triest and Detroit.
Using a Nokia 6300 mobile phone at low light levels, Klug creates an atmospheric visual diary that mixes the grain, noise and strange colours of his phone's pictures, with that of his nocturnal encounters. The people he photographs float like ghosts, leaving small traces of their existence as they journey through the night. (Adam Geary in Berlinoir photobook).
Since 2012 I have worked with photographs to create three dimensional objects by cutting multiple prints into stripes and interweaving them. In some cases I combine a print with other materials such as fabrics or foils. As a result the original image is being alienated, distorted, dissolved and pixelized.
The surface now begins to play an important role. The photograph is the starting point for a process that, although being linked to it, emancipates itself from the mere purpose of reproducing an image. The pushing, pulling and weaving of the strips form a relief-like structure. The rippled surface plays with perception. Depending on the viewers angle and distance as well as the position of the light source, allows for the light to reflect in different ways, offering changing insights into its layered design. The structure forms a unity with the new picture, one would not exist without the other.
Education
2002-10 Architecture Studies at TU Cottbus (Diplom), IUAV Venice, ETSA Granada
2016-17 Photography Studies at Neue Schule für Fotografie, Berlin
Exhibitions
2019
Interwoven, Artist Quarterly, Sotheby's Munich, 4.7. - 29.9.
Stadtansichten, Kirchen und Schlösser in zeitgenössischer Malerei, Grafik und Fotografie.
Klostergalerie Hochfranken, Hof / Bavaria (Galerie Fortak, Berlin) 29.4. - 29.9.2019
Other Identity - altre forme di identità culturali e pubbliche, group exhibition curated by Francesco Arena, gallery Guidi & Schoen, Genova 9.3 - 29.3.
Tamtam Skybar, group exhibition, Zschokkestr. 36, Munich, 8.2. - 31.5.
2018
Blue Memories, solo show, Monat der Fotografie Berlin Off,
Bernheimer Contemporary, Berlin, 18.10. - 18.11.
Ansbach Contemporary 2018, Biennale für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Ansbach, 17.8. - 30.9.
Intrecci Artistici, group exhibition, Bottega dell'Immagine, Triest. 21. - 30.6.
Here3, group exhibition, Cavallerizza Irreale, Turin, 18. - 27.05.
exhibition at Viola Ballin Store, Fasanenstrasse, Berlin. 10.12. - 31.01.
2017
A Contemporary Show, group exhibition, Dovetail Brewery, Chicago. 21.10.
Streamflow, group exhibition with Alexander Deubl and Cristiano Tassinari,
Bernheimer Contemporary, Berlin. 17.10. - 30.11.
Weinonsten, group exhibition, Hilbertraum, Reuterst Berlin, 12. - 21.5.
Art Karlsruhe, stand with Bernheimer Contemporary. 16.-19.2..
2016
When did we stop playing?, group exhibition, Anna Laudel Contemporary, Istanbul. 16.12. - 12.2
Other Identity, group exhibition, Loggia della Mercanzia, Genova. 6.2. - 7.3.
Borders Festival, group exhibition, Venice Art House, Venice. 28.5. - 28.7.
Berlin Art Week Exhibition, Enter Art Foundation, Berlin. 14. - 25.9.
2015
Die Lichtenberg Norm, group exhibition, Galerie Zwitschermaschine, Berlin, 7. - 15.11.
Sleepers, solo show, Giftraum, Berlin, 13. - 15.2.
2014
Shunga - Träume einer fließenden Welt, group exhibition, Glashaus, Berlin. 22. - 23.2.
O du mein holder Abendstern, solo show, Team Titanic, Berlin. 7. - 10.1.
2013
Dissolutions, solo show, Factory Street Gallery, Helsinki. 24.5. - 8.6.
Nattens Møder i Berlin, solo show, Mellemrummet, Copenhagen. 1.8. - 30.9.
2012
Portrait Salon, simultaneous slide show, London, Leeds, Cardiff, Brighton. 29.11.
Cell Phones in Summer, group exhibition by Artspace at Untitled, Oklahoma City. 1.6. - 30.9.
Compressed. 2 years. 100 exhibitions. 1 auction, group exhibition and auction, Neonchocolate Gallery, Berlin. 3. - 5. 4.
2011
...off the beaten tracks, group exhibition with Peter Franck, Matthias Gephardt and Sven Marquardt. Neonchocolate Gallery Berlin. 1. - 15.12.
08. Berliner Kunstsalon, Art Fair, Uferhallen Berlin.15. - 18.9.
Berlinoir, installation, Schiume Festival, Forte Marghera, Venice (IT). 23. - 26.6.
Berlin - Choreographie einer Stadt, group exhibition, Forum Factory, Berlin. 29.4. - 15.5.
2010
Durch die Nacht, 4. European Month of Photography Festival (Highlight), Galerie Ina Köhler, Berlin. 16.10.2010. - 10.1. 2011
[proyecto final]: Es war so schön bei dir Marie..., solo show, Fenster 61, Berlin. 16.2. - 15.3.
In the Nighttime, solo show, Galerie Fango, Cottbus. 15.1. - 12.2.
Books
Berlinoir, photo book, aglu edition (www.aglu.co.uk)
Berlin What?, 102 contemporary artist, Olliver Thoben and Uwe Neu, Verlag Die Neue Sachlichkeit, Berlin 2013
Articles
Berlijn danst, photo essay in Tijd, weekend supplement of Dutch newspaper Trouw, 14.4. 2012.
De nachten van Sebastian Klug, photo essay in Berlijn voor gevorderden, book by Jaco Boer and Bram Vermeer, Amsterdam 2012.
Durch die Nacht - von der Sehnsucht nach Auflösung in 1000 Pixel, exhibition review by Ina Köhler, Museumsjournal 04/2010, Berlin 2010.
Online
...off the beaten tracks Trailer