Katja Loher (born 1979) [1] is a Swiss visual artist, known for her video sculptures and installations. She often integrates organic, planetary, and moving choreographic elements into panoramic aerial perspectives. Her pieces are considered by critics as evocative of alternative dimensions where past, present, and future converge. [2] [3] Her works have been shown in art museums in many countries including Italy, [4] Russia, [5] China, [6] [7] and the US. [8] [9] [10] [11] Her art is also represented in the collections of institutions like Swissgrid AG, [12] Perth Concert Hall Museum, [13] and the New Britain Museum of American Art. [14] Loher was born in Zurich in 1979.
Loher attended the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Geneva (2000–2001), [15] and the Hochschule für Gestaltung und Kunst in Basel, (2001–2004), [16] where she respectively obtained Bachelor of Arts and Diploma degrees in Art .
A year after finishing her studies, she participated as a collective exhibitor in the First Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2005). Five years later, she exhibited her artwork in galleries in Rome, [4] Zurich, [17] Naples, [18] Tel Aviv, [19] and Sao Paulo. [20] In 2013, Loher made her solo premiere in New York City at the C24 Gallery, [21] where she also presented further solo shows in 2014, [22] 2016 [23] and 2018. [24] Consecutive solo exhibitions of Loher's art have been held between 2013 and 2020 at the Anya Tish Gallery in Houston, TX , [25] [26] [27] [28] as well as at the Andres Thalmann Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland between 2013 and 2018. [29] [30] [31]
Museums where Loher's artwork has been exhibited include: Kunsthalle Palazzo (Basel, 2007), [32] MAXXI Museum (Rome 2010), [4] Haus für Kunst Uri (2013), [33] Figge Art Museum (Davenport, IA, US, 2014), [8] Telfair Museum (Savannah, GA, US, 2015), [9] State Hermitage Museum (St.Petersburg, Russia 2005), [5] Today Art Museum (Beijing, China 2016), [6] Bruce Museum (Greenwich, CT, US, 2017), [10] Long Museum (Shanghai, China 2014), [7] San Jose Museum of Art (San Jose, CA, US, 2014), [11] and New Britain Museum of American Art (New Britain, CT, US, 2015). [14]
Loher's audiovisual installations have been also displayed in many open air sites and festivals around the world, among them the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2006, [34] the SURGE for the 798 Arts Festival 2007 in Beijing, [35] The Prague Contemporary Art Festival in 2010, [36] the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival in 2014, [37] the PULSE Festival (Savannah, GA) in 2015, [38] the India Art Fair (Swiss Embassy, New Delhi, 2018), [39] and the Nou Le Morne Festival (Mauritius (2019). [40]
Among awards, in 2004 Loher received the CreaTVty Award for new media from the TV Productioncenter Zürich; [41] in 2008, she was granted a six-month Artist Residence in Berlin by the Cultural Department of her hometown Schaffhausen, [42] and in 2010 she received the second Art Credit Award from the city of Basel. [43]
Loher's oeuvre has been reviewed in art sources [44] [45] and newspapers, [46] [47] [48] and is covered in a multi-volume book series published by Gallery Andres Thalmann. [49]
Some of Loher's art installations in recent years have been:
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