Madeleine Brunnmeier
Berlin, Germany
ARTIST BIO
Madeleine Brunnmeier (born 1995) is an artist based in Berlin. With a background in Visual Communication from the Berlin University of the Arts (2017-2023) and Musashino Art University Tokyo (2022), her work spans various mediums including photography, video, illustration, and installation. Her artistic practice is characterized by curiosity, keen attention to detail, and occasionally a subtle sense of humor. Exploring the nuanced relationships between individuals and their environment, both observationally and conceptually, she seamlessly navigates between fictional narratives and research-driven approaches. Utilizing everyday objects and materials such as wood, clothes, bread or her own body, her work blurs the lines between the ordinary and the extraordinary. By transforming these familiar elements into evocative symbols, she invites viewers to reconsider their relationship with the world around them and explore the hidden narratives embedded within the fabric of everyday life.
Madeleine‘s artistic journey has allowed her to showcase her work internationally. Among her achievements are being recognized as Runner-up at the MATERIALS MATTER: Textile Exchange x Magnum contest (2023) and the UP23 Photography contest, as well as receiving the Silver medal at DEUTSCHER FOTOBUCHPREIS in the category “Studentische Abschlussarbeit” (2023) for her “Gestalten” Artbook. In 2023, Madeleine held her first solo exhibition at Culterim Gallery Berlin.
Additionally, Madeleine has freelanced as an artist in Berlin and collaborated with her collective “Papertowncollective” on various projects in the city, including music videos, short films, animation, documentary photography, fashion, and portrait photography. Since 2024 she is also a member of the Female Photo Club, an association that brings women* in photography together to createnetworks, support each other and draw attention to inequalities in the seemingly male-dominated art and photography industry.
PROJECT STATEMENT
The work "Gestalten" displays photographs of temporary sculptures, composed of people and all their possessions of clothing. As an everyday companion, our second skin is as present as it is invisible. It is a means of communication, an expression of status, an archive, a shelter, and a habitat. So close to our bodies, clothing functions as a mirror of the interior and a boundary to the outside world. By extending the body through its own clothes, the garments come to the fore, but as a matter of material, as a part of the body and its history, as a manifold deputy of the person. A mass of identity, culture, and memory, an archive of a period of time. In the picture, this creates a very strong presence of the characters, although in some cases they are barely recognizable. On the one hand, the figures are very specifically personal, but they are also open to universal human interpretation - a collective study of relationship of the body to clothing and clothing to the body. These textile sculptures which evolve, kind of imitate their wearer and transform them into an exaggerated version of themselves. The 'Gestalten' project presents clothing as an extension of personal identity, creating visual autobiographies by capturing individuals in their entire wardrobe. This approach goes beyond the functional view of clothing and positions it as a sculptural medium. The accumulation of all items worn becomes a biographical reflection individuals and their possessions, providing tangible records of personal and cultural histories. What moments of contact are there between body and clothing and where do we mix with the material world? What spaces are created in this border area of the self and how do relationships to material things arise?
