Artists

Lynn Hershman Leeson

Press release

The Julia Stoschek Foundation is excited to present LYNN HERSHMAN LEESON: ARE OUR EYES TARGETS?, the first solo exhibition by the renowned artist and media pioneer in Düsseldorf. Spanning the entire second floor of the foundation, the exhibition features videos, photo-collages, and interactive and mixed-media installations that delve into the artist’s groundbreaking practice.

2024 marks the fortieth anniversary of the epic video installation, The Electronic Diaries of Lynn Hershman Leeson 1984–2019 (1984–2019), which forms the centerpiece of the exhibition. Hershman Leeson examines her personal experiences of abuse and illness and the relationship between technology and self, amid the global political context. As the work shifts between time frames and perspectives, viewers encounter the evolution of multiple, sometimes contradictory personas that represent the artist. These slipping identities lead us to question how much of what we see on our screens is true, revealing a gap between reality and our mediated images of it. Set against the contemporary media landscape, Hershman Leeson’s work rings truer than ever.

Since the 1960s, Lynn Hershman Leeson has shaped artistic discourses on performance, interactivity, cyborgs, surveillance, artificial intelligence, and biogenetics, paving a path that many generations would follow. She has worked with some of the most significant scientists of our time, bringing art into a complex dialogue with science. As a professor and critic, Hershman Leeson has written extensively on art, media, and politics. Between 1974 and 1978, she commissioned over 300 artists to present artworks in public spaces as part of The Floating Museum, which she founded as a platform for artists excluded from institutions at the time. Alongside her art-making, Hershman Leeson has written and directed six feature films and documentaries, a selection of which will be shown as part of the public program accompanying the exhibition. The screenings at JSF Düsseldorf include Conceiving Ada (1997), Teknolust (2002), and  !Women Art Revolution (2010).

Curator: Lisa Long
Assistant Curator: Line Ajan