self portrait, studio in Zurich, May 2024
aberration, transmutation, surrender.
the default notion of romantically emphasizing the appearance of imperfection within analog photographic processes is boring and outdated. there is more beyond the nostalgic view on dust and scratches: the darkroom’s unsterile environment is a source of irreproducable landscapes of color, form, and meaning. in my process- and iteration-oriented practice, deeply embedded in technical frameworks, I am searching for the places where the medium’s unknown qualities reveal themselves. these qualities find expression in the transition between control and surrender. I call this the ‘negative space’–– the necessary, inevitable moment where enlarging experiences and the Other reside. this concept is fundamental to the way I work and rooted in my understanding of eros.
CV
Akosua [a-kos-ya] Viktoria Adu-Sanyah is a German-Ghanaian artist based in Zürich, Switzerland.
Published in Monopol Magazin, National Geographic, LUX Magazine, The Art Newspaper, Polka Magazine, Bloomberg, npr, Brytehall, and others.
AWARDS, GRANTS, NOMINATIONS
2025 Kunststipendium der Stadt Zürich / City of Zurich Art Grant
2025 Book Publishing Grant City of Zurich
2025 Book Publishing Grant Canton of Zurich
2024 Swiss Art Award
2024 Nomination Prix Mobilière
2024 Project Grant Photographic Uncertainties/Focus Photo – Pro Helvetia
2023 Book Publishing Grant Pro Helvetia
2023 Book Publishing Grant City of Zurich
2023 Werkbeitrag Kanton Zürich / Canton of Zurich Art Grant
2023 Yaa Asantewaa Art Prize runner-up
2023 Nomination EXPOSED Torino Grant for Contemporary Photography
2023 Kunststipendium der Stadt Zürich / City of Zurich Art Grant
2022 Nomination C/O Berlin Talent Award
2022 Freiraumbeitrag / Working Stipend Kanton Zürich
2022 Louis Roederer Art Prize for Sustainability
2021 Prix d’Art Robert Schuman
2021 Book Publishing Grant Volkart Stiftung
2021 Nomination Photographic Encounters
2021 Recognition Fire Cracker Grant
2021 Book Project Grant Canton Zurich
2021 Story Lab Filmmaking Grant, Migros Kulturprozent
2020 Prix Photoforum 2020
2015 OPUS-Fotografiepreis
2015 Marta-Hoepffner-Preis für Fotografie – shortlist
2015 Nomination 22. Bundeswettbewerb
2014 Deutschlandstipendium
2013 Peter und Luise Hager-Preis / Award for Interdisciplinary Aesthetics
2012 Peter und Luise Hager-Preis / Award for Interdisciplinary Aesthetics
COLLECTIONS
Kunsthaus Zürich, Stedelijk Museum, MMK Frankfurt, La Mobiliar, Fotostiftung Schweiz, Art Collection Canton of Zurich, Art Collection City of Zürich , Art Vontobel, RawDAO, Fotomuseum Winterthur (Patron Edition), Municipal Collection City of Saarbrücken, Saarlandmuseum
PUBLICATIONS
2024 ROUGH TIDE, 112 pages, edition fink, ISBN 978-3-03746-270-6
ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2023 MAP Artist Residency, Heritage Space Hanoi, VNM
2022 Artist Residency Photoforum Pasquart, Biel CH
SOLO SHOWS
2026 Deichtorhallen Haus der Photographie, Hamburg DE upcoming
2026 Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken DE upcoming
2026 DELIRIUM, Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris FR upcoming
2025 Hypoxia, Jan Kaps, Cologne DE
2024 The House Is A Body, Georgian House Museum for Bristol Photo Festival, Bristol UK
2024 Corner Dry Lungs, Zollamt MMK, Frankfurt am Main, DE
2022 Behold The Ocean, Centre Photographie Genéve CH
2022 May I Dream?, Photoforum Pasquart CH
2020 Hyper Solitude, Space Place Gallery of Modern Art, Nizhny Tagil RU
2015 révélée, k4 galerie, Saarbruecken DE
SELECTED GROUP AND DUO SHOWS
2025 Werkschau Kanton Zürich, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Winterthur CH upcoming
2025 Kunststipendien der Stadt Zürich, Helmhaus, Zürich CH
2025 Art Basel CH
2025 Art Basel Hong Kong
2025 Prix Mobilière 2025, art genève, Geneva CH
2025 Love, Maybe, curated by Jana Johanna Haeckel, Alexander Tutsek Foundation, Munich DE
2024 Swiss Art Awards, Messe Art Basel, Basel CH
2024 Missing Mirror, Foam Museum, Amsterdam NL
2024 Making Light of Every Thing, Centre de la Photographie Genève, Geneva CH
2024 Swiss Art Awards, Messe Art Basel, Basel CH
2024 Missing Mirror, Foam Museum, Amsterdam NL
2024 Making Light of Every Thing, Centre de la Photographie Genève, Geneva CH
2023 Alternative Mobility, Gia Lam Train Factory, Hanoi VN
2023 Art Vontobel – New Acquisitions, Vontobel, Zürich CH
2023 Werkschau Kanton Zürich, Haus Konstruktiv, Zürich CH
2023 Kunststipendien der Stadt Zürich 2023, Helmhaus, Zürich CH
2023 FOTODOKS, Lothringer 13 Halle, München DE
2023 Beyond Photography, Vontobel, Zurich CH
2023 IDENTITIES – Portraying the Intangible, Kunsthalle Trier, Trier DE
2022 work in progress 2.0, OnCurating, Zurich CH
2022 Louis Roederer Photography Prize for Sustainability, The White Box at Nobu Hotel, London UK
2021 Prix d’Art Robert Schuman, Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, Saarbrücken DE
2021 Prix Photoforum, Photoforum Pasquart, Biel CH
2019 FRISCH, with Eliane Zinner, visarte kabinett, Zürich CH
2015 Tausendmal. Der Versuch, with Malika Hagemann, Saarlandmuseum, Saarbruecken DE
2015 22. Bundeswettbewerb, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn DE
2014 Love in a Cold World, Cusanushaus, Saarbruecken DE
2014 Aus der Reihe – 5. Marta-Hoepffner-Preis, Stadtmuseum Hofheim am Taunus, Hofheim DE
2014 early birds, with Valerian Polienko, enovos, Saarbruecken DE
2012 Unseen, KuBa Galerie, Saarbruecken DE