Akosua Viktoria Adu-Sanyah 

 



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notion of romantically emphasizing the appearance of imperfection within analog photographic processes is boring and outdated.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. 
Represented by Jan Kaps.

Published in Monopol Magazin, National Geographic, LUX Magazine, The Art Newspaper, Polka Magazine, Bloomberg, npr, Brytehall, and others. 

CURRENT AND UPCOMING

Art Basel with Jan Kaps 16.06.-22.06.
Solo Show at Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris – opening 12.11.


AWARDS, GRANTS, NOMINATIONS
2024 Borlem Prize
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
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
2025 Akademie der Künste, Berlin DE upcoming
2023 MAP Artist Residency, Heritage Space Hanoi, VNM
2022 Artist Residency Photoforum Pasquart, Biel CH


SOLO SHOWS
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        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       weg, Helmhaus, Zürich 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
2016         Exposition photographique transfrontalière, Espace d‘Art Adagio, Thionville FR
2015         Tausendmal. Der Versuch, with Malika Hagemann, Saarlandmuseum, Saarbruecken DE
2015         OPUS Fotografiepreis, Abbaye de Neimenster, Luxembourg LUX
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
2013         Peter und Luise Hager-Preis für interdisziplinäre Ästhetik, HBK Galerie, Saarbruecken DE
2012         Unseen, KuBa Galerie, Saarbruecken DE


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