
Lynn Hershman Leeson (*1941 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA) is among the first and most influential of media artists. During the past five decades she has achieved pioneering work in the fields of photography, video, film, performance, installation and interactive and net-based media art. Her works have been shown in over 200 large-scale exhibitions, and constitute parts of noteworthy museum and private collections.
First working in drawing and sculpture, Hershman Leeson turned to performance and conceptual art in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Her most influential performance work is »Roberta Breitmore« (1973-78) – the fictional character that she, then three subsequent female personas, enacted in real time and space, using artifacts of the time. Roberta Breitmore’s conceptual idea of fractured identity and multiplicity of contemporary life anticipated the exploration of surrogate identities that flourished in the digital and virtual worlds several decades later.
Hershman Leeson’s investigation of identity and various modes of surveillance developed into a variety of works, ranging from »Lorna« (1983/84), one of the first interactive projects on video disc, to »Teknolust« (2002) which addressed cyber-identity, artificial intelligence, cloning, and the decoupling of sexuality and human reproduction. In her most recent works, Lynn Hershman Leeson includes robots, mass communication media such as smart-phones, as well as the latest scientific developments in the field of genetics and regenerative medicine including 3D bioprinters that create human body parts.
In close collaboration with the artist, the ZKM in cooperation with the Deichtorhallen Hamburg / Sammlung Falckenberg has realized the first comprehensive retrospective which not only ensures an overview of all creative phases in Lynn Hershman Leeson’s oeuvre but also the most recent productions of this innovative artist.
- Credits
- Peter Weibel (Curator)
- Andreas F. Beitin (Curator)
- Linnea Semmerling (Project management)
- Organization / Institution
- ZKM | Karlsruhe
Accompanying program
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- Fri, February 10, 2017
- Lynn Hershman Leeson: Civic Radar (YBCA, San Francisco)
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Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
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- Sat, February 27, 2016
- Liquid Identities – Lynn Hershman Leeson (Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg)
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Lehmbruck Museum
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- Sun, June 14, 2015
- Lynn Hershman Leeson. Civic Radar (Falckenberg Collection, Hamburg)
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Sammlung Falckenberg
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- Mon, April 06, 20155.30 pm
- Electronic Tracks
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Guided Tour
Medialounge
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- Mon, April 06, 20153 pm
- Lynn Hershman Leeson
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Guided Tour
ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst
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- Sun, April 05, 20154 pm
- Lynn Hershman Leeson
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Guided Tour
ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst
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- Thu, March 19, 20156 pm
- Gender as image and media field
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Lecture
ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst
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- Wed, March 18, 20154 pm
- Deep Contact
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Guided Tour
ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst
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- Sun, March 15, 20151 pm
- Teknolust. With Lynn Hershman Leeson at the cinema
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Film Screening
Schauburg – Das Filmtheater in Karlsruhe
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- Fri, February 27, 20156 pm
- The Infinity Engine
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Lecture
ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst
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- Sun, February 22, 20154.30 pm
- Identitäten
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Guided Tour
ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst
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- Sun, December 28, 20144.30 pm
- Frauenbilder
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Guided Tour
ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst
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- Fri, December 19, 20144 pm
- Überschreitungen – Theologen treffen auf zeitgenössische Kunst
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Guided Tour
ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst
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- Sun, December 14, 20144 pm
- Lynn Hershman Leeson
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Talk
ZKM | Museum für Neue Kunst
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- Fri, December 12, 20147 pm
- Lynn Hershman Leeson. Civic Radar
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Opening
Foyer
Artist
Press reviews
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Embodied Performance [blouinartinfo]
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Lynn Hershman Leeson: Civic Radar [Studio International]
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Interview with Lynn Hershman Leeson [Studio International]
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What’s On This Week Around the World [NYTimes]
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Exhibition Tour: Lynn Hershman Leeson’s »Civic Radar« at ZKM [e-flux]
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Lynn Hershman Leeson [The New Yorker]
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On Screen, Off Screen [Film Quarterly]
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Lynn Hershman Leeson: ‘Origins of the Species’ [www.nytimes.com]
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Entre el artista y sus alter ego [El País]