LENA JOHANNA REISNER is an in-ter-dependent curator and writer based in Berlin. Her research centers around matters of ecology and natureculture, the social structures that drive climate change, ecosystem degradation, and biodiversity loss, as well as environmental and climate justice as countermovements to these crises. The notion of in-ter-dependence acknowledges the interconnectedness of curatorial work with other aesthetic practices, formations of knowledge and care, as well as the diverse, more-than-human communities that enable a 21st century human – or rather post-human – experience in the first place.
Focusing on questions of energy production, her recent curatorial project Fossil Experience (Prater Galerie, Berlin, 2022) addressed some of the widely divergent – and in part violent – realities generated by the use of fossil fuels. Following this, she received a grant from the Berlin Senate in 2022 for her research on nuclear legacies in visual culture and more-than-human landscapes.
Funded by ifa’s CrossCulture Program, Lena Johanna Reisner was a remote fellow at the Jakarta-based educational platform Gudskul in 2021, where she engaged with forms of collective learning. In 2019, she completed an ICI Curatorial Intensive in New Orleans and has been collaborating regularly with the Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design in Kiel since 2020.
Past curatorial projects include the thematic group show Capitalo, Chthulu, and a Much Hotter Compost Pile (Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, Berlin, 2018, together with Lorena Juan and Anaïs Senli), which investigated the Anthropocene discourse and the various alter-cenes proposed within the broader field of environmental humanities; Tangible Remains. Hidden Matters at Decad, Berlin (2018), a two-artist exhibition thematising the material conditions of digital culture; and Creatures of the Mud at Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster (2016). As a curator in Galerie im Turm , Berlin (2017-2019), she realized exhibitions with Antje Majewski, Naufus Ramírez Figueroa, Henrike Naumann, Omsk Social Club, Viviana Druga, and others. She previously worked as project manager for KOW, Berlin; as curatorial and editorial assistant at the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; and in dOCUMENTA (13)’s department for Maybe Education and Public Programs.
Selected Writings and Publications |
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“How Oil Hides in Plain Sight/Site: Enacting Antagonism by Artistic Means”, in Annika Frye, Christiane Kruse, Antje Majewski, Sandra Schramke (eds.), Let’s Get Sustainable: Art, Design and Architecture, 2022 upcoming. |
2022 |
Prater Galerie, Lena Johanna Reisner (eds.), Fossil Experience / Fossile Erfahrung (on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition and program (07/04–19/05/2022) at Prater Galerie, Berlin, 2022 (German / English). |
2022 |
Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design, Lena Johanna Reisner (eds.), MFA 21 | My Favorite Acronym (on the occasion of the MFA graduates exhibition (4–21/11/2021) in the department of Fine Arts at the Muthesius University of Fine Arts and Design 2021), Kiel, 2021 (German / English). |
2021 |
Muthesius Kunsthochschule, Lena Johanna Reisner (eds.), An Imperfect Map (Will Have to Do): Landschaft ohne Horizont (on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at ausstellungen.muthesius-kunsthochschule.de (8/2-1/4/2021), Kiel, 2021 (German / English). |
2021 |
“2050: Wissenschaftliche Prognosen statt Science Fiction”, in L40 – Verein zur Förderung vom Kunst und Kultur am Rosa-Luxemburg Platz e.V. (eds.), 2050 – Nature Morte, Kunst zum Klimawandel (on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name curated by Raimar Stange 8/3–30/5/2020), Berlin, 2020. |
2020 |
“When Cake Glaze Shines Perfectly”, in Verein der Kunstfreunde für Wilhelmshaven e.V. (eds), Lizsa Dieckwisch: When Cake Glaze Shines Perfectly (on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name 26/1–8/3/2020) Wilhelmshaven, 2020. |
2019 |
“Reading Among Messy Symbionts.” in Cinthia Mendonca (eds.), Resilience: Artist in Residence 2018, Silo – Arte e latitude Rural: Serrinha do Alambari, 2018 (Portugese/English). |
2018 |
“The Buds alone: a contemplation on self-care, resilience, art and political activism”, in Mariana Lage, Cinthia Mendonca (eds.), Resilience: Artist in Residence 2017, Resende, 2017 (Portugese/English). |
2017 |
Westfälischer Kunstverein, Lena Johanna Reisner (eds.), Creatures of the Mud (on the occasion of the eponymous exhibition at Westfälischer Kunstverein (21/5-3/7/2016) Munster, 2016 (German/English). |
2016 |
Annie Fletcher, Lena Reisner (eds), A Republic of Art, catalogue published by Van Abbemuseum (Eindhoven NL) and Platform (Paris F) on the occasion of the exhibition A Republic of Art at Van Abbemuseum (27/06/2015-04/10/2015). Eindhoven, e-publication, 2015 (English/French). |
2015 |
Selected Exhibitions |
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Fossil Experience |
2022 |
gegen\archive: wer bleibt wo |
2021 |
MFA 21 | My Favorite Acronym |
2021 |
An Imperfect Map (Will Have to Do). Landscape without horizon |
2021 |
Anaïs Senli: The Heavy Air That Surrounds Us |
2019/20 |
Antje Majewski & Pawel Freisler: Apple. An Introduction. (Over and over and once again) |
2019 |
Pouring into an Array of Characters |
2019 |
Viviana Druga: Confessionale |
2019 |
Henrike Naumann: DDR Noir: Schichtwechsel |
2018/19 |
Tangible Remains. Hidden Matters |
2018 |
Gil Delindro: A Grain Within A Cloud of Dust |
2018 |
Capitalo, Chthulu, and a Much Hotter Compost Pile |
2018 |
Resilience: Artist in Residence |
2018 |
Naufus Ramírez-Figueroa: Third Lung |
2018 |
Creatures of the Mud |
2016 |