Kathrin Sonntag

Kathrin Sonntag is a visual artist whose practice spans photography, sculpture, film, and installations. 

Biography of Kathrin Sonntag

Kathrin Sonntag was born in 1981 in Berlin. She earned her BA and MA in Visual Arts from the Berlin University of the Arts, studying under Lothar Baumgarten. Sonntag's work has been exhibited in notable museums such as the Kunstverein in Hamburg, Germany, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Sonntag was awarded the Dr. Georg and Josi Guggenheim Prize in 2009 and received a German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) research scholarship in 2011.

She has also had solo presentations at the Swiss Institute – Contemporary Art in New York (2009), Kunstverein in Hamburg (2011), Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich (2013), and Aspen Art Museum in Colorado (2013).

Her works have been featured in numerous group exhibitions held at various galleries and museums, including SculptureCenter in New York,  Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, and Haus der Kunst in Munich, among others.

Currently, the artist lives and works in Berlin, Germany. 

Kathrin Sonntag's Art Style

Sonntag's work explores perception and novel ways of seeing. She frequently juxtaposes everyday objects with artworks and artist tools, creating pieces in the forms of photography, film, installations, and sculpture.

Her work distorts, refracts, and fragments quotidian objects to inspire audiences to untether their preconceived ways of looking and seeing. Her images often challenge perceptions of illusionistic space and question assumptions about truth in photography.

By employing stools, tripods, tables, and mirrors to craft unconventional perspectives, Sonntag’s installations strip meaning from familiar objects through photographic experiments conducted within the confines of her studio. For example, in "Mittnacht" (2008), she used eighty-one slides of found images of paranormal phenomena, creating an eerie atmosphere by disorienting placement and processing errors.

In "Wood Mirror" (2010), a small mirror appears to point outward but fails to reflect the expected image, instead revealing a nearby object. Similarly, in "flic-flac #2" (2009) Sonntag used mirrors to distort the perspective of a coffee mug, questioning the nature of reflection and concealment. Sonntag's manipulation of material challenges the infallibility of documentary photography and uncovers inconsistencies within visual records.