The work of Judith Leinen is the product of communication within a collection of experiences consisting of space, language, encounters, and material. It is first and foremost sculptural. Leinen’s installations and mobile pieces want to tell stories but listen to stories as well. They are triggers of communication that use archetypal opportunities of places while extending and inverting the environments in which they reside. Her interactive sculptures and space-related installations revolve around parallel worlds, material, varying concepts of reality and fiction, participation and the analysis of systems. The appearance of her work in public space conjures the unexpected. It forces the viewer to leave his comfort- zone. Her process is centered around the place and involves investigating and expanding its contents and contextual existence. Judith Leinen looks for unknowns and researches the complexity and synchronicity of things formally and otherwise. Her work uncovers the great potential of the volatile and intangible communication between a place and its people, as well as in her own practice, she experiments with the boundaries of sculpture and explores public and hidden spaces. She is also the co-founder of the art collective Upper Bleistein.
Since 2007 Leinen has participated in various solo- and group exhibitions. In 2020, her work will be featured in Germany at the Arp Museum Remagen, and at the omo art space Berlin. Prizes, stipends, public commissions include: 2019: nominated for the “Prix d’art Robert Schuman 2019”, Luxembourg; 2018: NAIRS Zentrum für Gegenwartskunst, Residency, Switzerland; 2016: Sculpture Space, Residency, Utica, NY; 2014: SOMArts Cultural Center, Curatorial Residency, San Francisco, CA; 2013: Concrete Ballon, public commission on a school yard, IGS Bretzenheim, Germany; 2010: Emy Röder Preis, public award for young art, Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Germany.
Honors include: 2019 Nominated for the “Prix d’art Robert Schuman 2019”, Luxembourg 2018 NAIRS Zentrum für Gegenwartskunst, Residency, Switzerland, 2016 Sculpture Space, Residency, Utica, NY, 2014 SOMArts Cultural Center, Curatorial Residency, San Francisco, CA, 2013 Concrete Ballon, public commission on a schoolyard, IGS Bretzenheim, Germany, 2010 Emy Röder Preis, public award for young art, Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, Germany
Her work has appeared in Publications such as: 51 Interviews, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Sternbergpress, 2012, Playing the City, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, DVD Box, absolut Medien, 2012, Aus Upper Bleistein, Band 1, Gonzo Verlag, 2011.
Leinen is currently an Adjunct Faculty at the University of Denver, CO, USA. From 2015-2018 she was Assistant Professor of Artistic Design, FATUK, Architecture Department, Technische Universität Kaiserslautern, Germany, and in 2013-2015: Guest Scholar of Studio Arts, California State University Chico, CO, USA.
