Biography of Lothar Baumgarten
Lothar Baumgarten (born 1944 in Rheinsberg, DE) is a conceptual installation artist, photographer, and cineaste with a particular interest in ethnology. His oeuvre is diverse, including sculptural, photographic, and film works, as well as prints, recordings, drawings, and written works. Central themes in the artist's body of work are the contrasting notions of nature and culture, and the "self" versus the "other".
Baumgarten's works are frequently site-specific; for instance, he presented one of his masterpieces, the mural Monument for the South American Indian Nations, 1982 on the occasion of the documenta 7 in Kassel.
In addition to his installations, the medium of photography has always played a significant role in Baumgarten's work. In his authentic and haunting photographs, the artist captures the impressions he gained from his numerous and wide-ranging travels to remote places and tribes far from the cultures and communities we are all familiar with. In these photographs - often published in limited edition prints – Baumgarten tackles sensitive topics such as the German "Kulturkritik" (cultural criticism) and issues of colonization. The artist currently lives and works in Berlin and New York City. He has a strong global presence and has won numerous awards throughout his career.
