SUSANNE KESSLER

Susanne Kessler’s artistic practice encompasses an impressive range of media, including works on paper, photography, painting, sculpture and large-scale installation. Her work is characterised by expansive organic forms, complex structural systems and sustained reflections on human existence. Living and working between Berlin and Rome, Kessler is acutely aware of the historical cycles of growth and collapse that shape both cities and civilisations. This awareness informs her enduring fascination with time, memory and layered histories.

Central to Kessler’s practice is the investigation of line in all its manifestations. Across drawings, collages, paintings and spatial installations, line operates not only as a formal device but as a connective and transformative force that binds her diverse body of work. Her spatial drawings treat line as a site of memory and mobility, constructed through accumulative processes and multiple techniques developed over extended periods of time. These layered structures reveal different phases of her artistic evolution while remaining open, fluid and dynamic.

Kessler studied painting and graphic arts at the Berlin University of the Arts before completing further studies at the Royal College of Art, London. She has lived in Rome since 1984 and, for more than two decades, has also maintained a studio in Berlin. Her numerous international residencies—including Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mali, Pakistan, India and Iran—have had a lasting influence on her visual language and material sensibilities.

In 1992, Kessler was awarded the Paul Strecker Prize by the City of Mainz, and in 2022 she received the prestigious Von der Heydt Culture Prize. Alongside extensive residencies and scholarships, she has exhibited internationally in over sixty solo exhibitions. As an academic, she has held positions as a guest lecturer at California State University (CSU) and as Professor of Sculpture and Drawing at the City University of New York (CUNY).
Susanne Kessler first exhibited at October Gallery in 1991 with the installation The Carousel of Shapes. More recently, her work has featured in several group exhibitions at the gallery, including Lineages (2026), Material Sensibilities (2025), Transvangarde: Free Style Cipher (2024), and Transvangarde: Pushing Boundaries (2023).

“The multitude and multi shapes of Susanne Kessler’s work, which within the overall project consists of objects, models, films, drawings, and installations, is extremely impressive. In addition, it is fascinating to see how all works exhibit autonomy while also connecting with each other, and referring to the line that began at the origin of all creation—the line that interconnects everything. In a quasi-organic growth process, the line develops continuously—at times very abstractly, at times by way of linking and condensing. A more variegated artistic vision, like a musical fugue, is hardly imaginable.” - Ulrike Wolff-Thomsen, Director of the Museum Kunst der Westküste, 2018.

SUSANNE KESSLER Items From Our Store

Susanne Kessler Selected Works

Jacob' s Dream, 2023-24.

The Unattainable Summit, 2024.

Triptych Synaptic Drawing, 2014-22.

Aggregations, 2010 – 2024.

Susanne Kessler

b. 1955, Wuppertal, Germany. Lives and works between Rome, Berlin and London.

Education
1982-83		Royal College of Art, London, UK
1975-82		University of Arts, Berlin, Germany

Awards
2022		Von der Heydt Culture Prize of the City of Wuppertal, Germany
2014		Ruth Katzman Award, New York, USA
1995		Kaiserring Scholarship, Mönchehaus Museum of Contemporary Art Goslar, Germany
1992		Paul Strecker Prize, Mainz, Germany
1982 - 83		DAAD Scholarship, London, UK

Residencies
2022		Tryfon Art Residency, Molyvos, Lesbos, Greece
2017		Hand to Hand, residency exchange, Hong Art Museum Chongqing, Chengdu, China and Verein Berliner Künstler, Berlin, Germany
2016		Museum Kunst der Westküste, Alkersum/Föhr, Germany
2014		Art Students League, New York, USA
2003		Fadjr Festival, Tehran, Iran
1996		Goethe-Institut, Lahore, Pakistan
1995-96		Lalit Kala Academi, New Delhi, India Max Mueller Bhavan Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai, India

Selected solo exhibitions
2026		The Lines of the World, Sala 1, Rome, Italy
2024		The Ocean Room, Projectspace, Rome, Italy Manifold, Kunstverein Rosenheim, Germany
2023		Cartographic Line Works, Kunstmuseum Bayreuth, Germany
2022		Oceans, Kunstverein Würzburg, Germany Drawings and Books, RAUM 5, HBK Essen / Campus Wuppertal, Germany Odissea, International Music Festival, Molyvos/Lesbos, Greece About Roots and Borders, Gallery Agora, Council of Europe, Strasbourg, France Undated, Kunstverein Lippstadt, Germany
2019		Continuum (with Guda Koster), Kunstforum der Sparkasse Wuppertal, Germany Interplay (with Paolo Bielli), GAM, Galleria Arte Moderna di Roma, Rome, Italy Odissea, Galerie Neon, Geppert Academy of Arts, Wroclaw, Poland
2018		Mappa Mundi, MACRO, Museo Arte Contemporaneo, Rome, Italy Odissea, Museum Kunst der Westküste (MKdW), Alkersum/Föhr, Germany
2016		Shields, Sala Santa Rita, Rome, Italy
2015		Jerusalem, Galerie Whiteconcepts, Berlin, Germany Jerusalem, American University Museum, Katzen Art Center, Washington, D.C., USA
2014		Dialogue on Paper (with Marek Jakuszewski), Galeria Rotunda, Academy of Arts, Poznan, Poland Meanders, DominoArt 2014, Dominohaus, Reutlingen, Germany The Yellow and the Blue Book, Kunstmuseum Solingen, Germany
2011–12		Drawing Construction Site, Galerie M, Berlin, Germany
2009		In Bilico, Galerie Epikur, Wuppertal, Germany
2008		Drawing Space – The New York Room, J.J. Gallery, City University New York, NY, USA Synapse, Galleria Dora Diamanti, Rome, Italy
2007		Synaptic Drawings, Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville, VA, USA
2006		The Flying Temple, as part of Kunstlandschaft 06, outdoor intervention near Büsum by the Sea, Germany
2004		Capriccio (with Anna Löbner), Produzentengalerie, Offenburg, Germany Patterns of Life, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, D.C., USA Wire-Wall-Drawing, Goethe-Institut, Washington, D.C., USA
2003		Room of Evolution, Artist Forum, 21st Fadjr International Theatre Festival, Tehran, Iran
2002		Soft Grids, University Art Gallery, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA, USA Exhibition on Time, Gustav-Lübcke-Museum, Hamm, Germany Pictures, Books, and Objects, Stadtgalerie im Elbeforum, Brunsbüttel, Germany
2001		l Fregio di Palermo, Cantieri alla Zisa / Goethe-Institut Palermo, Italy In the Course of Things, Stillness, Galerie der Stadt Remscheid, Germany Installations and Pictures, Galerie Beethovenstraße, Düsseldorf, Germany
1999		Pictures, Constructions, Works on Paper, Sammlung van der Grinten, Joseph Beuys Archiv, Stiftung Museum Schloss Moyland, Bedburg-Hau, Germany
1997		Overseas, Museum Abtei Liesborn, Liesborn-Wadersloh, Germany
1996		Recording Disappearance, Lalit Kala Academi, New Delhi, India The Broken Image, Max Mueller Bhavan, Hyderabad, India Conserving Memories, Max Mueller Bhavan with Gallery Chemould, Mumbai, India Only to Vanish Once More, National College of Arts, Lahore, Pakistan
1995		Pictures and Constructions, Kunstverein Speyer, Germany The Tent (with sound by composer Babette Koblenz), Loft, Cologne, Germany Pictures and Objects, IG-Metall-Galerie, Frankfurt, Germany Pictures and Objects, Mönchehaus Museum Goslar, Germany The Universe Moves, Max Mueller Bhavan, Chennai, India
1994		We Should Build Temples Again, Von der Heydt-Museum, Wuppertal, Germany The Origin of Things, Galerie Epikur, Wuppertal, Germany
1993		Books, Space Objects, Goethe-Institut, Rome, Italy Drawings and Constructions, Kunstmuseum Albstadt, Germany Drawings, Landesmuseum Mainz, Germany
1992		The Carousel of Shapes, October Gallery, London, UK The Carousel of Shapes, Goethe-Institut, London, UK
1991		Exhibition at Three Locations, Kunstverein Solingen, Germany
1990		Painting and Projects, Centro di Arte Contemporanea Luigi di Sarro, Rome, Italy
1989		Line Carousel, Kunstverein Lingen, Germany Picture Books, Pictures, Drawings, and Space Objects, Landesmuseum Mainz, Germany
1987		Wings, Books, and Pictures (with Werner Haypeter), Städtische Galerie Peschkenhaus, Moers, Germany Color Carousel, Galerie Brusten, Wuppertal, Germany Painting 1983–1987, Deutsches Klingenmuseum, Solingen, Germany

Selected group exhibitions
2026		Lineages, October Gallery, London, UK Filo Difusione - Part 2, Gramma Epsilon Gallery, Athens, Greece
2025		Material Sensibilities, October Gallery, London, UK Summer Exhibition 2025, Stiftung Starke, Berlin, Germany Un’umanità in movimento, Fondazione Magis, Rome, Italy The White Ribbon, Grancaro Sculpture Park, Cozza Caposavi, Bolsena, Italy
2024		Rome Art Week, Citywide Festival, Rome, Italy We Are Democracy, Deutscher Künstlerbund Gallery, Berlin, Germany Books as Art, MUACC University Museum, Cagliari, Italy The Second Best Time is Now (Fe-Mail Art), Air Gallery, New York, NY, USA Transvangarde: Free Style Cipher, October Gallery, London, UK
2023		Christmas Exhibition, Stiftung Starke, Berlin, Germany Small Works, Strata Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, USA Books as Art, Epsilon Gallery, Athens, Greece Transvangarde : Pushing Boundaries, October Gallery, London, UK Anthropos e Kainos II, Ex Cartiera Latina, Rome, Italy
2022		Io e Me / Self-Portraits of Lockdown, European Library / Sala 1, Rome, Italy Giallo-Blue: No War, Project Space, Rome, Italy
2021		Escape Plan, RAW, Rome Art Week, Italy Beyond Borders, Arteporto, Flavio and Claudio Ports (Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition), Ostia Antica/Rome, Italy Natura Viva, Hortus Conclusus (Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition), La Ginestra, Acqualagna, Italy
2020		D Off Shore, Kunstmuseum Albstadt, Germany Carte Blanche VIII, Forum for Art and Culture, Herzogenrath, Germany Tiny Biennale, Temple University, Campus Rome, Italy Fe-Mail Art, Air Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2019		RAW, Rome Art Week, Rome, Italy ntasi, Casa dell’Architettura, Rome, Italy Berlin–Rome, Verein Berliner Künstler, Berlin, Germany echne, Goethe-Institut, Porto Alegre, Brazil Rome–Berlin, Centro Luigi di Sarro, Rome, Italy Anyone Can Fly, Sugar Hill Children's Museum of Art, Harlem, New York, NY, USA
2018		Hand in Hand, Hongdei Museum, Chengdu, China Biennale Arte di Viterbo, Palazzo Priori, Viterbo, Italy Wild and Connected, Galerie Verein Berliner Künstler, Berlin, Germany Ricognizioni. Dai BoCs Art i linguaggi del contemporaneo, Museo BoCs Art, Cosenza, Italy
2017		Macht Geld, Galerie Verein Berliner Künstler, Berlin, Germany Heimat, Deutscher Künstlerbund, Berlin, Germany Anyone Can Fly, Affirmation Studios, New York, NY, USA
2016-17		The Long March, Neuer Kunstverein, Wuppertal, Germany
2016		Collezione DIF, Museo Diffuso, Palazzo Chigi, Formello, Italy Arteporto, Ancient Ports Flavio and Claudio, Ostia Antica/Rome, Italy Virtual Reality, The Jerusalem Fund, Washington, D.C., USA Moving Mountains, Galerie Ursula Walter, Dresden, Germany
2015		IL Linguaggio come scoperta, Museo MLAC – Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy Floor by Floor, Efastudios, New York, NY, USA Open Studio, Arlington Art Center, Arlington, VA, USA 6th Autumn Salon, Kunstverein Bad Homburg, Germany
2014		Any One Can Fly, ACFF 2014, Open Center, New York, NY, USA Premio Pio Alferano 2014, Fondazione Pio Alferano, Castello dell’Abate, Castellabate, Italy La Luce E L’Icona, Arte Paleocristiana – Arte Contemporanea, Basilica di San Giovanni a Cimitile, Nola, Italy OSTRALE’014, Dresden, Germany Just Fair, Galerie Whiteconcepts, Berlin, Germany
2013		Extra Ordinary Day, MAAM – Museo dell’Altro e dell’Altrove, Rome, Italy In SIMBIOSI, Accademia di Romania, Rome, Italy Any One Can Fly, ACA Galleries, New York, NY, USA A Women Call for Peace, Andrew Shiva Gallery, New York, NY, USA Mapping: Redrawing Places, Il Frantoio, Capalbio, Italy Seriousness Becomes Fun – The Ironic in Art, Galerie Deutscher Künstlerbund, Berlin, Germany
2012		Art Container Steffisburg, Thun, Switzerland
2011		9/11, Galleria Cortese e Lisante, Rome, Italy The Weaving of Journeys – Premio Termoli, Galleria Civica d’Arte Contemporanea, Termoli, Italy
2010		Sbandati, Ex-Gil Roma, Rome, Italy Flux, Galerie Whiteconcepts, Berlin, Germany Open Studios, Museo Faina, Orvieto, Italy
2009		Back to the Wall, Tribes Gallery, New York, NY, USA Pencil Concert, Galerie Inga Kondeyne, Berlin, Germany
2008		Dialogue, Kunstakademie Riga, Latvia Ambientart I/II, Palazzo dei Priori, Viterbo, Italy
2007		Lines, Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Germany
2006		Standpoint: Now, University of the Arts, Berlin, Germany Art Landscapes 2006 – Projects and Models, Galerie im Elbeforum, Brunsbüttel, Germany
2002		Man and Space, Villa Streccius, Landau, Germany
2001		Objects, Galerie Brusten, Wuppertal, Germany
1999		Sculpture in the Park, Schloss Borbeck, Essen, Germany
1998		Natural Light, Flottmann-Hallen, Herne, Germany
1997		Encounters, Städtische Galerie Albstadt, Albstadt-Ebingen, Germany At Elbe and Rhine, Project Exhibition by the Montag-Stiftung, Dresden-Bonn, Germany Stair Up, Galerie Brusten, Wuppertal, Germany Visions, Galerie Brusten, Wuppertal, Germany
1996		In-Contri, Goethe-Institut Palermo, Italy Self-Portrait – Inside-Out, Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea, Milo, Catania, Italy Europe–Africa, Palazzo Osterio Magno, Céfalù, Italy
1995		Fredsskulptur – Peace Sculpture, International Exhibition on the Bunkers of the Danish West Coast, Denmark (in collaboration with Ludwig Forum for International Art, Aachen, Germany) The Human Inner Ear Invades the Bunkers (with Magdalena Jetelova), Museet for Religios Kunst, Lemvig, Denmark
1989		Grande Delubro, l’Arte, Salerniana, Erice, Italy
1988		12 Years Galerie Brusten, Kunsthalle Wuppertal, Germany Arie, Festival dei Due Mondi, Spoleto, Italy Art and Architecture, Salone Internazionale dell’Architettura, Milan, Italy
1987		Wall Objects, Galerie Brusten, Wuppertal, Germany Culture–Nature, Art in the Project, Wuppertal, Germany Message Image, Maximilian Church, Society for Christian Art, Düsseldorf, Germany The Octagon, Galerie Brusten, Wuppertal, Germany Carousel of Forms, Schloss Stolberg, Aachen, Germany Vertical Horizons, La Torre di Ciarrapico, Pescara, Italy
1987		Art Prize, Kunstverein Lingen, Germany
1983		Just Now, Goethe-Institut, London, UK

Collections

Anyone Can Fly Foundation, New York, NY, USA
American University Museum, the Katzen Art Center, Washington, D.C., USA
Art Students League Collection, New York, NY, USA
US Embassy, U.S. Department of State, Washington D.C., USA
Kalenarte Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Casacalenda, Italy
Kunstmuseum Albstadt, Germany
Kunstsammlung der Stadtsparkasse Wuppertal, Germany
Landesmuseum, Mainz, Germany
Mönchehaus Museum Goslar, Goslar, Germany
Museum BoCS Art, Cosenza, Italy
Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul, (MARGS), Porto Allegre, Brazil
Museum Kunst der Westküste, Alkersum, Germany
Museum Schloss Moyland, Bedburg-Hau, Germany
Von-der-Heydt Museum Wuppertal, Germany

SUSANNE KESSLER

Susanne Kessler Selected Works

Susanne Kessler

OCTOBER GALLERY ARTISTS