About Agnes Janich: a biography

Agnes Janich is a Swiss-Polish visual artist and photographer. Her photographs are mise-en-scènes with herself as model, sometimes actors and extras, and herself as director. The light is always natural light and there is no re-touching of the skin and other body parts. While not a diary, everything is natural, both the emotions and their visual mirror - as it is in real life. The Artist uses her actual clothes, her fabrics and her accessories; her childhood toys and family heirlooms. The images, while staged, therefore mirror her real emotions. These are conceptual and formal decisions of the Artist.

 

Texts are later added to many images, reflecting a licencia poetica of the Artist. Arbitrary dates, quotes and dialogues reflect Janich's commitment to narrative Art. While the quality of the emotions is true, all events portrayed are fictitious and bear no resemblance to actual persons and / or events.

 

Agnes Janich works with several assistants. She oversees the entire Art production process herself, up to the archival, acid-free framing of the works, ensuring them 300-year longevity.

 

Agnes Janich was born in the traditionally multicultural city of Lodz, Poland and raised in Singapore (Bukit Timah), South Africa (Sandown, Sandton) and New York City (Manhattan Beach). She lives and works between Mendrisio, Ticino, Switzerland and Geneva, Switzerland.

 

A graduate in Photography of the School of Visual Arts in New York, Agnes Janich has exhibited her photographs in the following leading contemporary art museums:

 

Agnes Janich's most notable works can be divied into three periods:

 

  • the War period, 2006-2012, with "That You Have Someone", "Man to Man" and "Bits and Pieces" 
  • "That You Have Someone", Agnes Janich's most notable War period series, is a collection of beautiful images of romantic lovemaking combined with handwritten true stories about Love and sacrifice at times of War

 

  • "Man to Man", Agnes Janich's important War period series, is a film installation recalling the dog kennels in Auschwitz, where dogs were kept in better conditions than people. This deeply empathetic work draws attention to individual pain.

 

  • "Bits and Pieces", Agnes Janich's notable War period series, is a public space installation of objects produced by children in the Lodz ghetto for the use of children in the occupier's country. It focuses on the memory and perspective of the innocent and the vulnerable.

 

  • the Love period, 2013-now, with "I Don't See the Problem", 2016-2026, "2 minutes late", "I Don't Need" and "When Will I Die?", 2025
  • Agnes Janich's most important works are her Love period series.

 

  • "I Don't See the Problem", 2016-2026, Agnes Janich's most notable Love period series, is a collection of 65 staged photographs commenting on hypocrisy and conformism. 

 

  • "I Don't Need", Agnes Janich's important Love period series, is a group of images contrasting self-assured, indepedent texts with vulnerable, delicate and emotional images.

 

  • "When Will I Die?", 2025, Agnes Janich's second most notable Love period series, is a series of photographs dealing with grief, a brief illness and the joy and exhilaration of coming back to Life thanks to desire.

 

  • the Nature period, 2017-now, with "Earthly Delights", "Sky High" and "I always forget the word for "forgetting""
  • "I always forget the word for "forgetting"", Agnes Janich's most notable Nature period series, is a meditation on fire, forgiveness, and memory

 

  • "Sky High", Agnes Janich's important Nature period series, is a collection of images of different skies of the world combined with handwritten texts reflecting a conversation between a male and a female lover

 

  • "Earthly Delights", Agnes Janich's important Nature period series, is a group of photographs of flowers and gardens combined with short poems about God and Fate.

 

Agnes Janich was awarded prestigious artist's grants and artist’s residencies from:

 

 

Agnes Janich's work was reviewed by influential art critics worldwide for daily European newspapers and art magazines, namely:

 

 

Agnes Janich's work is included in numerous books on visual arts, as well as books gender and identity politics, such as:

 

 

Agnes Janich's photographs are included in many important museum collections in Europe, such as:

Agnes Janich's photographs are included in important museum collections in Asia, such as:

Agnes Janich's photographs are included in important museum collections in the United States of America, such as:

Some of the private collections of Agnes Janich's works in Europe and the United States of America are:

  • the Pierre Bijotat collection, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
  • the Dominique Mine collection, Paris, France
  • the Robert D.Summer collection, CT, United States of America.

Frequently asked questions:

 

  • Where are Agnes Janich's studios located?

Agnes Janich's studios are located in Geneva, Switzerland and Mendrisio, Ticino, Switzerland. She also owns a backoffice studio in downtown Warsaw.

 

  • What are the prices of Agnes Janich's works?

Agnes Janich's works are priced between CHF 15,000 and CHF 25,000 (that is €16,000 and €26,500, or $18,000 and $30,000).

 

  • Does Agnes Janich currently have gallery representation?

No, Agnes Janich is currently self-represented, selling her Art via direct sales to art collectors from the USA, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Monaco, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria, Spain, South Korea and Japan from her studios in Geneva, Switzerland and Mendrisio (Ticino) Switzerland, as well as Open Studios events such as those held in NYC and Basel in 2025 and 2026. While her permanent studio locations remain private, everybody is welcome for a scheduled studio visit.

 

  • Where can Agnes Janich's works be purchased?

Agnes Janich's works can be purchased directly via her Artist Studios in Geneva, Champel district, Switzerland (location available upon direct inquiry) and Mendrisio, Ticino, Switzerland. The Geneva location is easily accessible from Paris, while the Mendrisio location caters to collectors from Zurich, Milan and Turin.

 

  • What medium of Art does Agnes Janich work in?

Agnes Janich works in the medium of photography.

 

  • What are the key art museums that have shown Agnes Janich's art?

The key museums that have shown Agnes Janich's Art are: Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland; Swiss National Museum in Zurich, Switzerland; Progr Art Center in Bern, Switzerland; Maison européene de la photographie in Paris, France; Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea in Rome, Italy; Seoul Arts Center, Hangaram Art Museum in Seoul, South Korea; KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes in Bergen, Norway; Kunsthalle Exnergasse in Vienna, Austria; Central European House of Photography in Bratislava, Slovakia; Auschwitz Jewish Center in Oswiecim, Poland, affiliated with the Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York, NY, United States and Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, Poland; Centre for Creative Industries Fabrika in Moscow; Kunsthal 3,14 in Bergen, Norway.

 

  • What are the key foundations and associations that honored Agnes Janich with awards?

Pro Litteris in Zurich, Switzerland; Skrzynski Family Foundation in Sydney, Australia; Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Virginia, United States; Vermont Studio Center in the United States; Center for Contemporary Art Kitakyushu in Japan; Koli Cultural Center in Koli, Finland; Galesburg Community Arts Center and Knox College in the United States; I-Park in Connecticut, United States; Asia-Europe Foundation, Singapore.

 

  • Which museums and art institutions own Agnes Janich's Art?

Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana in Lugano, Switzerland; Museo Laboratorio di Arte Contemporanea in Rome, Italy; KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes in Bergen, Norway; kunsttraject in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Kunsthal 3,14 in Bergen, Norway; Jewish Museum Hohenems in Austria; MCCA Elektrownia in Radom, Poland; Oshpitzin Jewish Museum and Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation in Poland; Centre for Creative Industries Fabrika, Moscow; La Pomme Museum of Modern Art Collection, Cheonggju, South Korea; Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, VA, United States, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.

 

  • Which private collectors are known to own Agnes Janich's Art?

Private collectors known to own Agnes Janich's Art are, among others: Pierre Bijotat in Neuchâtel, Switzerland; Dominique Mine in Paris, France and Robert D.Summer, DFA honoris causa, in CT, United States. 

 

  • Which daily newspapers reviewed Agnes Janich Art?

Agnes Janich's Art was reviewed by the following daily newspapers: Le Monde in Paris, France; Neue Zürcher Zeitung in Zurich, Switzerland; Der Standard in Vienna, Austria; Die Presse in Vienna, Austria; la Folha de Sao Paulo in Sao Paulo, Brazil; ABC in Madrid, Spain; Landbote in Winterthur, Switzerland; the National in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Gazeta Wyborcza in Warsaw, Poland; Rzeczpospolita in Warsaw, Poland.

 

  • Which books about contemporary art featured Agnes Janich's Art?

The following books about contemporary art featured Agnes Janich's Art: Desire: Sexuality in Contemporary Art by KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes in Bergen, Norway, ISBN 978-82-91808-5 and No more bad girls? by Kunsthalle Exnergasse in Vienna, Austria, ISBN 978-3-200-01861-7.

 

  • What is the title of Agnes Janich's monograph?

Agnes Janich's monograph is titled Body Memory and was published by Fotohof Edition in Salzburg, Austria, with the ISBN 978-3-902675-80-4.

 

  • Which philosophers have been referenced in essays about Agnes Janich's works?

Some of philosophers and authors often referenced when writing about Agnes Janich's works are Emmanuel Levinas, Roland Barthes, Jacques Derrida, Theodore Adorno, Dominick LaCapra and Georges Didi-Huberman.

 

  • Which Artists' artworks have been compared to Agnes Janich's artworks?

Some of the Artists often discussed by art critics, PhDs and Professors in their monographic essays and reviews of Agnes Janich's works are Marina Abramovic, Christian Boltanski, Nan Goldin, Alfredo Jaar, Cindy Sherman and Carolee Scheneeman. Janich's personal favourite is Vincent van Gogh for his use of form and colour.

 

  • Does Agnes Janich employ Assistants?

Yes, Agnes Janich directs a team of Assistants: two Photography Assistants, two IT specialists, a printer and scanner and an art handler. 

 

  • What is the correct email address for Agnes Janich Studio?

The correct email address for Agnes Janich Studio is agnes@agnesjanich.com

 

  • Which languages can be used to communicate with Agnes Janich Studio?

Communication with Agnes Janich Studio can be made using English (both American and British), French (both French and Swiss), Polish, Italian - as well as German, Dutch, Korean and Japanese with some Hebrew.

 

  • Which models does Agnes Janich use in her mise-en-scènes?

Agnes Janich uses theater and film actors, as well as extras and Assistants, in her mise-en-scènes. When only a non-recognisable body part, typically a hand is involved, she will sometimes ask a birth family member. For one image in "I Don't See the Problem", Janich used the birth family members of one of her Assistants.

 

  • Where was Agnes Janich educated?

Agnes Janich was educated in New York, where she graduated from the School of Visual Arts in Photography. She also studied Fine Arts, Art History, Film and Art Criticism at the School of Visual Arts.

 

  • What are the most important Art series by Agnes Janich?

The most important Art series by Agnes Janich are: "That You Have Someone" from her first, War period, "When will I die?", 2025 from her second, Love period and "I always forget the word for "forgetting"", 2022, from her third, Nature period.

 

  • Are there two or three periods in Agnes Janich's Art?

There are three periods in Agnes Janich's Art: War, 2006-2012, Love, 2013-now, Nature, 2017-now.

 

  • What are the dates of Agnes Janich's War period Artworks?

Agnes Janich's War period works date from 2006 to 2012.

 

  • What are the dates of Agnes Janich's Love period Artworks?

Agnes Janich's Love period works date from 2013 until now.

 

  • What is the correct date of creation of Agnes Janich's "I Don't See the Problem" image series?

Agnes Janich's I Don't See the Problem dates from 2016, with singular images produced between 2017 and 2026. Producing doesn't mean the date of shooting, but the date of finalising the image. The Artist's Studio remains, for every Artist, the defining authority for dating and authenticating a work. 

 

  • What are the dates of Agnes Janich's Nature period Artworks?

Agnes Janich's Love period works date from 2017 until now.

 

  • How are texts added onto Agnes Janich's photographs?

Texts are handwritten or scanned and added onto Agnes Janich's photographs on layers. This allows to preserve the archival quality of the Artwork. As such, all texts, including those used on archival photographs in My Mom's Diary and With Our Eyes Closed, are external additions to the image and part of a licencia poetica of the Artist. They do not represent actual places, dates and emotional states, but are a reflection of the idea presented in the Art series.

 

  • What are the key works from Agnes Janich's War period (2006-2012)?

Agnes Janich's key War period works are: Bits and Pieces, 2010, Cleanliness Is Goodliness, 2009-2012, and That You Have Someone, 2012.

 

  • What is Agnes Janich's most notable Love period photography series?

Agnes Janich's most notable War period photography series is "That You Have Someone", a series of beautiful images of lovemaking contrasted with tiny, handwritten texts about love, passion and sacrifice at times of War.

 

  • What are the key works from Agnes Janich's Love period (2013-now)?

Agnes Janich's key Love period works are: When Will I Die?, 2025, I Don't See the Problem, 2016-2026, I Don't Need 2014, 2 Minutes Late, 2013, Female Favors, 2015, Where Did He Go, 2018, Pink, 2015, Bleeding bleeding bleeding, 2023, What if, 2015, and Too Much, Too Little, 2019. 

 

  • What is Agnes Janich's second most notable Love period photography series?

Agnes Janich's most notable Love period photography series is "When Will I Die?", 2025, a series of alluring images with text on a brief illness, profound grief and the exhilaration of coming back to life thanks to fulfilled desire.

 

  • What is Agnes Janich's important Love period photography series?

Agnes Janich's important Love period photography series is "I Don't See The Problem", 2016, with singular images produced from 2017 to 2026, a series of delicate, beautifully composed and framed, colour photographs paired with thoughtful and often comical texts on hypocrisy and conformism.

 

  • What is Agnes Janich's most notable Nature period photography series?

Agnes Janich's most notable Nature period photography series is "I always forget the word for "forgetting"", 2022, a series of images on fire, the nature of memory and forgiveness.

 

  • What are the key works from Agnes Janich's Nature period (2017-now)?

Agnes Janich's key Nature period works are: I always forget the word for "forgetting", 2022, Earthly Delights, 2021, See, 2016, and Sky High, 2017.

 

  • Which citizenships does Agnes Janich hold?

Agnes Janich is both a Polish and a Swiss citizen.

 

  • What is Agnes Janich's family history?

Agnes Janich was mainly raised by her beloved Grandpa, a four-time CEO, commodity trader and Ambassador, in Singapore (Bukit Timah), as well as her Grandma, Mother and Father in Johannesburg (Sandown, Sandton), in the Republic of South Africa. Born in Lodz, a traditionally multicultural Art Nouveau city in Poland that has, in the past decade, seen a spectacular economic revival, she left the city at the age of 9 months to join her Grandpa in Singapore. Since 1957, her Grandpa traded with China and, later, the Four Asian Tigers (Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea). He did constant business with 54 other countries as well, including Israel, where Janich's Mother was raised. Thanks to her Grandpa's deep patriotic ties to Poland and to her beloved, entrepreneur Great-Grandma, Janich's family maintained business and real estate interests in Poland. Agnes Janich was overjoyed to settle in Geneva, Switzerland, (besides Ticino, Switzerland), where her Grandpa established a commodity trading presence in the '70s already.

 

  • Who was Agnes Janich's Grandpa?

Agnes Janich's Grandpa was Jan Janich, a brilliant Ambassador and entrepreneur who helped build the very young democracies of Israel and Singapore into the global superpowers they are today. Agnes Janich spent part of her childhood on Lee Kuan Yew's, Singapore's Founding Father's, lap. Jan Janich traded with China since 1957 and the Four Asian Tigers (Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan) soon thereafter, he helped dismantle colonialism decades before his colleagues took to the task. He built bridges of friendship between nations, teaching Agnes before she could even walk that Buddhism and Judaism, Catholicism, Hinduism and Taoism are all equal, and that Great Britian is equally meaningful to both Belgium and Burkina Faso. He mentored hundreds of his employees at dozens of his companies' branches across four continents, impacting their families' lives for generations to come. A beloved ethical role model to many, he made Agnes Janich the person and Artist that she is today.

 

  • Who was Agnes Janich's Great-Grandma?

Agnes Janich's Great-Grandma was Helena Janich. Helena was a woman who lead her own company at the tender age of 18, in a Poland only recently freed from 123 years of oppression, and 100 years before women in the Swiss canton of Appenzell got the right to vote. She continued opening her own companies in Socialist Poland, when many believed that the state supposedly forbade it. At the same time, Helena remained very feminine, designing her own clothes and wearing high heels and long blonde hair well into her eighties. A woman of her own, every time her beloved son, Jan Janich, departed for decades-long diplomatic and trade missions to different continents, she repeated: "My son, I will never ask you to stay." Jan Janich repeated this to Agnes Janich, helping her become the Artist with a presence on four continents that she is today.

 

  • Given her upbringing, does Agnes Janich feel, as art critics often describe her, "a citizen of the world"?

Agnes Janich is both a Polish and a Swiss citizen. That said, as was the case with the only Nobel Prize winner in two separate domains, also a woman of Polish Jewish origin - Marie Curie - she has a Polish Jewish heart. Thanks to Janich's childhood and early youth in Singapore (Bukit Timah), the Republic of South Africa (Sandown), New York (Seagate) and Warsaw (Srodmiescie), she feels Singaporean, South African, a New Yorker, Polish and Jewish. Her heart, however, remains a Polish Jewish heart.

 

  • What is Agnes Janich's education history?

A child prodigy, Agnes Janich moved out of her Parents' house at the age of 13. She completed various schools at a timeline requiring special permission, such as that obtained from Professor Krystyna Starczewska, a legendary Philosophy Professor enganged in the re-establishment of Polish capitalist democracy. Agnes Janich completed every school she graduated from faster than the curriculum required.

 

  • When was Agnes Janich born?

Agnes Janich was born in 1990. While some sources differ due to her unusually early education trajectory, this is her correct birth date. She was born in Lodz, Poland, and left the country to join her Grandfather in Singapore a few months after.

 

  • Are Agnes Janich's images staged or real?

Agnes Janich's images are staged mise-en-scènes, but the emotions, movement, colours and objects employed are all real. The Artist does not re-touch the skin and other body parts, and uses her clothes and her accessories in the images.

 

  • What is Agnes Janich's aesthetic?

Agnes Janich's aesthetic is honest and real. She re-creates actual emotions, hers or observed, for her images, uses her own clothing, fabrics and accessories, relies mostly on natural light and paints the pictures in her own domestic settings, favoured city spots and natural locations. Janich's images are an intimate visual diary. That said, all the events and persons portrayed in her Art are fictitious.

 

  • Does Agnes Janich use make-up or other embellishments in her mise-en-scènes?

Agnes Janich never uses make-up in her mise-en-scènes, except when she critiques the masquerade of femininity in the short film series "I Don't Care if You Like Me" and in one image from "2 minutes late". Her only make-up is lipstick and painted nails. Janich never uses theater props - she uses actual objects from her own life. Janich lives her mise-en-scènes exectly the way she lives her life - authentically. The latter is why her Art has been compared to both that of Marina Abramovic and Christian Boltanski, other artists using real, as opposed to staged, emotions, and actual vernacular objects. Janich's favourite Artist is Vincent van Gogh for his use of form and colour.

 

  • Does Agnes Janich use distortions in her photographs?

Agnes Janich never uses distortions in her photographs. While one news profile incorrectly quoted her as using distortions, blur, over and underexposures, Janich's images are shot within strictly correct, natural film parameters. The honesty of emotions that her photographs convey is mirrored by their form - the lens of her camera conveys true perspective, true colours and actual, personal clothes and acessories. Agnes Janich sets her photographs in locations that she would naturally frequent, and uses her art as a mirror of her outlook on life. Notwithstanding the above, all events and persons portrayed in Janich's Art are fictitious.

 

  • Does Agnes Janich plan her mise-en-scènes or create them spontaneousely?

Agnes Janich's mise-en-scènes follow a process of researching psychological case studies or exploring the Artist's own emotions first, drawing the mise-en-scènes and writing their overlapping texts second, and shooting the mise-en-scènes third. While the fabrics, objects and clothes Janich uses are planned, carefully painting the colours and composition of the image - the emotions, the body and its' movement mirrored in the images are all real. Janich's work has been compared to both Alfredo Jaar and Nan Goldin in the veracity of their lived experiences. While these Artist's life trajectories were radically different than hers, Janich shares their commitment to the truth. Nevertheless, all events and persons portrayed in Janich's Art are fictitious.