About Agnes Janich: a biography

Agnes Janich is a Swiss and European (of Polish Jewish origin) visual artist. Her visual art tableaux (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. This a conceptual and formal decision of the Artist. Employing 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.

 

Janich was born in the traditionally multicultural city of Lodz, Poland and raised in Singapore, South Africa and New York City (NYC). She lives and works between Mendrisio, Ticino, Switzerland and Geneva, Switzerland.

 

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

• the Progr Art Center in Bern, Switzerland
• the KODE – Art Museums and Composer Homes, Bergen, Norway
• the Galapagos Art Space [now Detroit Biennial], New York, NY, USA
• with an Asia-European Foundation Grant at the Maison Européene de la Photographie in Paris, France
• the Museo Laboratorio d'Arte Contemporanea in Rome, Italy
• the Central European House of Photography in Bratislava, Slovakia
• the Sharjah Biennial, United Arab Emirates
• the Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, Austria
• the Platform /Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
• the Auschwitz Jewish Center, Oświęcim (satellite of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York, NY) and Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow and MOCAK, Krakow
• the Centre for Creative Industries (CCI) Fabrika, Moscow
• the Kunsthal 3,14, Bergen, Norway

 

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" 
• the Love period, 2013-now, with "I Don't See the Problem", "2 minutes late", "I Don't Need" and "When Will I Die?"
• the Nature period, 2017-now, with "Earthly Delights", "Sky High" and "J'oublie toujours le mot "oublier""

 

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

 

• Waverley Arts Council, Sydney, Australia
• Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, USA
• Suisseculture Sociale, Zürich, Switzerland
• Skrzynski Foundation [then Sky Foundation], Sydney, Australia
• Centre for Creative Industries (CCI) Fabrika, Moscow, Russia
• Pro Litteris, Zürich, Switzerland
• Center for Contemporary Art (CCA) Kitakyushu, Japan
• Vermont Studio Center, USA
• Koli Cultural Center, Koli, Finland
• Fonds d’entraide des artistes visuels suisses, Zürich, Switzerland
• Villa Sträuli [now Kulturhaus Villa Sträuli], Switzerland
• Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) Conference, Paris Photo, France
• Galesburg Community Arts Center [then Galesburg Civic Art Center] and & Knox College, USA.

 

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

 

• Daniele Muscionico for Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Switzerland
• Silas Marti for la Folha de São Paulo, Brazil
• Der Standard, Vienna, Austria
• Joanna Tokarska-Bakir, PhD for Dwutygodnik
• Marta Pietrasik for Gazeta Wyborcza, Warsaw, Poland
• Zuzanna Sokolowska, Phd for Amor Fati, Poland
• Javier Diaz-Guardiola for ABC, Madrid, Spain
• Monika Malkowska for Rzeczpospolita, Warsaw, Poland
• Jena Opoldusova for Pravda, Bratislava, Slovakia
• Marta Raczek-Karcz, PhD for Obieg, CCA Zamek Magazine
• Lyle Rexer, Phd, a freelance art critic and author for, i.e., Aperture Magazine
• Le Monde, Paris, France
• Oliver Good for The National, United Arab Emirates
• Patrycja Dolowy, PhD for MOCAK Forum
• Sabine Vogel, PhD for Die Presse, Vienna, Austria
• Melanie Kolbrunner for Landbote, Switzerland.

 

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

 

• a monograph of Agnes Janich's works, Body Memory, accompanied by essays by:
• Thyrza Nichols Goodeve, PhD, an art critic for Artforum, & Lyle Rexer, PhD, an art critic for Aperture,
• was out with Fotohof Edition, Salzburg, AT, ISBN 978-3-902675-80-4
• Desire, exhibition catalog, 2012, Ed. Eli Okkenhaug, KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes, Bergen, Norway, ISBN 978-82-91808-5
• No more bad girls?, Ed. Kathrin Becker and Claudia M. Stemberger, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, ISBN 978-3-200-01861-7
• Provisions. Sharjah Biennial 9. Book 2, Ed. Antonia Carver and Lara Khaldi, Bidouin and Sharjah Biennial, New York and Sharjah, ISBN 978-9978-04-553-X

 

Anges Janich's photographs are included in important European and American museum collections, such as:

• in Switzerland
• the Museo d'arte della Svizzera italiana (MASI) Collection, Lugano
• in Holland
• the kunsttraject Collection, Amsterdam
• in Austria
• the Jewish Museum Hohenems Collection
• in Italy
• the Museo Laboratorio d'arte Contemporanea (MLAC) Collection, Rome
• in Poland
• the MCSW (CCA) Radom Collection, Radom
• the Oshpitzin Jewish Museum & Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation Collection
• in Norway
• the KODE Art Museums and Composer Homes Collection, Bergen
• the Kunsthal 3,14 Collection, Bergen
• in South Korea
• the La Pomme Museum of Modern Art Collection, Cheonggju
• in Russia
• the Centre for Creative Industries (CCI) Fabrika Collection, Moscow
• in the United States of America
  
• the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts Collection, Amherst, VA, United States
• the Carnegie Mellon University Collection, Pittsburgh, PA, United States.