German born (1958) philosopher, art historian, photography critic, professor
Hubertus von Amelunxen (born 29 December 1958,
Bad Hindelang,
Allgäu) is a philosopher, art historian, editor, curator, photography critic, and professor for philosophy of photography and cultural studies. Amelunxen has authored and published several books focusing on the history and theory of photography and has curated several international exhibitions. He served as president and provost at the
European Graduate School, based in
Saas-Fee,
Switzerland, and
Valletta,
Malta from October 2013 until June 2018.[1]
Amelunxen started his academic career by lecturing in
Basel on time and photography (1991). He became a Visiting Professor at the
University of California, Santa Cruz (1991-1992), representing
Victor Burgin. In 1995 he obtained a 5-year tenure at the Muthesius Hochschule for Art and Design in
Kiel, where he founded the Center for Interdisciplinary Project Studies. Afterwards, in 2000, he taught at the
University of Düsseldorf and at the
Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp). In 2001 he became founding director at the
International School of New Media in
Lübeck, a position he held until 2005. From 2005 to 2009 he served as rector of the École Européenne Supérieure de l'Image (ÉESI) in
Angoulême/
Poitiers, France.[2] From 2010 to 2013 he served as president of the Hochschule der Bildenden Künste in
Braunschweig.
The European Graduate School (EGS)
Since 2002 Amelunxen has been a faculty member of the
European Graduate School, a private graduate school based in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, and Valletta, Malta, which specializes in philosophy, critical thinking and art therapy.
In 2006 he obtained the Walter Benjamin Chair at the EGS, specialized in Media Philosophy and Cultural Studies.
From October 2013 to July 2018, Amelunxen served as president and provost at the
European Graduate School.[3] Under his term, the EGS has expanded to Malta and its programs have gained full European accreditation.
Archivio Conz
Hubertus von Amelunxen has been the Academic Director of
Archivio Conz in Berlin, Germany since 2020. The Archivio Conz brings together Lettrism, Concrete Poetry, and Fluxus in a collection of over 4,000 works including artwork, literature, documents, personal belongings and editions catalysed by the Italian publisher, collector, and also photographer
Francesco Conz.
Curatorial work
Besides his academic endeavours, Amelunxen has been active as curator and member of artistic organisations. From 2001 until 2007 Amelunxen was a visiting curator at the
Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) in Montréal. During this time, he was responsible for the Tangent series of exhibitions and accompanying publications, which brought "contemporary artists into dialogue with the CCA Collection and [resulted] in newly commissioned works."[4] While at the CCA, he played a role in the acquisition of an important group of works by
Gordon Matta-Clark.
In 2003 Amelunxen was appointed member of the Fine Arts Section of the
Akademie der Künste in
Berlin.[5] In 2014 he was appointed member of the first Artistic Advisory Board at the Public Art Experience,[6] in
Luxembourg.
Amelunxen has curated several international exhibitions, working shoulder to shoulder with well-known artists such as
Cy Twombly,
Iannis Xenakis,
Dieter Appelt,
Peter Weibel,
Naoya Hatakeyama, among others. His exhibitions have been shown in different galleries and museums of North America and Europe.
Editorial work
Amelunxen has been active as an editor. He first became member of the editorial board of the Mannheim series of papers Mana-Analytika (Média Medusa) in 1987, a position he occupied until 1992.
In 1988 he became editor of the well-known German magazine on the history of photography Fotogeschichte, which is published in
Marburg and
Frankfurt am Main.
Since 1996, he is a member of the German editorial board of the French series of papers Esthétique, Editions l’Harmattan, a publication based in Paris.
Books
Gustave Le Gray, Seascapes, Schirmer/Mosel, Munich (2015); contains an essay by Hubertus von Amelunxen.[7]
Steve Sabella, Works 1997-2014, Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern (2014); edited by Hubertus von Amelunxen.[8]
Gordon Matta-Clark, Moment to Moment: Space, Verlag für Moderne Kunst, Nürnberg; co-edited with Angela Lammert and Philip Ursprung (2012).[9]
Elger Esser, Nocturnes à Giverny. Claude Monet's Garden, Schirmer/Mosel Verlag, Munich (2012); with an essay by Hubertus von Amelunxen.[10]
Iannis Xenakis, Kontrolle und Zufall, Akademie der Künste, Berlin (2011); co-edited with Angela Lammert.[11]
Cy Twombly, Photographs III. 1951-2010 (2011); with an essay by Hubertus von Amelunxen.[12]
Photography and Disaster. Collected Essays, University of Disaster Series, Atropos Press, New York/Dresden (2010).
Paul Virilio, Grey Ecology, University of Disaster Series, Atropos Press, New York/Dresden (2009); edited by Hubertus von Amelunxen.[13]
Notation. Kalkül und Form in den Künsten, Akademie der Künste, Berlin (2008); co-edited with
Dieter Appelt and
Peter Weibel.[14]
Gegenwartsbildung / Present Formations, Schriftenreihe der Muthesius-Hochschule "Gestalt und Diskurs", vol. 2, Kiel (2001); co-edited with Antje Krause-Wahl.[21]
Photo- und Konzeptkunst am Bau. Unter den Linden 50. Ein Projekt für den Deutschen Bundestag Berlin, AWF Verlag, Heidelberg (2000); co-edited with Hans-Werner Schmidt.[22]
Architecture of
Zaha Hadid in Photographs by
Hélène Binet, Lars Müller Publishers, Baden (2000); with an essay by Hubertus von Amelunxen.[23]
Theorie der Fotografie i-IV. 1980-1995, Schirmer/Mosel, Munich (2000); co-edited with Wolfgang Kemp.[24]
Tomorrow For Ever. Architektur/Zeit/Photographie, DuMont, Cologne (1999); co-edited with Carl Aigner and Walter Smerling.[25]
Artfiction. Junge Kunst aus Italien, Kiel Stadtgalerie im Kulturviertel/Sophienhof Kiel, Kiel (1998); co-edited with Knut Nievers and Edoardo DiMauro.[27]
Photography after Photography. Memory and Representation in the Digital Age, G+B Arts, New York (1997); co-edited with Stefan Iglhaut and Florian Rötzer.[28]
Les lieux du non-lieu. L'état des choses dans la photographie française contemporaine, Verlag der Kunst, Dresden (1997); co-edited with Ulrich Pohlmann.[29]
Fotografie nach der Fotografie, Verlag der Kunst, Berlin (1995); co-edited with Stefan Iglhaut and Florian Rötzer.[30]
Allegorie und Photographie. Untersuchungen zur französischen Literatur des 19. Jahrhunderts,
University of Mannheim (1992); doctoral dissertation.[31]
Zhang Hai'er, Fotografien aus China. 1986-1989, Edition Braus, Heidelberg (1990); co-edited with Barbara Kunzendorf-Hohenadl.[32]
Television/Revolution. Das Ultimatum des Bildes. Rumänien im Dezember 1989, Jonas, Marburg (1990); co-edited with
Andrei Ujică.[33]
"Kontrolle und Zufall.
Iannis Xenakis: Komponist, Architekt, Visionär" in the
Akademie der Künste, Berlin (2011); co-curated with Sharon Kanach and Angela Lammert.[37]
"Andreas Müller-Pohle. Interfaces, Foto und Video 1977–1999" at the Altes Rathaus in
Göttingen (1999).[50]
"Artfiction. Junge Kunst aus Italien" at the Stadtgalerie im Sophienhof in
Kiel (1998); the first of a long series of exhibitions on Italian art in Kiel.