Born in Neuwied, Germany, in 1960, she lives and works in Amsterdam and Frankfurt, Germany. She studied at the Städelschule Frankfurt (Meisterschüler), Germany, and at the Jan van Eyck Academie Maastricht, The Netherlands. Her work has been shown in Germany, at Frankfurter Kunstverein, Kunsthalle Mainz; Galerie Weisser Elefant, Haus am Lützowplatz, and Galerie Nord, Berlin, and abroad at Liget Galeria, Budapest; TENT, Rotterdam, Marres and Hedah, Maastricht, The Netherlands; Kunsthalle, Tirol, and Forum Stadtpark, Graz, Austria; New International Cultural Centre, Antwerp, Belgium; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Anadiel Gallery, Ramallah West Bank; Smart Project Space and W139, Amsterdam.
Since 1997, Hergenhahn has realised site-specific public-space projects for the Goethe Institut, the Ludwig Museum, Budapest; Lichtrouten Lüdenscheid, Loyal Rooftops, Kassel, Ruhrlights, Mülheim, and Dominikanerkloster, Frankfurt, in Germany; Vane, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Art Lab, Hull, UK; Thailand New Media Art Festival, Bangkok; Lichtjaren, Gouda, and Interference Prefrontaal, Breda, in the Netherlands; and Narracje, Gdańsk, Poland.
With relentless humour and ambiguity, Hermelinde Hergenhahn explores human hopes and fears in hundreds of drawings both very small and extremely large. Her writings, lms and public- space installations transform these aspirations and anxieties, shifting them from the private sphere to the very public arena of everyday life. She describes her approach as being one of critical nearness.
Selected exhibitions
2020 Art Spring Online, Berlin
2019 Bollwerk, Kunstsommer Mittelhessen, Casemates Dillenburg Castle, Dillenburg, Germany
2017 Time, Space and Architecture, Cityscapes Foundation, Amsterdam
2014 Scheinwerfer: Lightart in 21st Century Germany, Kunstmuseum Celle, Germany