About
Henrik Langsdorf is a visual artist who divides his time between New York and Kassel, Germany. His work ranges from abstract art to design, video/animation and art in public space.
In 2019 he participated in the Congo Biennale with “Ville Fantôme/Kinshasa La Belle”, a two-channel video installation that explores issues of urban planning in Kinshasa.
His video installation “Rudolf Duala Manga Bell — a German Story” was shown at ruruhaus (documenta fifteen) in Kassel as part of Blind Spots in the Sun – an ongoing series of art interventions that deal with colonial history and racism in Germany. It was also shown at MARKK Museum in Hamburg, Germany in 2022 and has won awards at film festivals in Cannes, Rome, London, Berlin, and Los Angeles.
During documenta fifteen, Langsdorf showed two video installations entitled “5 car stud 2.0/coordinated inauthentic behavior” and “No First Aid/HAPPYLAND” at Galleria Kollektiva and Hugenottenhaus, respectively, both in partnership with documenta fifteen.
Artist statement
My work is driven by a passion for both societal issues and aesthetic problems and spans a range of mediums: In my video installations I confront issues like colonialism, racism, and urban deterioration, while my abstract experimentation employs algorithms on vector drawings to generate amorphous formations on canvas and paper. I also incorporate architecture through collage, and capture "dead spaces" in my photography. There I manipulate reality with subtle interventions to create implausible spatial perceptions. All of these endeavors share a common thread of creating visual intrigue that engages and provokes the observer on both sensual and cognitive planes.