Education
1964 - 1968
Kölner Werkschule, Cologne, Germany
1973 - 1982
Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf, Germany
In majestic large-format color photography, Candida Höfer captures the psychological residue left behind in empty public and institutional spaces. Höfer meticulously composes her shots, positioning herself symmetrically either in the center of rooms or along a diagonal that best reveals the space’s internal architecture. She prefers places that contain an institutional history, embodied either in texts or in structures, such as libraries, museums, and zoos. A member of the Düsseldorf School and former student of Bernd and Hilla Becher, Höfer is influenced by the legacy of conceptual and typological photography.
Candida Höfer (b. 1944, Eberswalde, Germany) lives and works in Cologne. She was the subject of institutional solo exhibitions at the North Carolina Museum of Art (2018), Musée du Louvre (2006), Irish Museum of Modern Art (2006), Kunsthalle Basel (1999) and Museum Folkwang (1982). Her work has been collected by prestigious public and private collections worldwide.
Spaces may or may not invite the image — if they do, they mostly do it with their spatial layers of time… It is then the image that takes the place of the space; the image in its own right.
Kölner Werkschule, Cologne, Germany
Kunstakademie, Dusseldorf, Germany
Outstanding Contribution to Photography, Sony World Photography Awards
Cologne Fine Art Prize, Germany
Kunstpreis Finkenwerder, Hamburg, Germany
Ars Viva-Preis des Kulturkreises der Deutchen Wirtschaft im BDI e.V.
Sean Kelly, New York, NY, USA
Konrad Fischer Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Long Beach, CA, USA
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Paul Clemen Museum, Kunsthistorisches Institut Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Museum of Photography, Berlin, Germany
Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong
Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne, Germany
Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, UK
Kukje Gallery, Busan, South Korea
Enlightened Spaces, Matthew Liu Fine Arts, Shanghai, China
Libraries: The Return, Neue Galerie Gladbeck, Germany
About Structures and Colors, Galería Helga de Alvear, Madrid, Spain
Hall Art Foundation | Schloss Derneburg Museum, Derneburg, Germany
In Mexico, Sean Kelly, New York, NY, USA
Paris, VNH Gallery, Paris, France
Contemplations, Yuka Tsuruno Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
In Moskau, Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, Germany
Showing and Seeing, Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, UK
State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia
In México, North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC, USA
En México, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico
Time, Places and Spaces, DIRIMART, Istanbul, Turkey
Elbphilharmonie 2016, Ungers Archiv für Architekturwissenschaft, Cologne, Germany
Paris Revisited, VNH Gallery, Paris, France
Portraits of Spaces, Les Rencontres d’Arles, Arles, France
Spaces of Enlightenment, Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
En México, Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City, México
En México, Centro de las Artes, Monterrey, México
Spaces and Places, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Memory, Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong, China
Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, Germany
Palaces of St-Petersburg, Multimedia Art Museum, Moscow, Russia
Nach Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany
In Mexico, OMR, Mexico City, Mexico
In Mexico, Antiguo Colegio de Illdefonso, Mexico City, Mexico
Inna Contemporary Space, Hangzhou, China
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, Germany
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Observations, Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne, Germany
Memory, The Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg, Russia
On Methods, Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Beijing, China
Memory, Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, UK
Galería Helga de Alvear, Madrid, Spain
From Dusseldorf, Sean Kelly, New York, NY, USA
Les Bourgeois de Calais a Venice, Ca’Pesaro Galleria Internazionale, Venice, Italy
Spaces of Knowledge, Galleri K, Oslo, Norway
Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, Germany
Immagini di Architettura, Fondazione Bisazza, Vicenza, Italy
Villa Borghese, Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, UK
Yuka Tsuruno Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Dusseldorf, Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern; Landesgalerie Linz, Linz, Austria
Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland
A Return to Italy, Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, UK
Bindings, Patrick De Brock, Knokke, Belgium
Candida Höfer per la Galleria Borghese, Galleria Borghese, Rome, Italy
Stiftung Museum Kunstpalast, Dusseldorf, Germany
Frühe Arbeiten, Galerie Thomas Zander, Cologne, Germany
Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland
Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, Germany
Immagini di Architettura, Fondazione Bisazza, Vicenza, Italy
Mantova, Museo Civico di Palazzo Te, Mantua, Italy
Villa Borghese, Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Yuka Tsuruno Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Türken in Deutschland, Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg, Germany
Interior Worlds, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, USA
Johnen Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Inna Contemporary Art Space, Hangzhou, China
Nordrhein-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften und der Künste, Düsseldorf, Germany
Artipelag Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
Candida Höfer/Kuehn Malvezzi, Galleria Marabini, Galleria Marabini, Bologna, Italy
Vorstellungen, Theater Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Baltimore, The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD, USA
Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Galleria Marabini, Milan, Italy
Galería Fúcares, Madrid, Spain
Spaces: Photographs by Candida Höfer and Thomas Struth, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Williamstown, MA, USA
Infinite Moments, SCAD Savannah / Pinnacle Gallery, Savannah, GA, USA
Infinite Moments, SCAD Atlanta / ACA Gallery of SCAD, Atlanta, GA, USA
Candida Höfer in Italy, Naples and Florence, Italy
Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong, China
ESPACIOS PROPIOS, Museo Diocesano de Santiago de Compostela y Biblioteca de la Cidade da Cultura de Galicia, Santiago de Compostela, Spain; Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich, Germany
Kuehn Malvezzi, Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg, Germany
Paolini-Höfer, Villa Massimo, Rome, Italy
Philadelphia, Galerie der Stadt Tuttlingen, Tuttlingen, Germany
Projects: Done, MARCO Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, Vigo, Spain
Projects: Done, centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla, Spain
Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Zoologische Gärten, Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
abundacia ausente, Galeria OMR, Mexico City, Mexico
Bologna Series, Galleria Marabini, Milano, Italy
In Italy: Part I Florence; Part II Naples, Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, UK
Napoli Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy
Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Spatial Portraits, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence, Italy
Mario Sequeira Gallery, Braga, Portugal
Projects: Done, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany
Philadelphia, Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, PA, USA
Some Versailles and Paris Spaces, Galleri K auf Art Cologne, Köhn, Germany
Johnen Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Paris Serie, Yvon Lambert Paris, Paris, France
Photographien, Freie Akademie der Künste, Hamburg, Germany
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Weimarer Räume, Schloß Benrath, Düsseldorf, Germany
Werkgruppen seit 1968. ZKM Karlsruhe I Museum für Kunst und edientechnologie. Karlsruhe, Germany
Galerie Friedrich, Basel, Switzerland
Henie Onstad Art Centre, Oslo, Norway
Kunsthaus Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Museo Pescheria, Pesaro, Italy
Galleria Marabini, Bologna, Italy
Patrick De Brock, Knokke, Belgium
Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Centro Culturel de Belem, Lisbon, Portugal
Johnen + Schottle, Cologne, Germany
Galerie Rudiger Schottle, Munich, Germany
Galerie Karlheinz Meyer, Karlsruhe, Germany
Galleria Marabini, Bologna, Italy
Graphische Sammlung der ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
Musée du Louvre, Paris, France
Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Architecture of Absence, University Art Museum, CSU Long Beach, Long Beach, CA, USA; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL, USA; Frye Museum, Seattle, Washington, DC, USA; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Museum of Art, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, USA; Knoxville Museum of Art, Knoxville, TN, USA
Brazil Series, Galleri K, Oslo, Norway; Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Candida Höfer, The Sheldon Art Galleries, St. Louis, MO, USA; Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Photographs, Michigan Avenue Galleries, Chicago, IL, USA
Galeria OMR, Mexico City, Mexico
Johnen Galerie, Berlin, Germany
Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany; Museo Fotografia Contemporanea Luoghi sospesi. Candida Höfer fotografa l’opera di Carlo Scarpa, Querini Stampalia Foundation, Venezia
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Timespaces, Kukje Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
Villa Ghirlanda, Cinisello Balsamo, Milano, Italy
Arte Contemporanea Alberto Peola, Turin, Italy
Candida Höfer in Ethnographischen Sammlungen, Volkerkundemuseum, Zurich, Switzerland
Candida Höfer en Santillana del Mar. Tiempos y Espacios, Palacio de la Caja, Santillana del Mar, Spain
Galerie Rudiger Schöttle, Munich, Germany; Ben Brown, London, UK
Marstall des Furstlichen Schlosses, Regensburg, Germany
Sonnabend Gallery, New York Goethe-Institut, New York
Tschechische Botschaft, Berlin Wilhelmstrasse 44-Fotografien, Kunsthalle Kiel, Germany
50th Venice Biennale, German Pavilion (with Martin Kippenberger), Venice, Italy
Antiquariat Grundel Gelbert, Cologne, Germany
Dresden Series and Other Works, Galleri K, Oslo, Norway
Galeria Fucares, Madrid, Spain
Galerie Rudiger Schottle, Munich, Germany
Johnen + Schöttle, Cologne, Germany
Magnani, London, UK
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, Washington, DC, USA
Zwölf Museumsräume, Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany
Basel, Kunstforum Baloise, Basel, Switzerland
Bibliotheksbilder, Schirmer/Mosel Showroom, Munich, Germany
Die Welt des Wissens II, Museum fur Volkerkunde Dresden im Japanischen Palais, Dresden, Germany
Galeria Fucares, Almagro, Spain
Galerie Karlheinz Meyer, Karlsruhe, Germany
Gundel Gelbert & Johnen + Schöttle, Antiquariat Gundel Gelbert, Cologne
Hamburg Bilder 2000, Jenisch Haus, Hamburg, Germany
Photographies récentes, Galerie Laage-Salomon, Paris, France
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Frankfurt, Germany
Räume auf Zeit. Dresden, Albertinum, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Germany
Wien - Los Angeles, Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna, Austria
Zwölf, GeorgKolbe-Museum, Berlin, Germany
Douze.Twelve, Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelles, Calais, France
Galerie Hauser & Wirth & Presenhuber, Zürich, Switzerland
Karyn Lovegrove Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Patrick De Brock, Knokke, Belgium
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Galerie Laage-Salomon, Paris, France
Mildred S. Lee Gallery, Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA
Galleri K, Oslo, Norway
Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY, USA
DET KGL Bibliothek, Copenhagen, Denmark
Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden, Germany
Produzentengalerie, Hamburg, Germany
Galerie Johnen & Schottle, Cologne, Germany
Inside-Outside, Galería Fúcares, Madrid, Spain
MODULO, Centro Difusor de Arte, Lisbon, Portugal
Naturräume, Matuurmuseum Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Karyn Lovegrove, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Neue Fotoarbeiten, Galerie Rudiger Schottle, Munich, Germany; Palacio del Embarcadero, Santander, Spain
Orte Jahre: Photographien 1968-1999, Kunsthalle Nurnberg, Nuremberg, Germany; Gregorio Magnani Gallery, London, UK
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Targeting images, objects + ideas, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL, USA
The Power Plant, Toronto, Canada
Galerie Friedrich, Bern, Germany
Karlheinz Meyer Galerie, Karlsruhe, Germany
Leseräume, Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Goethe Institut, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Orte Jahre, Dia Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur, Cologne, Germany
Patrick De Brock, Knokke, Belgium
Photographie, Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg, Germany
Centro de Fotografía, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
Galería Fúcares, Madrid, Spain
Galerie Laage-Salomon, Paris, France
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Frankfurt, Germany
Photographie, Kunstverein Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
Photographie, Kunstverein Recklinghausen, Recklinghausen, Germany
Thirty Years Back, British Council, Cologne, Germany
Bilder, Galerie Karlheinz Meyer, Karlsruhe (& Elke Denda), Germany
Centre Photographique d’Ile de France (C.P.I.F.), Pontault-Combault, France
Galerie Fotohof, Salzburg, Austria
Galerie Johnen & Schöttle, Cologne, Germany
Goether-Institut, Galerie Condé, Paris, France
Kunstverein Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Bibliotheken, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne, Germany
Galerie Fotomania, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna, Austria
Rena Bransten Gallery, San Francisco, CA, USA
Robert Prime, London, UK
Sonnabend Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Galerie Rudiger Schottle, Munich, Germany
Galleri Tommy Lund, Odense, Denmark
Galerie Walcheturm, Zurich, Switzerland
Anderson O'Day Gallery, London, UK
Castello di Rivara, Turin, Italy
Galerie d'Ecole des Beaux-arts, Valenciennes, France
Galerie Johnen & Schottle, Cologne, Germany
Galerie Karl Heinz Meyer, Karlsruhe, Germany
Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany
Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, New York, NY, USA
f-Stop Gallery, Bath, UK
Galerie Walcheturm, Zurich, Switzerland
Photographie - Offentliche Innenraume, Leonhardi-Museum, Dresden, Germany
Zoologische Garten, Hamburger Kunstalle, Hamburg
Galerie Wilma Tolksorf, Hamburg, Germany
Galerie Johnen & Schottle, Cologne, Germany
Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna, Austria
Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Photographie, Hagener Kunstverein, Hagen, Germany
Raume, Stadische Galerie Haus Seel, Siegen, Germany
Raume/Spaces, Portikus, Frankfurt, Germany
Galerie Walcheturm, Zurich, Switzerland
Galerie Franz Paludetto, Turin, Italy
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Hamburg, Germany
Galerie Ruediger Schottle, Munich, Germany
Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Fotografien, Kunstverein Bremerhaven, Germany
Galerie Wilma Tolksdorf, Hamburg, Germany
Galerie Faust, Geneva, Switzerland
Galerie Westersingel 8, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Galerie Johnen & Schottle, Cologne, Germany
Raume, Galerie Rudiger Schottle, Munich, Germany
Innenraum, Fotografien 1979-1984, Regionalmuseum Xanten, Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany
Offentliche Innenraume 1979-1982, Fotografische Sammlung, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany
Galerie Arno Kohnen, Dusseldorf, Germany
Galerie Konrad Fischer, Dusseldorf, Germany
Candida Höfer