Artist Statement
My interdisciplinary, research-based art practice examines how humans relate to natural, built, and ideological environments across historical and contemporary contexts. Working primarily with photography and expanded photographic processes, I investigate how climate change, political systems, and social hierarchies are inscribed in landscapes and architecture. My work is grounded in long-term, site-specific research and material experimentation, positioning photography as both a visual medium and a critical research tool at the intersection of visual art, urban studies, sociology, and environmental humanities.
Each project develops through an iterative process that moves between fieldwork and studio experimentation. Research methods include archival study, site walks, interviews, and dialogue with experts and local communities, which inform the selection of locations. I photograph these sites with medium- or large-format analog cameras. The slow, deliberate nature of this approach allows for sustained attention to time, materiality, and chance.
In the studio, I employ experimental techniques such as alternative exposure and development, solarization, heat treatment, laser etching, and collaging. These materially driven interventions reflect conditions of instability, erosion, and fragmentation, mirroring the environmental and socio-political systems under investigation. The resulting works function as visual records of change, absence, and accumulation over time.
My international background is central to my practice. Having lived and worked in Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States, I approach place as historically layered, politically charged, and culturally contingent. This transnational perspective is most fully articulated in my second monograph, Die Ab- und Anwesenheit der Berliner Mauer / The Absence and Presence of the Berlin Wall, published by DISTANZ in German and English editions in August 2025.
Bio
Gesche Würfel is a visual artist based in New York City. She holds an MFA in Studio Art from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA), an MA in Photography and Urban Cultures from Goldsmiths, University of London (UK), and a Diploma in Spatial Planning from the Technical University Dortmund (Germany).
Her work has been exhibited, published, and awarded internationally; exhibition venues include Tate Modern, London (UK), Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (D), David Zwirner, New York (USA), Contemporary Art Museum (CAM) Raleigh, NC (USA); Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC (USA); Goldsmiths Center for Contemporary Art, London (UK); International Center of Photography, New York (USA); Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MA (USA), Singapore International Photography Festival (SG).
Würfel is the author of The Absence and Presence of the Berlin Wall (DISTANZ, 2025) and Basement Sanctuaries (Schilt Publishing, 2014). Her work has been published in The New York Times, Brooklyn Rail, Tagesspiegel, The Guardian, WIRED, Slate, and many other outlets. She is a recipient of grants from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany, the North Carolina Arts Council, the Puffin Foundation, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), among others. She was selected for the Bloomberg New Contemporaries in 2007. Würfel was chosen twice for The New York Times Portfolio Review and was a finalist in the 2019, 2018, and 2017 Lange-Taylor Award, among others. Collecting institutions are the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Museum, MA (USA) and the Portland Museum of Art, OR (USA). Würfel is represented by Tracey Morgan Gallery.
Resume
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EDUCATION
2015 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA, MFA Studio Art
2006 Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, M.A. Photography & Urban Cultures (distinction)
2003 University of Dortmund, Germany, Diploma Spatial Planning (magna cum laude)
GRANTS / FELLOWSHIPS /
AWARDS / RESIDENCIES
2025
︎NYSCA FY2026 Award for Artists, New York, NY, USA
︎Residency, Pollinator, online, USA
︎Faculty Publishing Grant, Tisch Creative Research, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY, USA
︎Residency, Pollinator, online, USA
︎Faculty Publishing Grant, Tisch Creative Research, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY, USA
2024
︎ Dean’s Faculty Research Grant, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY, USA
︎ Book Subvention Grant, NYU Center for the Humanities, New York, NY, USA
︎ Grant, Puffin Foundation, Teaneck, NJ, USA
2023
︎ Dean’s Faculty Research Grant, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY, USA
︎Climate Change Initiative Seed Grant (with Prof. Eric Dickson), Office of the Provost, New York University, NY, USA
︎Shortlist, Sustainability Category, Felix-Schoeller Photography Prize, Germany
︎ Shortlist, Category Representations of Space, Architecture, and Conflicts, Urbanautica Institute Awards 2022, Paris, France
︎ Residency, Kunstraum, Brooklyn, NY, USA
2022
︎ White Columns Artist Registry, New York, NY, USA
︎ Dean’s Faculty Research Grant, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY, USA
︎ Award, Category Nature, Environment, and Perspectives, Urbanautica Institute Awards 2021, Paris, France
︎ Grant, Puffin Foundation, Teaneck, NJ, USA
︎ Artist Support Grant, NC Arts Council, Raleigh, NC, USA
2021
︎Residency, International Studio Program, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
︎ Scholarship, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Bonn, Germany
︎Scholarship, Memory Work, The Federal Foundation for the Study of the Communist Dictatorship in Eastern Germany (Bundesstiftung zur Aufarbeitung der SED-Diktatur), Berlin, Germany
︎RJ Reynolds Foundation Junior Faculty Development Award, Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
︎ Book Subvention Grant, NYU Center for the Humanities, New York, NY, USA
︎ Grant, Puffin Foundation, Teaneck, NJ, USA
︎ Artist Support Grant, NC Arts Council, Raleigh, NC, USA
︎ Nominee, Leica Oscar Barnack Award 2021
2020
︎ UNC-CH Junior Faculty Travel Award, Center for European Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, US
︎ Fixed-Term Faculty Grant, Institute for the Arts & Humanities, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
2019
︎ Faculty Research Grant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
︎Faculty Residency, MASS MoCA/Assets for Artists, North Adams, MA, USA
︎ Visiting Researcher, Harvard Forest, Harvard University, Petersham, MA, USA
︎ Finalist, Lange-Taylor Prize, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
︎ Shortlist German Peace Prize, Felix-Schoeller Photography Prize, Germany
︎ JCME Faculty EU Research and Travel Award, Center for European Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
︎ Travel Grant, Carolina Center for Jewish Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
2018
︎ Finalist, Lange-Taylor Prize, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
︎ Excellent Artistic Creativity Photographer Award, Camel Ring on Silk Road ”Naiman International Photo Festival”, China
︎ Grant, Puffin Foundation, Teaneck, NJ, USA
︎ 2x Faculty Research Grant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
2017
︎ Critical Mass Top 50, Photo Lucida, Portland, OR, USA
︎ Finalist, Lange-Taylor Prize, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
︎ The Fifth New York Portfolio Review (organized by The New York Times and the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism, New York, NY), USA
︎ Faculty Research Grant, Department of Art & Art History, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
︎ Review Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA (regretfully declined)
2016
︎ LensCulture 2016 Emerging Talent Awards, Juror’s Pick
︎ Faculty Research Grant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
︎ GlogauAIR Residency, Berlin, Germany (regretfully declined)
2015
︎ Regional Emerging Artist Residency, Artspace, Raleigh, NC, USA
︎ The Third New York Times Portfolio Review (organized by The New York Times and the City University of New York’s Graduate School of Journalism, New York, NY), USA
2014
︎ LensCulture 2014 Emerging Talent Awards Top 50 Winner, LensCulture
︎ Two Travel Grants from the Center for the Study of the American South (CSAS), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
︎ Professional Shortlist Architecture Category, SONY World Photography Awards, London, UK
2013
︎ Longlist, Aperture Portfolio Awards, Aperture Foundation, New York, NY, USA
︎ Critical Mass Top 200, Photo Lucida, Portland, OR, USA
2012
︎ Manhattan Community Arts Fund Grant (MCAF), Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), New York, NY, USA
︎ Creative Grant, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA), New York, NY, USA
︎ Runner-up, Camera Club New York (CCNY) Darkroom Residency 2013, New York, NY, USA
2011
︎ Individual Artist Grant, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA), New York, NY, USA
2008
︎ Merit, Fujifilm Dinstinctions Award, UK
2007
︎ Bloomberg New Contemporaries, UK
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024
︎ The Absence and Presence of the Berlin Wall, Deutsches Haus NYU, New York, NY, USA
︎ Interwoven. Unearthed Stories of Slavery, Brownsburg
Museum, VA, USA
(I was commissioned to photograph the remaining slave dwellings in 2023.) (catalog)
2022
︎ The Absence and Presence of the Berlin Wall, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
2021
︎ When Trees Are Dying, Tracey Morgan Gallery, Asheville, NC, USA
2019
︎ What Remains of the Day - Memories of World War II, GreenHill, Greensboro, NC, USA
︎ At the Hands of Persons Unknown, Pictura Gallery, Bloomington, IN, USA
2018
︎ What Remains of the Day - Memories of World War II, Pensacola Museum of Art, FL, USA
︎
At the Hands of Persons Unknown, Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW), Woodstock, NY, USA
2016
︎ Oppressive Architecture, Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh, Raleigh, NC, USA
︎ Oppressive Architecture, Heavy Load-Bearing Body/Museen Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Berlin, Germany
︎ Plantation Still Lifes, Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
2015
︎ We Still Love Life, The John and June Allcott Gallery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
︎ Basement Sanctuaries, Gallery 1401, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA, USA
2014
︎ Basement Sanctuaries, Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, OR, USA
2013
︎ Basement Sanctuaries, New York Public Library, New York, NY, USA
2012
︎ Basement Sanctuaries, Field Projects, New York, NY, USA
︎ Go for Gold! The Underground Gallery, London, UK
2010
︎ Go for Gold! The East London Landscape of the 2012 Olympics, Wolk Gallery, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA
︎ Go for Gold! The Transformation of the Lower Lea Valley, Civilian Art Projects, Washington, DC, USA
2009
︎ Transitory Spaces, Goldsmiths, University of London, London, UK
2005
︎ Raumvorstellungen, University of Dortmund, Germany
2004
︎ PERSPECTIVES_The Nordmarkt in Words and Images, University of Dortmund and traveling, Germany
TWO AND THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2016
︎ Raleigh Redux, Artspace, Raleigh, NC, USA
2012
︎ Habitats, Grady Alexis Gallery at El Taller Latino Americano, New York, NY, USA
︎ Underground. theprintspace, London, UK
2009
︎ A Line Is There To Be Broken, Viewfinder Photography Gallery, London, UK (catalog)
2008
︎ A Line is There to be Broken, This is not a Gateway (TINAG) Festival, London, UK (publication)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2026
︎Photographing Absence, Open Eye Gallery and The Stable Gallery at St George’s Hall in Liverpool, UK (group show) (upcoming)
2025
︎ DPI Faculty Exhibition, Department of Photo & Imaging, NYU Tisch, New York, NY, USA
︎Friends Seminary Contemporary Art Preview, 52 Walker/David Zwirner, New York, NY, USA
︎Friends Seminary Contemporary Art Preview, 52 Walker/David Zwirner, New York, NY, USA
2024
︎ The Whispering Streams of Memory, Pingyao International Photography Festival 2024, Pingyao, Shanxi, China
︎ Friends Seminary Contemporary Art Preview, 52 Walker/David Zwirner, New York, NY, USA
︎ 7 Year Itch - A Survey from 2017-2023, Tracey Morgan Gallery, Asheville, NC, USA (online)
2023
︎ Past & Present, organized by Der Greif, Pavillon 333 at Pinakothek der Moderne and ZIRKA, Munich, Germany
︎ Memory Mirage, Kunstraum, Brooklyn, NY, USA
︎ Mirror with a Memory, NYU Tisch School of the Arts Lobby, New York, NY, USA
︎ Mirror with a Memory, Photoville, Brooklyn, NY, USA
︎ Friends Seminary Contemporary Art Preview, David Zwirner, New York, NY, USA
︎ Depth of Field, Pensacola Museum of Art, Pensacola, FL, USA
2022
︎ Mirror with a Memory, Department of Photo & Imaging, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY, USA
2021
︎ Transformation, Blowing Rock Art & History Museum, Blowing Rock, NC, USA
︎ Rethinking Nature, Casino Luxembourg, Forum d’Art Contemporain, as part of European Month of Photography, Luxembourg, LU
2020
︎ Building Dialogs, OAS Art Museum of the Americas, Washington, DC, USA (online)
︎ The FENCE, Photoville, Durham, NC, USA
︎ Faculty Show, The John and June Allcott Gallery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC, USA
︎ 2020 North Carolina Annual Artists Exhibition, Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh, USA
︎ FRESH. A fundraising exhibition featuring new works by NC artists, Artspace, Raleigh, NC, USA
2019
︎ Friends Seminary Contemporary Art Preview, 52 Walker/David Zwirner, New York, NY, USA
︎ 7 Year Itch - A Survey from 2017-2023, Tracey Morgan Gallery, Asheville, NC, USA (online)
︎ Memory Mirage, Kunstraum, Brooklyn, NY, USA
︎ Mirror with a Memory, NYU Tisch School of the Arts Lobby, New York, NY, USA