Info
Johannes M. Hedinger is a researcher, curator, artist, educator and author. He is the director of the Institute for Land and Environmental Art (ILEA), of the outdoor Biennale Art Safiental and the summer school Alps Art Academy, co-founder of the artist collective Com&Com, co-author of the project BLOCH, MOCMOC and NEXPLORER, the pilot project for the next national exhibition.
Hedinger studied fine arts at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) as well as the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), obtained second degrees in Art history, Cultural studies, Film studies and German studies at the University of Zurich and at the Humboldt University of Berlin, as well as a postgraduate degree in Communication in Social and Economic Context (GWK) at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK), and pursued doctoral studies at the University of Lausanne.
Since 2006 Johannes Hedinger is lecturer and researcher at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) at the departments of cultural analysis and design. Since 2010 he teaches at the Institut für Kunst und Kunsttheorie at the University of Cologne, where he was a substitute professor for intermedia in 2013/14. Since 2016 he is the head of the summer school Alps Art Academy, Since 2020 Hedinger is lecturer at the Y-Institute at HKB Bern.
Research and mediation works include initiatives such as the Institute for Land and Environmental Art (since 2020), Activating Fluxus (since 2022), The New Artist (since 2016), Methods of Art (since 2014), What’s next? (since 2013), Urban Interventions (since 2012) and Cultural Hacking (since 2009).
Hedinger is the editor and co-author of many books on contemporary art, such as Learning from the earth (2023) LANDSCAPE #1 (2020), Point de Suisse (2015), What’s Next? Kunst nach der Krise (2013), Lexikon zur zeitgenössischen Kunst (2010), Kunst, öffentlicher Raum, Identität (2004).
Curatorial works include the Biennale Art Safiental (since 2016), ILEA Gallery (since 2020), TEKTONIK (2018), Methods of Art (Ural Biennale 2015, Connecting Space Hong Kong 2015), Point de Suisse (Museum of History Basel 2015) and Kunstsalon (Bard Hall New York 2014, Berlin 2008). In 2023 Hedinger was nominated for the Swiss Art Award (for curation/mediation).
Hedinger’s artistic production is mostly known as a part of the Swiss artist duo Com&Com (with Marcus Gossolt, since 1997). His latest projects include Bloch (since 2011), NEXPLORER (2020-22) Point de Suisse (2014-15) and Mocmoc (2003-08). Together they participated in nine Biennales (Venice, Shanghai, Singapore, Sharjah and Moscow amongst others), solo exhibitions at the Kunsthaus Zürich, Kunstwerke Berlin and Knockdown Center New York amongst others; group exhibitions at Centre Pompidou Metz, ZKM Karlsruhe, Kunstmuseum Bern, Migros Museum Zürich, Pratt Manhattan Gallery and Shanghai Minsheng Museum amongst others.
Hedingers focus and research topics include: Land and Environmental Art, Art & Ecology, Agri-Culture, concept of landscape, art in the periphery, art in Public Sphere, Land Use, Urban Art, Socially Engaged Art, Participatory Art, Community Development, Transdisciplinarity, Collaboration, Inter- und Crossmedia, Cultural Hacking, Concept Art, Context Art, Artistic Strategies, Sociology of Art and Artistic Research.