Laura J. Padgett

Laura J. Padgett (born 1958) is an American artist, working mainly in photography and film.

“What I look for now are places that resonate with history, that are, in a way, unmarked landmarks, and to make this history visible and palpable. Because our past is ours forever.“ Laura J. Padgett

Early life and education Laura J. Padgett was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The artist studied painting at Pratt Institute of Art and Design in Brooklyn, New York from 1976-1980, receiving her BFA in 1980. Since 1981 she has been living in Europe. Padgett went on to study Photography and Film with Peter Kubelka and Herbert Schwöbel at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, receiving her Master's in Art History from Frankfurt Goethe-Universität in 1994.

Career Since 1992, the artist has also taught at many higher education institutions in Germany, USA and Jordan, including the Bauhaus-Universität in Weimar, Hochschule für Gestaltung, Offenbach, Paderborn University, Drexel University and in the Theater, Film and Media Studies Department at the Goethe-University in Frankfurt am Main. In November 2021 she became a member of the German Photographic Society (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie e.V). She lives and works in Frankfurt am Main.

Padgett explores sites of historical and cultural importance through a variety of media, including film, photography, and text. By combining her creative process with research to gather historic knowledge, Padgett makes work that reveals the essence of a place while simultaneously presenting a subjective, contemporary perspective. Her work frequently exposes the tension between the enduring influence of history on the present and our attempts to alter, conceal or forget the past. Since 2018 she is represented by the Gallery-Peter-Sillem.

Since 1991, Laura J. Padgett’s work has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Germany and throughout Europe. Her photography has also been widely published. The artist's photographs accompany the essays by Peter Zumthor in Thinking Architecture (2006/2010/2012/2023). Between 2010 and 2012 Padgett followed the new construction and renovation of the Städel Museum resulting in the publication Raum über Zeit – Space over Time (2012). During this period of two years she created photographic narratives that capture time as the space in between. A selection of the photographs from the book are now in the collection of the DZ BANK Kunststiftung. Confined Space was published in 2016, showcasing photographs she made in Lebanon during times she spent there from 2011 to 2015. Her first publication with the Galerie-Peter-Sillem, Open Equations, appeared in 2019. Padgett's second solo exhibit with the Galerie-Peter-Sillem, Regenerating Permanence, is also accompanied by a limited edition publication of the same name. The work in this exhibition is a culmination of two years' photographing the Westend Synagogue in Frankfurt am Main. Padgett has recorded the special nature of this sanctuary and its history. Photographs from her series have been acquired by the Jewish Museum Frankfurt and were on view in the museum throughout 2024. Her photographic series Strata, produced in 2024, was first exhibited in the Galerie-Peter-Sillem and followed by her participation in the exhibition City of Women Photographers, Frankfurt 1844-2024 in the Historical Museum Frankfurt.

Padgett’s films have been screened internationally at venues like the Media City Film Festival, Detroit, Cité Paris, House of World Cultures, Berlin, Pharos Centre for Contemporary Art in Nicosia, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Mousonturm in Frankfurt am Main, Cineteca di Bologna, Künstlerhaus Kino in Vienna, Viper Filmfestival in Bern, Kunsthalle Erfurt and at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen. In 2017 she received the Marielies-Hess Art Award. In the accompanying exhibition at the Museum Giersch of the Goethe University, she also screened her film SOLITAIRE (2017). A small selection of her films was presented at the San Francisco Cinematheque's CROSSROADS Film Festival, 21. August - 30. September 2020, curated by Steve Polta. In August 2021 her Film So, tell me about your garden. and a selection of her films from her From the Garden series were screened at the Deutsches Filminstitut Filmmuseum as part of the Experimental Film program Im Garten. 2023 she was a member of the Regional Feature Film Competition Jury of the Lichter Filmfest. A selection of her films are distributed by Light Cone, Paris and Film-Makers' Cooperative, New York.

Solo exhibitions (selection) 2024 Strata, Galerie-Peter-Sillem, Frankfurt am Main 2023 Regenerating Permanence, Jewish Museum, Frankfurt am Main 2022 Regenerating Permanence, Galerie-Peter-Sillem, Frankfurt am Main 2019 Open Equations, Galerie-Peter-Sillem, Frankfurt am Main 2017 Somehow Real, Exhibition in conjunction with receiving the Marielies-Hess Kunstpreis , Museum Giersch der Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main 2016 Confined Space, Galerie Rautenstrauch in Onomato Künstlerverein, Düsseldorf 2016 Many Told Tales, Galerie Straihammer & Seidenschwann, Vienna 2015 Confined Space, Heussenstamm-Stiftung, Frankfurt am Main 2014 MONUMENT, Künstlerfahnenfestival, Eppingen 2012 Standardeinstellung, 2011 frames of reference, Galerie Martina Detterer, Frankfurt 2008 seeing things, Pharos Arts Foundation, Nicosia, Cyprus 2008 Holding onto things, Galerie Seitz & Partner, Berlin 2006 slow motion, Odakule Art Gallery, Istanbul 2005 inside-out, Galerie Seitz & Partner, Berlin 2004 vorübergehende Ortschaften, Galerie Martina Detterer, Frankfurt am Main 2003 conversation pieces, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main 2003 improbabilities, Galerie Seitz & Partner, Berlin 2001 morning glories, AusstellungsHalle Schulstrasse 1A, Frankfurt am Main 1999 common occurrences, KunstRaum Klaus Hinrichs, Trier 1999 marginalia, Goethe-Institut, Warsaw 1999 an enlightened Moment, Duchess Anna Amalia Library, Weimar 1998 systematic renewal, dirty windows, Berlin 1997 Foto / Text Work, KunstRaum Klaus Hinrichs, Trier