Niklas Goldbach, born 1973 in Witten, Germany, lives and works in Berlin.
After studying Sociology at Bielefeld University and“Photography and Video” at the Unversity of Applied Sciences Bielefeld, he was awarded with the“Meisterschüler” degree at the University of the Arts Berlin in 2006. In 2005 he received the Fulbright Grant New York and majored in the MFA program of Hunter College, New York City.
In his videos, photographies and installations, Goldbach is involved in the relation between architecture and necropolitics in their modernist traditions and postmodern manifestations. Established between reality and fiction, Goldbach dissects and appropriates architectural elements that serve both as backdrops and catalysts of (neo)liberal and (neo)colonial subject construction to create ambiguous perceptions of man-made environments through the lens of a globally expanding interconnectivity of these sites.
In his earlier film works, his often duplicated protagonists have colonized epic stages of modern architectural complexes, postmodern urban environments or alleged paradises defying civilisation, all finding their commonality as places oscillating between utopia and dystopia.
Since 2005 Niklas Goldbach received several scholarships and awards: Fulbright Scholarship 2005 (New York City), Le Pavillon Artist in Residence Program, Palais de Tokyo 2007, Cité des Arts Paris 2007, Arbeits--stipendium Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn 2010, Arbeitsstipendium Bildende Kunst des Berliner Senats 2013, Projektförderung des Berliner Senats 2014, Paula Modersohn-Becker Jubiläumspreis 2014, Dresdener Stipendium für Fotografie 2016, Villa Aurora Fellowship Los Angeles 2017, Recherchestipendium des Berliner Senats 2021, NEUSTART Innovative Kunstprojekte 2021, NEUSTART KULTUR-Stipendium 2022. In 2023 he was awarded with the“Kunstpreis der Stadt Nordhorn”.
He presented his works in numerous solo shows, group exhibitions, and festivals in venues such as the Berlinale, Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, EMAF, Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam, Kasseler Dokfilmfest, f/stop Festival Leipzig, Museo Reina Sofia Madrid, Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum, Mori-Art Museum Tokyo, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Total Museum for Contemporary Art Seoul, Centre Pompidou Paris, Museum Ludwig Köln, Museum Technische Sammlungen Dresden, MdM Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Kunstmuseum Mülheim, Barbican Arts Center London, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Building Bridges Art Exchange Los Angeles, Palazzo delle Arti di Napoli, Watermans Art Center London, City Gallery Gdansk, Berlinische Galerie, Kunsthaus Dresden, Kunsthaus Wien, Galerie im Taxispalais Innsbruck, Wien Museum MUSA, Cornerhouse Manchester, HMKV Hartware MedienKunstVerein Dortmund, ZKM Karlsruhe, n.b.k. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Städtische Galerie Nordhorn, FotoFest Houston Biennial 2016, Fotobiennalen 2018 Denmark, documenta 14 Kassel, Bergen Assembly 2019, Media Art Biennale Wroclaw 2021, Biennale für Freiburg 2021.
