“Lynn Hershman Leeson: Are Our Eyes Targets?” is the first solo exhibition by the renowned artist and media pioneer in Düsseldorf. Spanning the entire second floor of the foundation, the exhibition features videos, photo-collages, and interactive and mixed-media installations that delve into the artist’s groundbreaking practice.
2024 marks the fortieth anniversary of the epic video installation, The Electronic Diaries of Lynn Hershman Leeson 1984–2019 (1984–2019), which forms the centerpiece of the exhibition. Hershman Leeson examines her personal experiences of abuse and illness and the relationship between technology and self, amid the global political context. As the work shifts between time frames and perspectives, viewers encounter the evolution of multiple, sometimes contradictory personas that represent the artist. These slipping identities lead us to question how much of what we see on our screens is true, revealing a gap between reality and our mediated images of it. Set against the contemporary media landscape, Hershman Leeson’s work rings truer than ever.
In addition to the six-channel video installation, the exhibition comprises the historical mixed-media installation Paranoid (1968–2022), from the Breathing Machines series; a selection of seven Phantom Limb photo-collages (1985–90); the interactive installation CybeRoberta (1996); the print Are Our Eyes Targets? (1984); and two videos, Seduction of a Cyborg (1994) and Shadow Stalker (2018–21). The first video addresses the invasion of technology into the body while the latter takes a closer look at the creation of digital identities and surveillance by the state. Together, these works investigate the reciprocal effects of seeing and being seen—whether in person, through the camera lens, or in virtual spaces.
Through her novel use of technology and psychological analysis, and her play with identities, Hershman Leeson brings about a power shift that draws attention to and subverts our voyeuristic desires. Across critical, speculative, and documentary registers, she emboldens us to take back control of our bodies, our images, and our narratives, especially as women.
at Julia Stoschek Foundation, Berlin
until February 2, 2025