Julia Schmidt

Julia Schmidt (born 1976) is Professor of Painting at Münster Art Academy since 2012, based in Berlin. An active contemporary artist, she exhibits internationally with solo presentations at Meyer Riegger Berlin, Kienzle Art Foundation, and Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, alongside group shows at institutions like HALLE 14 Leipzig and Deutsche Guggenheim Berlin.

Education:

• Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig
• Glasgow School of Art

Research Focus: Schmidt critically examines painting practice through art-historical, aesthetic, and economic lenses. She transforms existing imagery and photographic material via painterly techniques, recontextualizing motifs to challenge value systems. Her work extends into installation and print media, often presented in thematic cycles that interrogate contemporary visual culture and societal structures through material experimentation and spatial interventions.

Scientific Awards:

• German Academy Villa Massimo, Rome (2011)
• Villa Romana Prize (2008)
• Bonn Art Fund Foundation (2006)

Advising & Studio Practice: Schmidt mentors students through structured studio critiques, individual consultations, and group discussions emphasizing critical discourse on painting's theoretical and practical dimensions. Her class organizes annual exhibitions (Rundgang), international excursions, and collaborates with visiting artists like Keren Cytter and Mariana Castillo Deball. Students develop research-based conceptual projects across painting, installation, and print media using the academy's technical workshops.

Teaching Environment: The painting studio functions as a collaborative laboratory where students engage in interdisciplinary experimentation supported by specialized facilities including etching workshops and photo studios, fostering dialogue between traditional techniques and contemporary artistic strategies.