Jasmin Mersmann

Jasmin Mersmann is Professor of Art History at the University of Art and Design Linz since 2019, holding a professorship within the School of Fine Arts and Cultural Studies and the Department of Art History and Art Theory / Gender Studies / Curatorial Practice. Her research spans art and cultural history from the early modern period to contemporary practices, with core focuses on historical anthropology, NatureCultures, body studies, demonology, and the intersections of art and science.

Her current projects include Shaping bodies. On modeling living beings 1500–1800, UnBinding Bodies: Lotus Feet and Corset, Deal with the Devil: On the Cultural History of the Devil's Pact, and coordination of the IMAGE+ Platform for Open Art Education. Mersmann's scholarly work demonstrates consistent engagement with bodily transformations, anamorphic techniques, and truth claims in visual culture across historical periods.

Key publications include the monograph Lodovico Cigoli. Forms of Truth around 1600 (2016) and co-edited volumes such as UnBinding Bodies: On the History of Footbinding in China (2023) and Clean Cube. On the Critique of Pure Reason (2021). Her extensive essay output reveals recurring analytical threads connecting early modern scientific paradigms with contemporary artistic practices, particularly through examinations of castration, negation gestures, and devotional imagery.

Mersmann's academic trajectory includes doctoral research through the Franco-German University program, postdoctoral fellowships at IKKM Weimar and IFK Vienna, and foundational contributions to the journal ilinx. Berliner Beiträge zur Kulturwissenschaft. She maintains active engagement with both theoretical frameworks and material practices in art historical scholarship.