Cosmos Ottinger

As a painter, filmmaker, and photographer Ulrike Ottinger created an entire artistic universe. Analogous to the exhibition at the Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, the book Cosmos Ottinger approaches the multi-layered work of this visionary artist through eight stations. Screenplays, film props, objects, costumes, fabric collages, and photographs provide an insight into Ottinger’s extensive oeuvre spanning the past 60 years. Cosmos Ottinger is also a visu- alization of the artist’s life, an open-minded view into the world. Putting that world on a stage, the contributions by Çagla Ilk, Misal Adnan Yildiz, Katharina Sykora, Hannelore Paflik-Huber, Johanna Sentef, Hannah Black and Katharina Müller illuminate how Ottinger has used her distinct visual language to consistently question social structures of power, explore queer identities, and advocate for solidarity.

Living in 1960’s Paris, ULRIKE OTTINGER (*1942, Constance) was part of the artistic circle of the “Nouvelle Figuration,” before she moved to Berlin in 1973, where she became a pioneer of avantgarde film. Her work has been shown at major international festivals and retrospectives, including New York’s MoMA, the Venice Biennale, and the Berlinale.