Marta Astfalck-Vietz: Staging the Self

In a single decade known as the Golden Twenties, artist Marta Astfalck-Vietz creates an iridescent opus of self-enactments, nude and dance photography, and experimental images. She works both behind and in front of the camera—photographer, director and model all in one. Astfalck-Vietz observes gender roles in the Weimar Republic with humour, wielding her camera confidently to depict the versatile potential of female identity. Incorporating masks, theatrical poses and grotesque elements, she forges a style that combines private introspection with social and political concerns.

In its anniversary year, the Berlinische Galerie dedicates an extensive solo exhibition with more than 140 works to Marta Astfalck-Vietz. Drawing on recent research into her publication practice and informed by feminist perspectives, the exhibition and accompanying catalogue present her largely overlooked œuvre and consider its position within art history. Six chapters address her works thematically, turning a spotlight on her avant-garde photography and, for the first time, her botanical watercolours. These become increasingly important to Astfalck-Vietz from the mid-1930s and remain a focus for the rest of her life.

Selected photographs by her contemporaries, including Marianne Breslauer, Lotte Jacobi, Cami and Sasha Stone, illustrate the aesthetic and thematic context within which Astfalck-Vietz operates. Artists Andreas Langfeld and Sophie Thun create a single-channel video reflecting on the impact of this remarkable figure from a contemporary perspective.