Elias Wessel (born 1978) is a visual artist living and working in New York and Germany.^[1]

Early life

Wessel was born in Bonn, West Germany in 1978.

Education

• 1999–2000 University of Heidelberg; Art History^[2]
• 2000–2003 University of Mannheim – Faculty for Art and Design; Visual Communication^[2]
• 2003–2007 University of Art and Design, Offenbach am Main; Fine Art Photography, Theory of Perception, History and Theory of Visual Communication^[3]

About

Elias Wessel is committed to developing photographic concepts and procedures which culminate in abstract images that reflect contemporary discourses within society. The works function as both a contribution to the issues of social and political development and the historical conversation between photography and painting.^[4][5]

Solo exhibitions (selected)

• Elias Wessel: Delirious Images – Fotografien für die nächste Gesellschaft. Kunstsammlung im Willy-Brandt-Haus, Berlin, March 4–May 7, 2023.^[6]
• Elias Wessel—It’s Complicated, Is Possibly Art. 1014, New York, September 7–23, 2022.^[7]
• Elias Wessel – I Don’t Care. I Love my Phone. Kunstsammlung SAP, Walldorf, January 28, 2021 – April 30, 2022.^[2]
• Elias Wessel : La somme de mes données. Palais Beauharnais, Paris, January 28–December 28, 2020.^[4][8][9]
• Elias Wessel: Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität [The Sum of My Data. Digitization, Surveillance, Identity]. Kunstverein Speyer, December 2, 2018 – January 13, 2019.^[10]
• Werke aus »Die Summe meiner Daten« [Selected Works From ›The Sum of My Data‹]. Internationale Photoszene-Festival Köln, Kunstraum Ruttkowski, Cologne, September 1–30, 2018.^[11]
• In The End, Though, Nothing Is Lost. Deutsches Haus at New York University, NYU Arts & Science, New York, April 6–May 26, 2018.^[12]
• Sprung in die Zeit [Leap Into Time]. No Cube – Raum für Kunst und Medien, Münster, February 18–March 25, 2018.^[13]
• Elias Wessel: Die Summe meiner Daten [The Sum of My Data] – B/W Series. Baustelle Schaustelle, Essen, January 12–February 25, 2018.^[14]
• Elias Wessel: History of Touches. Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, New York, November 10–December 15, 2017.^[4]
• Die Geschichte vom Vergessenen [The Story of The Forgotton]. Heinrich-Hoffmann Museum, Frankfurt am Main, February 24–July 19, 2017.^[4]
• Sprung in die Zeit – Zum Wesen der Bilder [Leap Into Time – On the Essence of Images]. Raum für Kunst und Gegenwart, Ansbach, December 19, 2016 – February 26, 2017.^[15][4]
• Elias Wessel: Stuck Together Pieces! 1014, New York, November 2, 2016 – May 31, 2017.^[4][16][17]
• Spuren der Wirklichkeit [Traces of Reality]. Goethe-Institut, Frankfurt am Main, August 5–October 5, 2016.^[18]
• Landscapes. Künstlerbund Speyer, April 17–26, 2015.^[19][20]
• Elias Wessel: There Must Be More To Life. Art Directors Club, New York, September, 2012.^[4]

Group exhibitions (selected)

• zu mir und zu dir. Franz Jyrch, Maria Sainz Rueda, Elias Wessel; Former Synagogue Walldorf, June 25–July 24, 2022.^[21][22]
• Das Objekt im Fokus [Eyes on the Object.] Karl Blossfeldt, Alfred Ehrhardt, Walker Evans, Candida Höfer, Günther Selichar, Josef Sudek, Michael Wesely, Elias Wessel, Edward Weston, Erwin Wurm and others; SpallArt Collection, Salzburg, August 1, 2020 – May 7, 2022.^[23]
• Objects. Stories. Experiences: Extraordinary Things. Assembly Required, Brooklyn, NY, October 2–30, 2021.^[24]
• Ich bin ganz von Glas – Marianne Brandt und die gläserne Kunst von heute [I Am All of Glass — Marianne Brandt & the Art of Glass Today.] Sächsisches Industriemuseum Chemnitz, September 28–December 1, 2019.^{[25][26][27][4]}
• Works from the AXA Art Collection – Adolf Luther, Günther Uecker, Elias Wessel. Art Basel, Basel, March 29–31, 2018.^[28]
• Photo – BauSchau Projekte 2007–2018. Düsseldorf Photo 2018 at Baustelle Schaustelle, Düsseldorf, February 16–25, 2018.^[4]
• Grieger Relaunch. Thomas Demand, Andreas Gursky, Axel Hütte, Thomas Ruff, Thomas Struth, Damien Hirst, Elias Wessel and others; NRW Forum Düsseldorf, November 28–December 4, 2017.^[4][29]
• Doll Parts. Leslie Lohman Museum, New York, May 18, 2017.
• Wiesinger, Stünkel, Wessel: Sichtbarkeiten [Visibilities.] Museum Heylshof and Museum Andreasstift, Worms, August 2–September 27, 2015.^[30]
• Freistil – Ein transatlantischer Blick [Freestyle. A Transatlantic Perspective.] Kunstverein Speyer, May 10–June 7, 2015.^[4]
• IV International Artists in Residence. Exhibition Hall of the Art Fund, Kursk, September 24–November 24, 2014.
• Being Changed – A Group Exhibition of International Contemporary Art. MoCA – Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, March 8–April 14, 2013.^[31]
• Sagmeister. Another Show About Promotion and Advertising Material. Sejong Museum of Art, Seoul, September 22–November 25, 2012.^[32]
• Art from the Heart. Vanderbuilt Republic, 25CPW, Central Park West, New York, November, 2011^[33]

Publications (selected)

• Wessel, Elias (2023): Ästhetik des Konflikts [Aesthetics of Conflict]. Dortmund: Verlag Kettler.^[34][35] ISBN 978-3-98741-044-4.
• Robinson, Carl et al. (2022): Painting, Photography, and the Digital: Crossing the Borders of the Mediums. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.^[36] ISBN 1-5275-8917-X
• Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texte aus einem a/sozialen Netzwerk 2019–2021. Ist möglicherweise Kunst [Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texts From an Anti/Social Network 2019–2021. Is Possibly Art.] Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos.^[37][38] ISBN 978-3-86599-527-8
• Wessel, Elias / Berg, Stephan / Graser, Jenny (2020): Elias Wessel : La somme de mes données. Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Paris (ed.), Berlin-Paris: Phoebe Verlag.^[39] ISBN 978-3-00-064672-0.
• Wessel, Elias / Graser, Jenny (2018): EliasWessel. Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität [The Sum of My Data. Digitization, Surveillance, Identity.] Kunstverein Speyer e. V. (ed.), New York-Speyer: Phoebe.^[40][41] ISBN 978-3-00-061315-9.
• Wessel, Elias et al. (2018): Landscapes – In the end, though, nothing is lost. Deutsches Haus at New York University, NYU Arts & Science (ed.), New York: Phoebe.^[42] ISBN 978-3-00-059460-1.
• Wessel, Elias / Gisbourne, Mark (2017): Elias Wessel. Photographische Arbeiten aus den Jahren 2014–2017 [Photographic Works Between the Years 2014–2017.] 1014 and Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany New York (ed.), New York: Phoebe.^[43] ISBN 978-3-00-057962-2.
• Wessel, Elias / Oreamuno, Ignacio / Dailey, Meghan (2014): Elias Wessel: There Must Be More To Life. Hamburg: NBVD 2014.^[44] ISBN 978-3-939028-40-6.

Essays (selected)

• Neuberger, Christoph (2022): »The Way Back From the Digital to the Analog: On Elias Wessel’s ›Textfetzen.‹« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texte aus einem a/sozialen Netzwerk 2019−2021. Ist möglicherweise Kunst [Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texts From an Anti/Social Network 2019–2021. Is Possibly Art.] Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos.^[37][38]
• Gelfert, Axel (2022): »The Newsfeed as an Algorithmic Palimpsest.« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texte aus einem a/sozialen Netzwerk 2019−2021. Ist möglicherweise Kunst [Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texts From an Anti/Social Network 2019–2021. Is Possibly Art.] Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos.^[37][38]
• Hermann von, Hans-Christian (2022): »Unsubstantiated Presence – Can Elias Wessel’s ›Textfetzen‹ Be Read?« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texte aus einem a/sozialen Netzwerk 2019−2021. Ist möglicherweise Kunst [Textfetzen. It’s Complicated: Texts From an Anti/Social Network 2019–2021. Is Possibly Art.] Berlin: Kulturverlag Kadmos.^[37][38]
• Brenne, Andreas (2021): »Photographs for the Next Society.«  In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Ästhetik des Konflikts. Arbeiten aus den Jahren 2017–2021 [Aesthetics of Conflict. Works 2017–2021.] Dortmund: Kettler Verlag.^[45]
• Herschel, Hans-Jürgen (2021): »Variations on ›The Joy in What Remains.‹« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Ästhetik des Konflikts. Arbeiten aus den Jahren 2017–2021 [Aesthetics of Conflict. Works 2017–2021.] Dortmund: Kettler Verlag.^[45]
• Kopplin, Bärbel (2021): »Fotografie als Versuchsanordnung und Denkprozess.«^[46]
• Guerin, Frances (2021): »Unsettled in the Interstice: Elias Wessel’s ›Die Summe meiner Daten.‹« In: Robinson, Carl (2022): Painting, Photography, and the Digital: Crossing the Borders of the Mediums. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.^[36]
• Wolff, Frank (2020): »Beyond the Digital Promise: Virtual Communities and Democracy in Recent Contemporary History.« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2022): Ästhetik des Konflikts. Arbeiten aus den Jahren 2017–2021 [Aesthetics of Conflict. Works 2017–2021.] Dortmund: Kettler Verlag.^[45]
• Berg, Stephan (2020): »The Trace of the Body« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2020): Elias Wessel : La somme de mes données. Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Paris (ed.), Berlin-Paris: Phoebe Verlag.^[47][39]
• Graser, Jenny (2018): »Abstrakte Realitäten. EliasWessel – ›Die Summe meiner Daten.‹« In: Wessel, Elias / Graser, Jenny (2018): Elias Wessel. Die Summe meiner Daten – Digitalisierung, Überwachung, Identität. Kunstverein Speyer e. V. (ed.), New York-Speyer: Phoebe Verlag.^[40][41]
• Schoen, Christian (2017): »Sprung in die Zeit. Anmerkungen zum Wesen der Bilder.«^[48]
• Wolff, Frank (2017): »The soothing power of speed: Elias Wessel’s Landscapes in the cultural history of Russian space perception« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2018): Landscapes – In the end, though, nothing is lost. Deutsches Haus at New York University, NYU Arts & Science (ed.), New York: Phoebe.^[42]
• Gisbourne, Mark (2017): »Visions of Synthesis. The Photography of Elias Wessel.« In: Wessel, Elias / Gisbourne, Mark (2017): Photographische Arbeiten aus den Jahren 2014–2017 [Photographic Works Between the Years 2014–2017.] New York: Phoebe Verlag 2017.^[43]
• Graser, Jenny (2015): »The ›Landscapes I-VII‹ (2014) By Elias Wessel – ›In the End,Though, Nothing Is Lost.‹« In: Wessel, Elias et al. (2018): Landscapes – In the end, though, nothing is lost. Deutsches Haus at New York University, NYU Arts & Science (ed.), New York: Phoebe Verlag.^[42]

Collections (selected)

• Kunstsammlung des Deutschen Bundestages, Berlin (2020)^[49][50]
• Kunstsammlung Spallart, Salzburg (2019, 2021)^[51][52]
• Kunstsammlung AXA, Cologne (2015, 2021)^[53]

Selected works

• Textfetzen, 2021–2022^[37][7]
• Deepfakes – Privacy, 2022^[54][7]
• Ereignishorizonte, 2021^[55]
• Quick Response, 2021^[56][57][7]
• Schöne neue Welt – The Moving Images, 2020–2021^[58][7]
• Schöne neue Welt, 2019–2020^[59][7]
• It‘s Complicated, 2019–2021^[60][7]
• Images Through an Algorithmic Lens, 2018–2019^[61][51][50]
• Die Freude am Rest – Zur Entmaterialisierung der Bilder, 2018^[62]
• Die Summe meiner Daten – On Series, 2017^{[63][4][8][9]}
• Die Summe meiner Daten – B/W Series, 2017^{[64][4][8][9]}
• Die Summe meiner Daten – Off Series, 2017^[65][51]
• Hinter den Dingen, 2017^[66]
• Jejune, 2016^[67]
• Liebst, 2016^[68][17]
• Feral, 2015–2016^[69][17]
• Cityscapes, 2014–2015^[70][17]
• Landscapes, 2014^[71][53]
• Sprung in die Zeit, 2014^[72][50][17]