Joachim Koester (DANISH, B. 1962)

Danish born artist Joachim Koester studied at the Royal Danish Academy of fine Arts in Copenhagen (1987-1993). Koester works predominantly with the media of film and photography. In extensive, large-format photo series, slide shows, or video's he investigates landscapes, places or phenomena whose history is linked to myth. The mapping of traces and necromantic activity are certainly two of Joachim Koester's trademark interests. His interests have led him to places as Cefalù (Sicily), in search of the villa that once served as a communal home for the infamous occultist Aleister Crowley and his group of devotees or to Immanuel Kant's hometown of Kaliningrad, where he traced the route of the philosopher's daily walk, using it as a script for a series of photographs. Joachim Koester has participated in several international venues, including Documenta X in Kassel, P.S. 1, New York, Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Johannesburg Biennial, and Gwangju Biennial, South Korea. Work by the artist is represented in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Statens museum for kunst, Copenhagen and Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gent, amongst others. His work was exhibited in the exhibition Edition III 'Masquerade', Episode 1 at de Appel in 2008.