The Perfect Woman is a lie # II, 2023 © Susanne Junker

The Augsburg artists’ association “Die Ecke” e.V. is presenting the solo exhibition SO WHAT! in collaboration with the art collections and museums of the city of Augsburg. The survey exhibition covers 30 years of artistic work by the artist and photographer Susanne Junker. On display are her most important works from her beginnings in the 1990s to new works that have never been shown before.

‘I worked as a model in the early 1990s. It was the glamourous time of supermodels selling their perfect looks. This obsession with beauty was dictated by the fashion industry and perpetuated the dominance of the male gaze in culture. These rigid norms were unbearable for me and led me to transform myself from object to author by becoming an artist.’
(Susanne Junker)

Beyond the photo set, the then young artist began to turn the camera on herself again and again: the self-portrait was her weapon. In this way, Susanne Junker fought to reclaim her own identity and confronted the media staging in which she herself actively participated as a model: Who are we? What is our value? What does beauty mean? – The relentless confrontation with these issues becomes her programme: she relentlessly records her thoughts and reflections photographically, stylising them into motifs that constantly recur and constantly reinterpret these questions, making the work a mirror of our globalised society.

As a keen observer of pop culture and social media, Susanne Junker explores the concept of identity in a visually dominated world and criticises the representation of women in the media. The artist’s body and face often become a tool for questioning ideals of beauty, gender roles and age discrimination: the exposed body is posterised with words, phrases and slogans, and shaped into a statement through clothing, make-up and accessories. This self-appropriation is the key to a decidedly feminist perspective.

To find out more please go to the direct link.