Julia Scher Julia Scher

Julia Scher

Born 1954 in Hollywood, California, United States. Lives and works in Cologne.
Greyhound Rkw 220218 8097 Nf
Greyhound Rkw 220218 1483
Rba D054160 05
2018 Js Es 012
Js Es 2000 02
Js Occupational Placement 1989 11 Kopie
Sbjii Performancefor The Public 4 5 Copy
Exhibition view: Julia Scher, Planet Greyhound, Kunsthalle Gießen (2022). Photo © Rolf K. Wegst

Introduction

For the last thirty years, Julia Scher's research has explored social control dynamics in the public sphere, focusing especially on themes of surveillance. The art projects have taken the form of interactive installations, reformulated surveillance, site tours, interventions, performances, photography, writing, online projects, linear video, and sound.

Full biography

Selected works

example
Julia Scher
Bernadette, 2024

Beige marble
Height: 80 cm
Height including base: 101 cm (approx.)
35,5 x 34,5 x 17 cm (base)
example
Julia Scher
Planet Delirious, 2024

Aluminum, paint, surveillance camera, audio mixer, cabling

ø 100 x 40 cm
example
Julia Scher
Afsaneh, 2024
Beige marble with eyes of black marble

Height: 80 cm
Height including base: 101 cm (approx.)
35,5 x 34,5 x 17 cm
example
Julia Scher
Avi Loeb, 2023

Convex mirror, surveillance camera, amplifier plugin, sensor light, telescope
ø 100 x 40 cm
example
Julia Scher
Time Wafer for Outer Space, 2023
Aluminum, paint, vintage camera and video title maker

ø 100 cm
example
Julia Scher
Hyperwall (Infoscreen at bus station somewhere near Planet Greyhound), 2022

Video, sound
Duration: 23 min.
example
Julia Scher
Les Détecteurs de Logiciels Malveillants / Malware Detected (10), 2022
Painted aluminium panel, wires, light-stick tape, diverse equipment
50 x 60 cm
example
Julia Scher
Les Détecteurs de Logiciels Malveillants / Malware Detected (7), 2022

Painted aluminium panel, wires, light-stick tape, diverse equipment

50 x 60 cm
example
Julia Scher
Gretel, 2022
Marble
40 x 76 x 30 cm
example
Julia Scher
Great Hands for a Lifetime, 2020
Fiber glass
5,5 x 31 x 25 cm (2 1/8 x 12 1/4 x 9 7/8 in)
example
Julia Scher
Glückshaube, 2006
Marble
17 x 28 x 29 cm
example
Julia Scher
Girl Dog (Hybrid), 2005

Marble
75 x 45,5 x 22 cm
example
Julia Scher
Guards, 2004

Performance
example
Julia Scher
Mama Bed, 2003

Bedstead, steel, wood, foam, plastic, 2 monitors, 2 surveillance cameras, VHS player, VHS tapes, cables, bed sheets, books, leather whip

Dimensions variable
example
Julia Scher
Papa Bed, 2003
Bedstead, steel, wood, foam, plastic, 4 monitors, 10 surveillance cameras, 2 computer-video-switchers, 2 video recorders, VHS players, VHS tapes, transformer, cables, several bed sheets, US Army apparel, yellow floor sign
Dimensions variable
example
Julia Scher
Wonderland, 1998

Mixed media installation
Dimensions variable
example
Julia Scher
American Fibroids, 1996/2022
15 hard drives, table, mirror, various artworks for table, sign bin with signs, costumes for wardrobe, director's chair, carpet, soundtrack, CD player and speakers
Dimensions variable
example
Julia Scher
Grace, 1996-97

C-Print on Fujiflex
36 x 30 cm (unframed)
48,2 x 54,2 x 3,5 cm (framed)
example
Julia Scher
Lena, 1996-97

C-Print on Fujiflex
36 x 30 cm (unframed)
48,2 x 54,2 x 3,5 cm (framed)
example
Julia Scher
American Fibroids 1, 1995/1996

Inkjet print and pencil on A4 printer paper

29,7 x 21 cm (unframed)
33,7 x 25 x 3 cm (framed)
example
Julia Scher
American Fibroids 3, 1995/1996
Inkjet print on A4 printer paper
29,7 x 21 cm (unframed)
33,7 x 25 x 3 cm (framed)
example
Julia Scher
American Fibroids 8, 1995/1996

Inkjet print and pencil on A4 printer paper
29,7 x 21 cm (unframed)
33,7 x 25 x 3 cm (framed)
example
Julia Scher
Information America, 1995
Metal office desk, 5 black-and-white 9" NTSC television monitors with metal wall brackets, 13" color monitor, plastic and vinyl signage, 3 black-and-white NTSC (chip) surveillance cameras, interchangeable lenses, step down transformers, 2 analog homing bridging switchers, 2 time-lapse recorders, Amiga A1200HD computer, Sony WatchCam, 2 media cards, 2 media players, desk lamp, office chair, wires and cables
Installation dimensions variable
example
Julia Scher
Discipline Masters (DM), 1992

C-print
25,2 x 20,2 cm (unframed) each, 2 parts
43,8 x 38,8 x 3,5 cm (16 7/8 x 15 x 1 1/8 in) (framed) each, 2 parts
example
Julia Scher
Security By Julia X, 1991

Camouflage-painted desk, wooden platform, chair, monitors, video printer, printing paper rolls, signage, switchers, guard hat, playback video, time-lapse video recorder, brackets, Biometric reader, cables, wires, power strips, media player
2,4 x 1,8 x 2,1 m
example
Julia Scher
Occupational Placement, 1989-90

Monitors, hanging system, monitor brackets, monitor masks, surveillance camera, camera bracket, video switcher, media players, SD cards, cables and connectors, loudspeaker
Multi-channel digital video (color and black and white, silent) and real-time video stream (black and white, silent)
Sound installation
Installation dimensions and time-based media components duration variable
example
Julia Scher
Discipline Masters, 1988

Digital video transferred from original Betamovie and U-Matic NTSC (color, sound), 4:3 ratio
Duration: 224 min

Gallery Exhibitions

Let them know your scarlet heat, let them glisten Julia Scher

Let them know your scarlet heat, let them glisten

Julia Scher
Esther Schipper is pleased to announce Let them know your scarlet heat, let them glisten, a presentation by Julia Scher who has had six solo exhibitions with the gallery. On view will...
November 1—30, 2024
Esther Schipper, Berlin
The Mammoth Book of Eyewitnesses Julia Scher

The Mammoth Book of Eyewitnesses

Julia Scher
Esther Schipper is pleased to announce The Mammoth Book of Eyewitnesses, Julia Scher’s sixth solo exhibition with the gallery and the artist’s first at our Paris gallery. On view will be both...
February 10—March 23, 2024
Esther Schipper, Paris
Summer '22 With Sarah Buckner, Ann Veronica Janssens, Sojourner Truth Parsons, Cemile Sahin, Julia Scher, Sun Yitian and Tao Hui

Summer '22

With Sarah Buckner, Ann Veronica Janssens, Sojourner Truth Parsons, Cemile Sahin, Julia Scher, Sun Yitian and Tao Hui
Esther Schipper is pleased to present Summer ’22, a group exhibition with works by Sarah Buckner, Ann Veronica Janssens, Sojourner Truth Parsons, Cemile Sahin, Julia Scher, Sun Yitian and Tao Hui.
July 21—August 27, 2022
Esther Schipper, Berlin
En la casa de Marquès Esther Schipper Mallorca

En la casa de Marquès

Esther Schipper Mallorca
Visit us this summer for a special exhibition entitled Inside Marquès House in Palma de Mallorca held at the former residence of Martí Marquès Marquès, a historic house dating back to the...
July 12—31, 2021
Casa Museo Can Marquès, Palma de Mallorca
Wonderland Julia Scher

Wonderland

Julia Scher
Esther Schipper is pleased to announce Wonderland, Julia Scher’s fifth solo exhibition with the gallery since her first participation in a 1991 group exhibition at Esther Schipper, Cologne. Twenty years after its...
December 14, 2018—February 2, 2019
Esther Schipper, Berlin
Security by Julia XLVI Julia Scher

Security by Julia XLVI

Julia Scher
US-American media artist Julia Scher's present installation consists of a chain-link-fence construction supplied with street lamps, loudspeakers, 'security blankets' and different devices of surveillance equipment. In this installation Scher combines objects relating...
September 20—November 9, 2002
Always There – Surveillance Bed Julia Scher

Always There – Surveillance Bed

Julia Scher
Since the early eighties, Julia Scher has been focusing on questions of personal identity within the context of power, such as surveillance and control. In the modified Surveillance Bed shown here, her...
November 26—December 18, 2000
The Komputer King Julia Scher

The Komputer King

Julia Scher
The exhibition and work The Komputer King consists of digitally processed sound components, some of which are downloaded from the internet. These include voices, artificial noises, soundtracks, muzak, sampling effects and other...
February 14—March 21, 1998
Confessions Julia Scher

Confessions

Julia Scher
November 25—December 16, 1995
Esther Schipper zeigt: Benjamin Weil zeigt: Gavin Brown, Laura Emrick, Wendy Jacob, Kirsten Mosher, Julia Scher

Esther Schipper zeigt: Benjamin Weil zeigt: Gavin Brown, Laura Emrick, Wendy Jacob, Kirsten Mosher, Julia Scher

February 23—April 1, 1991

External Exhibitions

THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE QUEEN With Rosa Barba, Ceal Floyer, Karin Sander and Julia Scher

THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE QUEEN

With Rosa Barba, Ceal Floyer, Karin Sander and Julia Scher
This is an exhibition of our time: Superman is thwarted and hits a wall, an oversized hybrid female hare offers motherly protection, a pair of seahorses switch traditional gender roles, and passion creates sparks. With a selection of contemporary works...
May 13—October 8, 2023
Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden
Maximum Security Society Julia Scher

Maximum Security Society

Julia Scher
Museum Abteiberg presents an essay-like overview of Julia Scher’s extensive oeuvre. The exhibition at Museum Abteiberg brings together large-scale installations such as Surveillance Beds and Wonderland, as well as works from the...
March 26—August 20, 2023
Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach
Maximum Security Society Julia Scher

Maximum Security Society

Julia Scher
Julia Scher has traced the gradual emergence of a ‘maximum security society’ since the 1980s. This is how sociologist Gary T. Marx describes the current era of encompassing surveillance technologies and infrastructures....
October 8, 2022—January 15, 2023
Kunsthalle Zürich, Zürich
Wonderland Julia Scher

Wonderland

Julia Scher
Wonderland is the second part of The Artificial Kid series of exhibitions and events at Maison Populaire.
May 25—July 15, 2022
Maison Populaire, Montreuil
Planet Greyhound Julia Scher

Planet Greyhound

Julia Scher
Entitled Planet Greyhound, Julia Scher's solo exhibition of all new sculptural, video and installation works transforms the space of the Kunsthalle Gießen into a temporary bus station for humanoid and extraterrestrial life...
February 18—May 1, 2022
Kunsthalle Gießen
Julia Scher MAMCO, Geneva

Julia Scher

MAMCO, Geneva
The work of Julia Scher, which first appeared in the 1980s, is noteworthy for its systematic use of surveillance techniques, particularly CCTV.
October 6, 2021 – January 30, 2022
Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva
Time Is Thirsty with Ann Veronica Janssens and Julia Scher

Time Is Thirsty

with Ann Veronica Janssens and Julia Scher
Time Is Thirsty is a journey through time and space in the form of an exhibition: A complex ensemble of contemporary artworks and artefacts from the early 90s – more precisely from...
October 30, 2019—January 26, 2020
Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna
Delta Julia Scher

Delta

Julia Scher
American artist Julia Scher will present her first solo exhibition Delta at NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein. Increased and almost omnipresent private as well as governmental surveillance has become a consciously made concession...
October 28—December 2, 2018
NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen
The Conditions of Being Art with Julia Scher

The Conditions of Being Art

with Julia Scher
The Conditions of Being Art: Pat Hearn Gallery & American Fine Arts, Co. (1983-2004) will be the first exhibition in the United States to examine the shared histories, art, and programming activities...
June 23—December 14, 2018
Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson
Enemy of the Stars with Julia Scher

Enemy of the Stars

with Julia Scher
May 20—August 6, 2017
KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

Featured stories

News

How Artist Julia Scher Uses a Bed to Interrogate Systems of Surveillance

artnet
Read article
In the high-security society: Julia Scher in the Museum Abteiberg Gallerytalk.net
News

In the high-security society: Julia Scher in the Museum Abteiberg

Gallerytalk.net
Medienkünstlerin Julia Scher in ihrer Ausstellung „Hochsicherheitsgesellschaft“ Westart | WDR
News

Medienkünstlerin Julia Scher in ihrer Ausstellung „Hochsicherheitsgesellschaft“

Westart | WDR
Read article
Mark von Schlegell on Julia Scher for ArtBlog Cologne
Kunsthalle Zürich

Mark von Schlegell on Julia Scher for ArtBlog Cologne

Mark von Schlegell on Julia Scher's Maximum Security Society at Kunsthalle Zürich.
Read article
Letter from Berlin October 2022
News

Letter from Berlin

October 2022
Welcome to the Letter from Berlin! This Letter from Berlin should rightfully be titled 'Letter from Paris'! We begin with projects in Paris: Etienne Chambaud's exhibitions in Paris and in Lille, as...
Read article
Interview: Julia Scher on her solo exhibition Maximum Security Society at Kunsthalle Zürich
Kunsthalle Zürich

Interview: Julia Scher on her solo exhibition Maximum Security Society at Kunsthalle Zürich

Maximum Security Society is the title of American artist Julia Scher's current solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Zürich. Scher's work addresses issues of surveillance, control and seduction. Julia Scher’s first institutional survey brings...
Read article
Summer ’22
Esther Schipper

Summer ’22

This summer Esther Schipper is pleased to present Summer '22, an exhibition of works from Sarah Buckner, Ann Veronica Janssens, Sojourner Truth Parsons, Cemile Sahin, Julia Scher, Sun Yitian and Tao Hui.
July 21 – August 27, 2022
Julia Scher, Wonderland
Maison Populaire

Julia Scher, Wonderland

Julia Scher Wonderland Maison Populaire 9 bis Rue Dombasle 93100 Montreuil May 25 – July 15, 2022 www.maisonpop.fr Opening: Tuesday May 24, 6pm–9pm Between 1996 and 1997, Julia Scher photographed seven children...
May 25 – July 15, 2022
Julia Scher, Planet Greyhound
Kunsthalle Gießen

Julia Scher, Planet Greyhound

Entitled Planet Greyhound, Julia Scher's solo exhibition of all new sculptural, video and installation works transforms the space of the Kunsthalle Gießen into a temporary bus station for humanoid and extraterrestrial life...
February 18 – May 1, 2022
Julia Scher – MAMCO, Geneva
MAMCO, Geneva

Julia Scher – MAMCO, Geneva

The work of Julia Scher, which first appeared in the 1980s, is noteworthy for its systematic use of surveillance techniques, particularly CCTV. Scher’s technical background provided her with in-depth knowledge of a...
October 6, 2021 – January 30, 2022
Spotlight: Julia Scher
News

Spotlight: Julia Scher

For our Spotlight this month we present Julia Scher's Security Landscape of the Year, 2002. Julia Scher’s Security Landscape of the Year consists of a pink foam board connected to a surveillance camera and...
'The Challenge: We are in this together' – Esther Schipper for The New Institute
News

"The Challenge: We are in this together" – Esther Schipper for The New Institute

For its December newsletter, titled 'The Challenge: We are in this together', The New Institute asked Esther Schipper – among other thinkers and practitioners – to share her insights and analysis on the current...
Artist Talk with Julia Scher
Freie Universitat, Berlin

Artist Talk with Julia Scher

On Wednesday January 30, from 6–8pm, Julia Scher will give a talk titled “Databound Vaginal Architectures” at the Freie Universitat, in Hörsaal 1B (Habelschwerdter Allee 45)
January 30 2019, 6 – 8pm

Publications

Julia Scher Tell Me When You're Ready

Julia Scher

Tell Me When You're Ready
“…a comprehensive survey of the indispensable work of the visionary artist Julia Scher. Scher’s Grosz-ian dystopic vision exposes the oppressive mechanisms of our surveillance society while simultaneously indicating the degree to which...
2002
Julia Scher Always There

Julia Scher

Always There
Always There offers a comprehensive survey of American artist Julia Scher’s work. The artist’s installations and performances have always featured a complex relation to techno-social control, demonstrating our complicity in the proliferating...
2002
Julia Scher R.S.I.

Julia Scher

R.S.I.
Since the 1980s, Julia Scher (b. Hollywood, 1954; lives and works in Cologne) has been investigating the emergence of a “maximum security society”. Inspired by French philosopher Michel Foucault and sociologist Gary...
2023