Alanna Lynch is a Berlin-based artist and researcher working with living entities, organic materials, smell, and performance – examining the politics of affect, questions of agency, and the stickiness of feelings. She draws on diverse studies, activism, as well as her own embodied experiences. She has exhibited and performed internationally and was a recent artist in residence at the Banff Centre (Canada). She was a founding member of the artist collective Scent Club Berlin, and her work has been supported by grants from Germany, Canada, and Sweden. In 2018 she was awarded the Berlin Art Prize.
EDUCATION
2013-15 Master of Fine Arts, Valand Academy, University of Gothenburg, Sweden
2010-13 Master of Library and Information Studies, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
2006-09 Bachelor of Fine Arts, with Distinction, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
2005-06 Montreal Centre for Contemporary Textiles, Montreal, Canada
1997-01 Bachelor of Arts with Honours, Psychology, Queens University, Kingston, Canada
GRANTS & AWARDS
2022 Banff Centre for the Arts, Marshall M. Williams Endowment, Banff, Canada
2022 Stiftung Kunstfonds, NEUSTART KULTUR-Stipendium, Germany
2021 Canada Council for the Arts, Explore and Create, Concept to Realization Grant
2020 Stiftung Kunstfonds, NEUSTART KULTUR-Stipendium, Germany
2019 Canada Council for the Arts, Explore and Create, Concept to Realization Grant
2019 Studio Grant, BBK, Berlin, Germany
2018 Berlin Art Prize, Germany
2018 Canada Council for the Arts, Residencies Grant, Arts Abroad
2017 Nominated for the Grand Hans-Purrmann-Award (Longlist), Speyer, Germany
2016 Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt, Berlin, Germany
2015 Eric Ericson Foundation Grant, Gothenburg Sweden
2015 Eva and Hugo Bergman Scholarship, Sweden
2015 Otto and Charlotte Manheimmers Grant, Gothenburg, Sweden
2014 Otto and Charlotte Manheimmers Grant, Gothenburg, Sweden
2009 Ada Lovelace Award, Studio XX, Montreal, Canada
SOLO & DUO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Anwesenheit, Galerie Historischer Keller, Berlin, Germany (solo)
2021 Dissident Matter, Kersnikova Institute Module Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia (solo)
2018 Sticky Feelings, La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal, Canada (solo)
2018 Viscous Bodies, Art Laboratory Berlin, Germany (duo with Sarah Hermanutz)
2015 Contagious Affections, Vasagatan 33, Gothenburg, Sweden (solo)
2008 From the Bottom of the Hamper, VAV Gallery, Montreal, Canada (duo)
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & PERFORMANCES
2023 Reciprocity Muscles, cala.space, Berlin, Germany
2022 Fragile Soil, Fertile Souls, United Nations System Staff College, Turin, Italy
2022 Holy Children, Museo del Hongo, Berlin, Germany
2022 chthonic spoil, Banff Centre for the Arts, Banff, Canada
2022 Zeitraum für Zweifel, TOP e.V., Berlin, Germany
2021 (Un-)Heimliche Finissage, Galerie Historischer Keller, Berlin, Germany
2021 The Forage, Sculpture Route in Moabit, Berlin, Germany
2019 Fermenting Feminism, Access Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2019 1000 Ecologies, Le Commun, Geneva, Switzerland
2019 Ritual, Globe Gallery, Grabowsee, Germany
2019 Gather Here Together, Whose Museum x KRETS, Malmö, Sweden
2018 Berlin Art Prize, The Shelf, Berlin, Germany
2017 Nonhuman Agents, Berlin Art Week, Art Laboratory Berlin, Germany
2017 Gut Feelings, Performative lecture and workshop. Art Laboratory Berlin, Germany
2016 Fraud, Fake and Fame: Goldrausch 2016, St. Johannes-Evangelist, Berlin, Germany (catolog)
2016 Tempting Failure, Festival of International Performance Art and Noise Art, London, UK (performance)
2016 Connecting Identities, Montag Modus, Collegium Hungaricum Berlin, Germany
2015 Transition / Omvandling, Gothenburg Konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden (catalog)
2014 A Temporary Roof, Kalv, Svenljunga, Sweden (catalog)
2014 Shame, KNIPSU, Bergen, Norway (performance)
2013 Not Everybody is a Painter, Rotor 1, Gothenburg, Sweden
2013 Par Armour, Articule, Montreal, Canada
2011 6th International Biennale of Contemporary Textile Art, Xalapa, Mexico (catalog)
2010 Hard Twist 5: Chroma, Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, Canada
2010 Movimientos Migratorios, La Casona de los Olivera, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2010 Traversée/Traversia, Maison de la culture Côte-des-Neiges, Montreal, Canada
2009 7th Annual Graduation Exhibition, VAV Gallery, Montreal, Canada
2009 Combine, FOFA Gallery, Montreal, Canada
2009 Reprise au coton / Darn!, Diagonale, Montreal, Canada
2009 You’re too Close: Body Politics, Spatial Relations, Art Mur, Montreal, Canada
2008 Less is More (plus ou moins), Diagonale, Montreal, Canada
2008 The Goods, Galerie Espace, Montreal, Canada
2007 Resistance, Diagonale, Montreal, Canada
PUBLICATIONS
2023 Triologie des Un-Heimlichen Catalogue, Galerie Historischer Keller, Berlin
2022 Gut Feelings and Interoceptive Touch, Multimodality & Society, 2(3), SAGE
2021 Olfactory Art and the Political in an Age of Resistance, book chapter, Routledge
2021 Fermenting Feminism (Hunter’s Moon), Laboratory for Aesthetics & Ecology
2019 Musings: Stories with Food, Feminism, Fermentation
2019 Emotional Agent, Berlin Art Prize Reader
2017 Proceedings of Taboo-Transgression-Transcendence in Art & Science, Ionian University, Greece
2016 Potentials, Goldrausch Künstlerinnenprojekt, Berlin, Germany
2015 Here and After, Valand Academy, Gothenburg, Sweden
2014 A Temporary Roof: Processes, Valand Academy, Gothenburg, Sweden
2014 A Temporary Roof: Dialogues,Valand Academy, Gothenburg, Sweden
2011 Catalogue of the International Biennale of Contemporary Textile Art, Xalapa, Mexico
2008 Diagonale 01: Le Statut de la Fibre en Art Actuel. Montreal, Canada
2004 Good Girl magazine, 6, Summer / Autumn, Toronto, Canada
ARTIST TALKS
2022 Visiting Artist, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
2021 Visiting Artist, Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto, Canada
2021 Culture² Conference, Toronto, Canada
2021 Roundtable: Olfactory Art and the the Political, Uncommon Senses III, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
2020 Taboo-Transgression-Transcendence in Art & Science conference, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria
2019 Access Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
2019 Le Commun, Geneva, Switzerland
2019 NexUs Culture, Patan, Nepal
2018 Hands.on.Matter, TIER.space, Berlin, Germany
2018 Fermenting Feminism, Medical Museion, Copenhagen, Denmark
2018 La Centrale Galerie Powerhouse, Montreal, Canada
2018 Art Laboratory Berlin, Germany
2017 Nonhuman Agents in Art, Culture and Theory, International Conference, Art Laboratory Berlin, Germany
2017 Kunsthochschule Weißensee, Berlin, Germany
2016 Taboo-Transgression-Transcendence in Art & Science, International Conference, Ionian University, Corfu, Greece
2016 SPEKTRUM, Berlin, Germany
2015 Gothenburg Konsthall, Gothenburg, Sweden
2009 FOFA Gallery, Montreal, Canada
2009 Diagonale, Montreal, Canada
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2024 Geruchslandschaften Workshop, Festival Osten, Bitterfeld-Wolfen, Germany
2024 Scents of Solastalgia (SoS), Workshop with Tarsh Bates, Art Laboratory Berlin, Germany
2023 Conjuring Stench workshop, Matter of Flux Festival, Art Laboratory Berlin, Germany
2022 Residency, Material Transformations, Banff Centre, Canada
2021 3-day Workshop, CIPke, Kersnikova Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
2019 Residency, Queens Collective, Marrakech, Morocco
2019 Residency, Whose Museum, KRETS, Malmö, Sweden
2019 Residency, Utopiana, Geneva, Switzerland
2017 Residency, Utopiana, Geneva, Switzerland
2017 Visiting Lecturer, Kunsthochschule Weißensee, Berlin, Germany
2015-16 Curatorial Assistant, Art Laboratory Berlin, Berlin, Germany
2007-13 Fibre Structures Technician, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
2012 Artexte, Visual arts research & documentation centre, Intern, Montreal, Canada
2011 Residency, Takt Kunstprojektraum, Berlin, Germany
2008-09 Art Instructor, DDO Centre for the Arts, Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Canada
2007-08 Assistant to Professor Barbara Layne, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
2007-08 Assistant to Professor Mary Wong, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
2006-07 Research Assistant, subTela lab, Hexagram, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2023 Deadpan the Aesthetics of Black Inexpression. NYU Press
2023 “Bridging Science and Art: Five bioartists you should know about.” Labiotech.eu
2021 “Self Optimizers or a Benefit to Society.” Naratek
2021 “In the Name of the Mother.” Stir World
2021 “Interview”. Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle
2019 “Fermenting Feminism at Access Gallery.” Comparative Media Arts Journal
2019 “Five artists who bring Art and Design to life with Yeast. Unbore
2019 “Fermenting Feminism.” Art the Science
2019 “Ecologie et art, puissance mille.” Le Courrier. Geneva, Switzerland.
2018 “Winners of 2018 Berlin Art Prize Announced.” Artforum
2018 “Gewinner des fünften Berlin Art Prize stehen fest.” Monopol
2018 “A Glance at the Berlin Art Prize Exhibition.” Berlin Art Link
2018 “Die Nominierten für den Berlin Art Prize im The Shelf.” Tip
2018 Chronique menstruelle, CKUT, Radio
2018 pieuvre.ca, Canada
2017 Labiotech.eu, Germany
2016 INCIDENT Magazine, USA
2014 STT, May 14, Sweden
2014 Borås Tidning, March 16, Sweden
2011 The Globe and Mail, Jan. 8. R. M. Vaughan, Canada
2010 Vie des Arts, 218, “Place à la Fibre!” J. de Julio-Paquin, 52-53, Canada
EXHIBITIONS AND PROJECTS WITH SCENT CLUB
2021 Luftpost, OK Centre, Linz, Austria
2020 Collaboration with Florian Fischer, Geister, Schauspielhaus Bochum, Bochum, Germany
2019 Collaboration with Anna Virnich, Hyperdrüse, Schering Stiftung, Berlin, Germany
2018 How Can We All Make it to the Future?, MMOMA, Moscow, Russia
2018 Outbound, KuLe, Berlin, Germany
2018 Project Space Festival, SPEKTRUM, Berlin, Germany
2018 Welt ohne Außen, Martin Gropius Bau, Berlin, Germany
2018 Guided Smell Tour of Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany
2018 Smells Like Home, Wir! Eine Welt Gemeinschaft, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg Museum, Berlin, Germany
PRESS SCENT CLUB
2018 Cashmere Radio
2018 Paper Magazine
2018 Berlino Magazine
2018 Culture Trip