Clean Girls in the Villa Dessauer: Body Images between Painting and Performance


Date and Time
Location
Price
About this Event
Mood
Venue Type
Clean Girls in Bamberg: Two strong artistic positions on the body of the present
The annual exhibition of the Bamberg Art Association brings together two distinctive voices of contemporary art: Cathrin Hoffmann and Sophia Süßmilch. In the city gallery Villa Dessauer, an art experience emerges that understands the body not merely as a motif, but as a contested image field between identity, desire, norms, and digital perception. The exhibition runs from June 13 to July 26, 2026; admission is free for members of the art association. ([en.bamberg.info](https://en.bamberg.info/veranstaltungen/clean_girls-cathrin_hoffmann_u-820145-12686175/?utm_source=openai))
The body as a mirror of the present
At the center of this exhibition is a theme that has always been part of art history and gains new urgency in the present: the human body. Cathrin Hoffmann develops fragile, fragmented body images in the tension between painting, sculpture, and digitally influenced perception. Sophia Süßmilch works with humor, provocation, and performative radicalism, linking feminist strategies with questions of pleasure, pain, resistance, and social roles. This creates a dialogue that connects art historical references with the aesthetic conflicts of the present. ([kunstverein-bamberg.de](https://kunstverein-bamberg.de/index.php/kommende/?utm_source=openai))
Between painting, performance, and irritation
Cathrin Hoffmann, a German-Iranian artist from Berlin, describes her work as an engagement with the conditions of being human in the post-digital age. Her visual language combines smooth, software-like surfaces with expressive traces and material presence. Sophia Süßmilch works across media with sculpture, drawing, painting, film, photography, song lyrics, and performance. Her practice breaks taboos and uses exaggeration to make social order systems visible. ([cathrinhoffmann.com](https://www.cathrinhoffmann.com/about?utm_source=openai))
An exhibition space for aesthetic experience
The Villa Dessauer has been a venue for changing exhibitions, lectures, and musical formats since 1987 and is used for special exhibitions. For this presentation, it opens its space for a concentrated examination of works that focus on light, material, and contrasting images. The exhibition is open during special exhibition days but is not wheelchair accessible. The regular admission fee in the city gallery is 6 euros for adults; children and teenagers up to 18 years are admitted free. ([museum.bamberg.de](https://museum.bamberg.de/allgemeine-informationen/ihr-besuch/?utm_source=openai))
Cultural education and mediation
The Bamberg Art Association sees itself as a mediator between art and the audience, directing its work towards contemporary, current, and young art. This is where the educational value of this annual exhibition lies: it invites visitors to read body images as cultural constructions and to sharpen their view of painting, installation, and performance. Those who walk through these spaces experience an exhibition that does not soothe perception, but differentiates it. ([kunstverein-bamberg.de](https://www.kunstverein-bamberg.de/))
In the end, an impressive conclusion emerges: Clean Girls promises not a decorative viewing experience, but a clever, sensual, and challenging encounter with contemporary art. Anyone interested in body images, feminist positions, painting, and performative strategies should definitely experience this exhibition live in Bamberg. ([kunstverein-bamberg.de](https://kunstverein-bamberg.de/index.php/kommende/?utm_source=openai))
Official channels of Cathrin Hoffmann and Sophia Süßmilch:
- Cathrin Hoffmann Website: https://www.cathrinhoffmann.com/about
- Cathrin Hoffmann Instagram: https://www.cathrinhoffmann.com/about
- Sophia Süßmilch Website: https://sophiasuessmilch.com/
- Sophia Süßmilch Instagram: https://sophiasuessmilch.com/
- Bamberg Art Association Website: https://kunstverein-bamberg.de/
- Bamberg Art Association Social Media: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunstverein_Bamberg










