Deborah Müller

Deborah Mueller studied Art History, Philosophy, and the Theory and History of Photography in Bern, Paris, Freiburg/Breisgau, and Zurich. She holds an M.A. in Art History and Philosophy from the University of Basel, where her master's thesis focused on the work of the Dutch-Surinamese Fluxus and conceptual artist Stanley Brouwn between 1960 and 1976. Prior to her graduate studies, she gained curatorial and educational experience at various art institutions (such as the Wiels Center for Contemporary Art in Brussels, Schaulager in Basel, and Portikus in Frankfurt/Main) and in different independent art projects. Since October 2022 she is a PhD candidate at the Department of Art History at the University of Vienna, where she is writing a dissertation on Joan Jonas under the supervision of Professor Sebastian Egenhofer. She is also a fellow of the Doctoral School of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Vienna.

Research interests: History, theory, and criticism of modern and contemporary art; visual culture, image-text relations, environmental art; performance art; history of sculpture, post-media practices.

Current research project: In my dissertation, I will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the work of performance, video, and installation artist Joan Jonas (*1936, New York City). While existing research has often concentrated on individual works or specific series, my study aims to examine selected pieces from the past five decades in order to illuminate the evolution of her artistic practice. A key focus will be given to film and video installations, where the intertwined aspects of body, temporality, and ecology emerge as central and enduring elements. By analyzing the development of Jonas’ oeuvre from an interdisciplinary perspective, and in light of contemporary art practices and their central theoretical discourses, my study offers a critical reevaluation of Jonas’s hybrid and multifaceted artistic approach, emphasizing the complexity and lasting impact of her work.