Ohan Breiding
Beside the sun
Meer
April 3, 2025
OHAN BREIDING
Ohan Breiding is a Swiss-American artist working with photography, photographic and filmic archives, video, and collaboration to reinterpret historical events. Raised in a Swiss village and living in New York City (Lenape lands), they employ a trans-feminist lens to the discussion of ecological care in order to bring the past into a meaningful transformative relation with the present. Through their multimedia installations, Breiding amplifies the systemic failures and violence of the Anthropocene.
Ohan Breiding (b. 1981) received an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, CA and a BA from Scripps College in Claremont, CA. Their work has been exhibited internationally at venues including Museum für Zeitgenössische Kunst in Eupen, Belgium; FRAC des Pays de la Loire in Carquefou and Nantes, France; Kunsthaus Zürich in Switzerland; Haus N in Athens, Greece; Dilalica Gallery in Barcelona, Spain; Galería Casa Lu in Mexico City, Mexico; Hallwalls Contemporary Art Center in Buffalo, NY; Oceanside Museum of Art in Oceanside, CA as a part of Getty PST ART; Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, LAXART, Human Resources, the Armory Center for the Arts, and OCHI in Los Angeles, CA; Elga Wimmer Gallery in New York, NY; Southern Exposure and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, CA; the Oakland Museum of California in Oakland, CA; and the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, CA. Forthcoming solo exhibitions will take place at MASS MoCA in North Adams, MA and A.I.R. Gallery in Brooklyn, NY in 2025. Breiding is the recipient of numerous awards including a Swiss International Film Festival Award; a 2024 Puffin Foundation Grant; a 2023 Flaherty Film Fellowship; a 2023 Hellman Grant; a 2021 TBA21 Ocean Space Fellowship in Venice, Italy; and a 2017 Rema Hort Mann Emerging Artist Grant. Their work has been featured in publications including Artforum, Artillery Magazine, Bomb Magazine, e-flux, The Vassar Review, Hyperallergic, and Art in America. Belly of a Glacier was published in 2023 by Nico Fontana Press and launched at Dia Chelsea and NY Art Book Fair. Breiding is a facilitator of the arts teaching as an Assistant Professor in the Art History and Studio Art department at Williams College in Williamstown, MA. Breiding is represented by OCHI.
Featured Works
Ochi Exhibitions
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OHAN BREIDING PROMISCUOUS GHOST
November 16 - December 21, 2024OCHI, LOS ANGELES -
OHAN BREIDING PLAYING SUBMARINE
February 6 - March 20, 2021LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -
OHAN BREIDING SOUVENIR
May 4 - June 1, 2019LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -
TO HAVE OR TO BE
July 28 - September 8, 2018LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -
OCCUPY SPACE DIFFERENTLY
September 3 - October 9, 2016LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Institutional Exhibitions
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OHAN BREIDING BELLY OF A GLACIER
February 1 - December 14, 2025MASS MoCA -
OHAN BREIDING Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean
September 7, 2024 - January 19, 2025OCEANSIDE MUSEUM OF ART -
OHAN BREIDING SOUVENIR
March 10 - April 28, 2023HALLWALLS CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER, BUFFALO, NY -
MARCEL PARDO ARIZA AND OHAN BREIDING QUEERISH
October 28 - December 15, 2023Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, CA -
OHAN BREIDING ZEIT
September 22, 2023 - January 14, 2024Kunsthaus Zürich
CV
OHAN BREIDING
Born 1981, Switzerland
Lives and works in Williamstown, MA, New York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA
EDUCATION
2012
MFA, Photo Media, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2006
BA, Art History & Fine Art, Scripps College, Claremont, CA
SELECTED SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2025
Belly of a Glacier,
MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA
Belly of a Glaicer,
American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
2024
Promiscuous Ghost,
OCHI, Los Angeles, CA
2023
The Rebel Body,
Before Law Screening Room, Toronto, Canada (online)
Souvenir,
Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY
Belly of a Glacier (Chapter 1),
Eli Marsh Gallery, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
2021
Red Patience,
Bass & Reiner Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Playing Submarine,
OCHI, Los Angeles, CA
2020
The Rebel Body,
Haus N, Athens, Greece
Summer Fugue,
O Project Space, Los Angeles, CA
Summer Fugue,
New York Film Academy, Burbank, CA
2019
The Rebel Body,
Adjunct Position, Los Angeles, CA
Souvenir,
OCHI, Los Angeles, CA
2018
Circle Around Roots,
Galería Casa Lu, Mexico City, Mexico
The Rebel Body,
Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA
The Rebel Body,
Anna Göldi Museum, Glarus, Switzerland
2017
Magic Hour (Epitaph for Family),
curated by Christina Linden, Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA
2016
Night Again Again,
made in collaboration with Shoghig Halajian, Berkeley Museum of Art, Berkeley, CA
Ohan Breiding + Geneva Skeen: Field Variations,
curated by Robert Crouch, South of Sunset, Los Angeles, CA
2015
Epitaph for Family,
curated by Shoghig Halajian, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
We Love Our Parents, We Fear Snakes,
in collaboration with Marbles Jumbo Radio and Yann Novak, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
Following Vito Acconci,
curated by Nathalie Brilliant, Adobe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2014
Heat/Pool,
curated by Anne Guro Larsman, Kunstforeningen Verdens Ende, Tjøme, Norway
2012
Somewhere between Magic and Science,
curated by Asterism Derivative, Hahmajärventie Gallery, Haukijärvi, Finland
Touch Magic Like Smoke and Bone,
curated by Asterism Derivative, Gallery 402, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2011
Perverse/Reverse,
curated by Asterism Derivative, Gallery D301, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2010
White Narcissus/Backstage Carnage,
Gallery D300, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
Biennale EXPERIMENTS,
Grenoble, France (forthcoming)
2024
Transformative Currents,
Getty PST, Oceanside Museum of Art, Oceanside, CA
Circulationes,
Dilalica, Barcelona, Spain
2023
Noise of the Flesh. Score for gina pane,
curated by Mathilde Walker-Billaud, FRAC Pays de la Loire, Carquefou and Nantes, France
Queer-ish,
curated by Ken Gonzales-Day, Ruth Chandler Williamson Art Gallery, Scripps College, Claremont, CA
Time: From Dürer to Bonvicini,
curated by Cathérine Hug, Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland
Kenophombic Pantomimes,
Below Grand, New York, NY
Shapeshifters,
POUSH, Paris, France
2022
Even a Cat Can Look at the Queen,
Mrs. Gallery, Maspeth, NY
Identity Politics,
curated by Christian Camacho-Light + Roxana Fabius, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
The Wave,
curated by Àngels Miralda + Carolina Martínez, Collecteurs.com (digital)
2021
Expanded Field,
OCHI, Los Angeles, CA
2020
The Rebel Body,
Sharjah Film Platform, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
Before the Beginning,
IKOB, Museum für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Eupen, Belgium
The Rebel Body,
Swiss International Film Festival (SIFF), Aubonne, Switzerland
Swiss Art Expo,
ARTBOX.PROJECT, SBB Zürich Hauptbahnhof, Zürich, Switzerland
Archive Machines,
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2017
Small Works for Big Change,
Participant Inc., New York, NY
Animating the Archives,
curated by the founders of the Woman’s Building, Avenue 50 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Distance In/Formation,
made in collaboration with Rebecca Bruno, Wilfried Souly and Yann Novak, curated by Ciara Ennis and Robert Crouch, Lenzner Gallery / Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, Claremont, CA
A Matter of Fact,
curated by Malene Dam, Kevin Malcolm + Nikolaj Stobbe, Vermilion Sands, Copenhagen, Denmark
2016
Protuberances,
curated by Catherine Taft + Jess Arndt, LAXART, Los Angeles, CA
Seduction of the Cyborg,
, curated by David Frantz, Hannah Grossman + Simone Krug, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
Victoria Park,
in collaboration with Marbles Jumbo Radio + Yann Novak, curated by Rebecca Bruno, homeLA, Los Angeles, CA
A Space Remembered,
curated by Martabel Wasserman, Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA
2015
Crank,
Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
One After Another, In Succession,
Charlie James Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (curator)
Fade In/Fade Out,
356 Broadway, Los Angeles, CA
Emily O Inauguration,
curated by Kim Zumpfe, 4670 York, Los Angeles, CA
60 Americans,
curated by Terrence Sanders, Elga Wimmer Gallery, New York, NY
Photo LA,
L.A. Mart, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Re-Think Environment, Human Resources,
curated by Martabel Wasserman, Los Angeles, CA
Seaton Street Screening,
curated by Heather O’Brien, Seaton Studio, Los Angeles, CA
Photo LA,
L.A. Mart, Los Angeles, CA
2013
MOLT! Speculative Identities,
curated by Asterism Derivative, Kreuzberger Atelierhof, Berlin, Germany
Queer Arts Collective,
California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
Art Sale,
curated by Daniel Ingroff, Workspace, Los Angeles, CA
2012
Artist As Traveller,
Galerie der Hochschule, Braunschweig Kunstschule, Braunschweig, Germany
MMXII,
curated by Catherine Taft, CalArts MFA Graduate Exhibition, L.A. Mart, Los Angeles, CA
Untitled,
Susanne Vielmetter, Los Angeles, CA
We Got Next,
Untitled Art Projects Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
American Folk Anthologies,
curated by Cody Edison, Gallery 403, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
Next to Nothing,
The Farley Building, Los Angeles, CA
Place From Which One Speaks,
curated by Michelle Dizon, Main Gallery, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
Heroic Distortions and Narrative Strategies,
curated by Kaucyila Brooke + Malene Dam, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
Pith Show,
Gallery D301, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
Jeunes Talents Exhibition,
Cultural Services of the French Embassy, Paris, France; New York, NY; Miami, FL; and Los Angeles, CA
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2025
Support for Artists Grant, New York State Council on the Arts, New York, NY
2024
WASPS Artist Residency, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Artist in Residence, Fire Island Artist Residency, Fire Island, NY
Artist Residency, Triangle Arts, Brooklyn, Ny
Fellowship, A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, Ny
2023
Hellman Fellowship, San Francisco, CA
Arts Center Residency, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Governor’s Island, NY
The Flaherty Film Fellowship, International Film Seminars, Brooklyn, NY
2022
Tenure, Williams College, Williamstown, MA
Artist in Residence, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
Nominee, Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome, Italy
2021
TBA21 Ocean Fellowship, Venice, Italy
Swarm II, Public Billboard Commission, 14x48 Public Art Projects, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York, NY
2020
The Rebel Body, Short Film Award, Swiss International Film Festival, Aubonne, Switzerland
Field Workshop, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Los Angeles, CA
2019
Millay Colony Artist Residency, Austerlitz, NY
2018
Shandaken Residency, Storm King Art Center, New Windsor, NY
Casa Lu Artist Residency, Mexico City, Mexico
2017
Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant
2015
Artist Residency, The World That Begins Where Our Skin Ends, Armory Center for the Arts, Pasadena, CA
2014
Artist Residency, Summerforum, Joshua Tree, CA
2012
DAAD Grant Recipient, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, New York, NY
Artist Residency, Arteles, Finland
Braunschweig Kunstschule, Germany
2011
Jeunes Talents Residency, Arles & Paris, France
Dean's Grant, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
Bartmen Grant, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2010
Ahmanson Foundation Scholarship, Los Angeles, CA
Dean's Grant, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
2006
Lucia Suffel Award, Scripps College, Claremont, CA
Mellon Grant, Scripps College, Claremont, CA
SELECTED LECTURES & ARTIST TALKS
2024
Artist Talk, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Artist Talk, SIU College of Arts and Media, Southern Illinois, IL
2023
Artist Talk, FRAC des Pays de la Loire, Nantes, France
Artist Talk, New School, New York, NY
Seattle ASAP Conference, Seattle, WA
Artist Talk, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
Artist Talk, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center, Buffalo, NY
2022
Artist Talk, Amherst College, Amherst, MA
Beyond All Measures: The Sea, The Sky, The Horizon of our Transitional Present, Fulcrum Arts, Los Angeles, CA
Without Sun, Amherst College Artist Talk Series, Amherst, MA
2021
Future Plastic Archive, TBA-21 Academy Ocean Uni, Venice, Italy
Breathing Together, TBA-21 Academy Ocean Space, Venice, Italy
Oakley Center Salon with Alena Williams and Brittany Meché, Williamstown, MA
2020
Assistant Professor of Art, Williams College, Williamstown, MA
Resisting Now: Art and Policy Talk, Los Angeles Municipal Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Artist Talk, UC Riverside, Riverside, CA
Artist Talk, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM
Artist Talk, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
2019
Assistant Professor of Art, Williams College, Williamstown, MA
Visiting Professor, California Institute for the Arts, Valencia, CA
Artist Talk, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Artist Talk, Cypress College, Cypress, CA
2018
Lecturer, Scripps College, Claremont, CA
The Rebel Body, Anna Göldi Museum, Glarus, Switzerland
2017
Artist Talk, Scripps College, Claremont, CA
Artist Talk, Queer Lecture Series, Sonoma State University, Sonoma, CA
2016
Artist Talk, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA
Just Speak Nearby: The Politics & Practices of Art Writing, 356 Mission Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
at land’s edge, Los Angeles Contemporary Archive, Los Angeles, CA
TIR Journal, Pieter Space, Los Angeles, CA
2015
Artist Talk, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
Artist Talk, Walt Disney Family Museum, San Francisco, CA
Artist Talk, New York Film Academy, Burbank, CA
TIR Talk, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
Artist Talk, Analog Dissident, Los Angeles, CA
Artist Talk, Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA
KChung Radio, Los Angeles, CA
2014
Artist Talk, California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2025
2024
Zellen, Jody. “Pick of the Week," What's on Los Angeles, Dec. 19
Soboleva, Ksenia M., Ohan Breiding, Erin Johnson, and Anne Duk Hee Jordan. “Queer Animality Roundtable," Frieze, Nov. 14
Nelson, Samantha. “Oceanside Museum of Art Receives NEA Grant for New Exhibit," The Coast News Group, Jun. 24
“Dilalica (Barcelona) presenta ‘Circulaciones,’ muestra que explora imaginarios en torno al agua," Exibart, Feb. 16
Prouteau, Éva. “Nouveaux corps, nouvelles symbioses," 303 Arts, Recherches, Création, Feb.
2023
Yudess, Belén. “Nothing more Joy-ish than Queer-ish: A Snapshot of “Queer-ish: Photography and the LGBTQ+ Imaginary," The Scripps Voice, Nov. 10
Ball, Katherine Brewer. “Ohan Breiding Interviewed," Bomb Magazine, Apr. 12
“Rural Queerness: CATCHMEWHENYOUCAN," Soft Lightning, Vol. 3
“Queer Aesthetics," Queer Possibilities, Iss. 1
2022
Breiding, et al. “Reading Material: Books Shaping Artists’ Practices Now," Art in America, Aug. 8
“Sense and Splendor," The Vassar Review
Merutka, Sonya. “Loss Across Landscapes," AQNB, May 19
Halajian, Shohig. “The Fouling," BLUE, Feb. 14
Black, Ezrha Jean. “Ten More to Remember – or simply bring to Los Angeles," Artillery, Jan. 26
“Souvenir," Fulcrum Arts: Sequencing, Iss. S9q2e49682e5
2021
Ugwu, Uzomah. “An Impassioned Conversation with Ohan Breiding," Arte Realizzata, Jun. 27
Rolón, Carlos, Dan Peterson, and John Dennis. “Basketball & Contemporary Art," SKIRA
Capelli, Pia. “Lagoon Squad," Artforum, May 28
Black, Ezrha Jean. “Ohan Breiding at OCHI," Artillery, May 4
Zappas, Lindsay Preston. “Artworks that blend natural world with a minimal edge," KCRW, Feb. 23
Zappas, Lindsay Preston. “Johanna Breiding at OCHI," KCRW, Feb. 6
Dambrot, Shana Nys. “Pictures as Exhibitions, LA Weekly, Feb. 3
2020
“Johanna Breiding: Summer Fugue Screening," Curate LA, Oct. 2
Ahn, Abe. “An online archive tells an alternate history of US monuments and architecture," Hyperallergic, Sep. 29
Dambrot, Shana Nys, “Art Pick: Archive Machines," LA Weekly, Aug. 15
Kaminsky, Alicia. “ARCHIVE MACHINES, an online-only juried exhibition of SoCal artists," The Eastsider, Aug. 4
2019
Holcomb, Shelley. “Johana Breiding and Shoghig Halajian: The Rebel Body," Curate LA, May 11
2018
Whiteford, Meg. “Critics’ Picks, Johanna Breiding at Angels Gate Cultural Center," Artforum, Mar. 17
Ahn, Abe. “Finding kinship with witchcraft in the fight against patriarchy," Hyperallergic, Feb. 15
2017
“Best of 2017: Our top 10 Los Angeles Art Shows," Hyperallergic, Dec. 20
Jordan, Eliza. “Rema Hort Mann Foundation Awards 2017 Emerging Art Grantees," Whitewall, Feb. 7
2016
Campbell, Andy. “Critics’ Picks, Protuberances at LAXART," Artforum, Sep. 17
Frank, Priscilla. “Minutes Away from the Port of Los Angeles, Artists Conjure Utopian Visions of Labor," Huffington Post, Apr. 8
Gutierrez, Raquel. “Overlooking the Port of LA, an exhibit considers sustainability," Hyperallergic, Mar. 29
2015
Tattersall, Lanka. “Best of Los Angeles, 2015," Art in America, Dec. 20
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA
California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA
Museum of Grenoble, Grenoble, France
News
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Ohan Breiding
Art Exhibition Immortalizes Switzerland’s Rhône Glacier, Predicted to Disappear by 2050
Smithsonian Magazine
April 2, 2025
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Ohan Breiding
Weekend Guide: Selecta Series, House is Liberation, and More
BK Mag
March 20, 2025
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Ohan Breiding
“Ecofeminism, Art, and Environmental Justice” at the ArtCenter
ArtCenter South Campus, Pasadena, CA
March 21, 2025
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Ohan Breiding
Massachusetts museum presents an artist’s intimate portrait of a dying glacier
The Art Newspaper
March 17, 2025
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Ohan Breiding
At Mass MoCA , Ohan Breiding’s ‘Belly of a Glacier’ explores loss, memory and ecological care
The Berkshire Eagle
February 20, 2025
LINK -
Ohan Breiding
13 art exhibits to explore this winter
WBUR
January 16, 2025
LINK