In the studio: Tatjana Danneberg

 

Vienna-based artist Tatjana Danneberg opens up her studio doors on the occasion of her exhibition with Anna & Bernhard Blume at the gallery. She talks about the ordered chaos of her studio practice and her instinctive and unplanned approach to the photographic image. Along the way, she reflects on what she shares with the Blumes despite working so differently, why bad photography can be a genuine method, and how stripping a picture down to nothing but light and shadow turned out to be exactly what this exhibition needed.

 

SSM: What's the first photo you took today?

 

📸 Courtesy of the artist

 

SSM: Is there a museum in Vienna that you keep returning to?

TD: The Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum).

  

SSM: Does every day in the studio start the same?

TD: More or less. I usually walk to the studio, which gives me some time to think about what lies ahead. When I arrive, I prepare tea, turn on some music, and start looking through things – pictures, books, previous works, etc. I'm quite particular about my surroundings – I lose focus easily, so the environment matters a lot to me. I inevitably make a mess while I work, but I need order to begin, so a big chunk of time goes into tidying the space, over and over. 

 

📸 Courtesy of the artist

Tatjana Danneberg, Studio, Vienna 📸 Courtesy of the artist

 

SSM: What are your studio essentials?

TD: Brushes, scissors, white paint, cooking plate, wood glue, sound system, and some snacks.

 

SSM: If you had to name one subject that connects your work, what would it be?

TD: Hard to say, really. I have many questions and no clear answers. I don’t like the idea of a subject with a capital S – especially when it comes to something as abstract as making art. Or perhaps someone else has to answer this question for me.

 

SSM: Your new works in the exhibition are placed in conversation with historical works of Anna & Bernhard Blume – how did this influence the way your paintings came together?

TD: I started by thinking about the performative aspect in both our practices – this blur between protagonist and observer felt like a point of connection. Anna & Bernhard Blume performed in front of the camera, even describing their process as “painting with the camera”. I approach images as organic material that develop a kind of second life once activated through the brush. In a way, I sneak myself into the photograph by painting my way into it. Anna & Bernhard Blume constructed their seemingly chaotic scenes with care and precision, while my pictures are completely unplanned, and yet the results, our motifs often look weirdly similar. They described their approach as ‘provocative amateurism’, deliberately out of focus, bad lighting, etc. – which is also how I handle the camera. The difference is, I'm just actually a bad photographer.

 

SSM: Looking at your new works, there seems to be a shift towards abstraction. Where did the motifs for the paintings in this show come from?

TD: I wanted to strip the photographic image down to its bare essentials – light and shadow. I believe that reduction also brings it closer to questions of painting. Eventually, I realized the exhibition would benefit from less narrative, not more. Where the images come from is, in the end, not that important to me. What matters is that the source is an unmanipulated photograph taken on analogue film – it could be a motion blur, a failed shot, the beginning or end of a film roll. With Bei Dir ist noch Licht (2026) for example, the source was a photograph of a broken TV – the damaged screen produced these illuminated horizontal and vertical lines. The title stems from a song by Silberstreif (a German 80s synth-wave band) – the lyrics describe a man creepily lingering outside his (past?) lover’s window at night, which I found somehow fitting for this motif. 

 

Tatjana Danneberg, Bei Dir Ist Noch Licht, 2026, Learn more →

 

SSM: Starting or finishing a work?

TD: Both are nerve-racking, but I think I’d choose finishing over starting.

 

SSM: Do you have a favourite camera?

TD:  I use a Ricoh FF-70, sometimes an Olympus Mju. I’d love to own a Contax T2/T3, but I don’t think I’d dare take it out every day – I’m a bit too clumsy and would be constantly worried about dropping it.

 

SSM: Is there an artwork from art history that best describes your personality?

TD: Not easy! Perhaps one of Pierre Bonnard’s Le petit déjeuner(s).