Susanne S. D. Themlitz (born 1968) is an installation artist who has Portuguese and German nationality. She has exhibited widely in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Early life and education

Susanne S.D. Themlitz was born in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

in 1968. She studied drawing and sculpture at the Centre for Art and Visual Communication (AR.CO) in Lisbon, between 1987 and 1993, with one of those years spent at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. She obtained a master's degree in Fine Arts at the ''

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Blinky Palermo, Ma ...

'' in Germany in 1995, on a

Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the wealthiest charitable founda ...

fellowship.

Career

Susanne S. D. Themlitz lives and works between Lisbon, Portugal and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, Germany. She exhibited for the first time in 1992 at the

Calouste Gulbenkian Museum The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum houses one of the world's most important private art collections. It includes works from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century, spanning the arts of the Islamic art, Islamic World, China and Japan, as well as the F ...

, in Lisbon. Since then, she has had solo exhibitions in Lisbon,

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

Elvas Elvas (), officially the City of Elvas (), is a Portuguese municipality, former episcopal city and frontier fortress of easternmost central Portugal, located in the district of Portalegre in Alentejo. It is situated about east of Lisbon, and ab ...

Tavira Tavira (), officially the City of Tavira (), is a Portuguese town and municipality, capital of the ''Costa do Acantilado'', situated in the east of the Algarve on the south coast of Portugal. It is east of Faro and west of Huelva across the riv ...

Ponte de Sor Ponte de Sor () is a city and municipality in Portalegre District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 16,722, in an area of 839.71 km2. The present Mayor is Hugo Hilário, elected by the Socialist Party. The municipal holiday is Easter ...

Sines Sines () is a town and a municipality in Portugal. The municipality, divided into two parishes, has around 14,214 inhabitants (2021) in an area of . Sines holds an important oil refinery and several petrochemical industries. It is also a popular ...

and

Caldas da Rainha Caldas da Rainha () is a medium-sized Portugal, Portuguese city in the Oeste Subregion, Oeste region, in the historical province of Estremadura Province (1936–1976), Estremadura, and in the Leiria District, district of Leiria. The city serves a ...

in Portugal; Cologne,

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and

Meerbusch Meerbusch () is a town in Rhein-Kreis Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It has been an incorporated town since 1970. Meerbusch is the municipality with the most income millionaires in North Rhine-Westphalia. Geography Meerbusch is a town i ...

in Germany;

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

in France; and

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portugal, Portuguese Portugal–Spain border, border, on the left bank of the river ...

, Santander,

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

, and Cáceres, in Spain. The work of Themlitz involves installations that create fantasy by using different media and materials, either individually or combined. She uses drawing, sculpture, photography, video, installation, and painting. Her work makes reference to literature and cinema, children's stories, mythology, and science fiction, combined with her observations on human beings and their personalities. Her art is included in several collections. In addition to that of the Gulbenkian Foundation, these include those of the ''Caixa Geral de Depósitos'', the

Serralves Serralves is a cultural institution located in Porto, Portugal. It includes a contemporary art museum, a park, and a villa, with each one of these being an example of contemporary architecture, Modernism, and Art Deco architecture. The museum, d ...

Foundation, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Elvas and the Museum of Contemporary Art of

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

, among others in Portugal, and in foreign collections such as the '' Museo Extremeño e Iberoamericano de Arte Contemporáneo'' in Badajoz and the ''

Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo de Santander y Cantabria The Museo de Arte Moderno y Contemporáneo de Santander y Cantabria (also known as MAS) is an art museum in Santander, Spain. Today the museum specializes in modern and contemporary art. History The first MAS museum was established in 1907. It o ...

'' in Santander.

Exhibitions

Solo shows include: ''Poemas'', Galeria Ángeles Baños (Badajoz, 2023);
DentroGaleria Vera Cortês
(Lisbon, 2022); ''Transformatório''. Themlitz & Companhia
Arquipélago Centro de Artes Contemporâneas
(São Miguel – Azores, 2022)
Galeria Alex Serra
(Colónia, 2022); ''A Marble on the Floor In the Middle of the Room''
Casa da Cerca
(Almada, 2021/22); ''Monument Moment'', Porta 14 (Lisbon, 2021); ''Far Away. Unveiled. To the Wind.'', Sismógrafo (Oporto, 2020); ''The Still Life of Landscape'', Matjö Raum für Kunst (Cologne, 2019); ''El silencio cerca de la línea''
Ángeles Baños Gallery
(Badajoz, 2019)
Three Lines, a Corner Times Four. And a Landscape.

Galeria Vera Cortês
(Lisbon, 2018)
Breath. Pause – Between Two Points
Galeria Vera Cortês (Lisbon, 2016); ''Le loir est rendormi'', Houg Gallery (Paris, 2015). Group shows include:

Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (), commonly referred to simply as the Gulbenkian Foundation, is a Portugal, Portuguese institution dedicated to the promotion of the arts, philanthropy, science, and education. One of the List of wealthiest c ...

(Lisboa, 2023, 2021, 2016, 2012, 2004);
Atelier-Museu Júlio Pomar
(Lisboa, 2023)
MNAC
(Lisboa, 2023); Fundação PLMJ (Lisboa, 2023); Culturgest (Lisboa, 2021, 2013, 2003, 2000); Arpad Szenes/Vieira da Silva Museum (Lisbon, 2021, 2019, 2013, 2002); CAAB (Beja, 2021); MEIAC Museum (Badajoz, 2021); Museum Nadir Afonso (Chaves, 2020); Frank Schlag Gallery (Essen, 2020); Kunsthalle (Düsseldorf, 2019); Kulturbahnhof (Eller, 2019); Casa da Cerca (Almada, 2019); Eugénio de Almeida Foundation (Évora, 2019); The Kreeger Museum (Washington, 2018); Carreau du Temple (Paris, 2018); Oriente Museum (Lisbon, 2017); -Galerina Steiner (Berlin, 2016); Rompone Kunstsalon (Cologne, 2016); -Arquipélago Museum (S. Miguel/Azores, 2015); Art Museum (Huelva, 2015); -MAC (Elvas, 2014); Martina Kaiser Gallery (2013, Cologne); -Hans-Peter-Zimmer Foundation (Düsseldorf, 2012); - Cultural Center Belém (Lisbon, 2010, 2009, 2007); Pátio Herreriano Museum (Valladolid, 2008); MACUF (A Coruña, 2008).

Institutional collections

Institutional collections include
Amadeo de Souza-Cardoso Museum
António Cachola Collection, Bordallo Pinheiro Museum, CACE, Caixa Geral de Depósitos/Culturgest,

, Carmona e Costa Foundation, Centenera Foundation, EDP Foundation, Figueiredo Ribeiro Collection
FLAD Foundation
Lisbon City Council, MEIAC Badajoz, Museum MAS Santander, Norlinda & José Lima Collection
PLMJ Foundation

Serralves Foundation Serralves is a cultural institution located in Porto, Portugal. It includes a contemporary art museum, a park, and a villa, with each one of these being an example of contemporary architecture, Modernism, and Art Deco architecture. The museum, d ...

and Jorge Pérez Collection.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Themlitz, Susanne 1968 births Living people 20th-century Portuguese women artists 21st-century Portuguese women artists Artists from Lisbon Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni