Rut Blees Luxemburg

Rut Blees Luxemburg is an artist whose photographic and public practice investigates the poetics and politics of the contemporary city. Working across photography, public installations, and opera, her multidisciplinary approach reinterprets urban environments and their shifting identities. Her work has been exhibited internationally at major institutions including Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, Taipei Digital Art Centre, and Hayy Jameel. A standout solo exhibition, Phantom, presented at Tate Liverpool, explored the evolving architecture of Dakar, Senegal.

Among her permanent commissions, Silver Forest is a monumental photographic installation featuring urban woodlands in Beijing and London, now installed on the façade of Westminster City Hall. Her work often occupies public space, challenging conventional modes of viewing and inviting broader civic engagement.

Blees Luxemburg is Professor of Urban Aesthetics at the Royal College of Art in London, where she co-leads the Spatial Value Catalyst, a research initiative promoting artistic engagement in public space. She is the author of Future Archive, a long-form artistic research project developed in parallel with the new RCA campus designed by Herzog and de Meuron.

Her public voice extends into media and discourse, having co-hosted SKY Arts’ Master of Photography and participated in numerous international conferences, artist talks, and jury panels across art and architecture.