Studied art history, classical archaeology and philosophy in Heidelberg, Munich and New York. Doctorate at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe (HfG) with the dissertation “Imi Knoebel. Die Tradition des gegenstandslosen Bildes” and habilitation at the University Fridericiana Karlsruhe on the topic ‘Ordnungen der Bilder’. From 2000 to 2009 lecturer and scientific coordinator of the graduate college “Bild.Körper.Medium. An Anthropological Perspective” at the HfG Karlsruhe and until 2015 lecturer at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT). Guest and substitute professorships at the Universities of Heidelberg and Jena, at the Heidelberg Center for Transcultural Studies, at the Estonian University Tallinn and at the Kunstakademie Karlsruhe. Fellowships at the “International College for Cultural Technology Research and Media Philosophy” at the Bauhaus University Weimar (IKKM), at the “International College Morphomata” at the University of Cologne and at the “International Forum for Cultural Studies” in Vienna (IFK). Since WS 2016/17 Professor of Art Studies at the HfK Bremen.

Main areas of research: Modern and contemporary art, transcultural history of images and their media, image and art theory, theory and history of new media, global art studies, history and theory of portraiture and landscape.