Joe Gerhardt

Biography

Semiconductor is the UK artist duo Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt. Over twenty-five years, they have developed a critically engaged, research-led practice that explores the material nature of the physical world through the lenses of science and technology. Their multi-disciplinary works foreground the role of human perception within systems of observation, encouraging us to expand our sense of reality and question our place in the universe. Their practice is rooted in research from within scientific institutions, including CERN; NASA; the Smithsonian Institution; Charles Darwin Research Centre, Galapagos; the UK Government Office for Science; and the Extreme Light Laboratory, University of Glasgow. These fellowships and residencies enable Semiconductor to investigate the tools, languages, and epistemologies through which science seeks to describe the universe, drawing attention to the ways in which instruments and methodologies shape not only what we know, but how we come to know it. Their artworks are exhibited worldwide, with solo presentations including Art Basel, the 4th Audemars Piguet Commission; the National Center of Contemporary Arts, Santiago; City Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand; John Hansard Gallery, Southampton, UK; House of Electronic Arts, Basel; and FACT, Liverpool, UK. Notable group exhibitions include the 21st Biennale of Sydney; Mori Art Museum, Tokyo; International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Royal Academy of Arts, London; ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, USA; and ArtScience Museum, Singapore. Commissions include permanent works for DeepMind (UK) and the Novartis Pavillion (Switzerland). Their work is held in prominent international collections, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Washington, DC), the Centre Pompidou (Paris), as well as private collections.