Clemens Luhmann was born in Germany in 1965, the son of sociologist Niklas Luhmann and goldsmith Ursula Luhmann. He grew up near Bielefeld and studied medicine, later working as a surgeon in Germany.
His connection with Latin America began in 1987, when he first traveled through South America. At the end of the 1990s, he moved to Guatemala. He lives with his family at Lake Atitlán, where his studio overlooks the lake and the surrounding volcanic landscape.
Painting has accompanied Luhmann since childhood. His mother introduced him to the practice of making art, while his father taught him to look closely at art, particularly through visits to museums and exhibitions. He later studied painting with the American artist Guido Bondioli. Since 2012, his work has been shown in exhibitions in Central America and Germany.
His paintings are largely abstract and develop through an open process of layering, gesture, line and color. Many are created over extended periods of time, with earlier forms remaining visible beneath later interventions.
Luhmann’s work and life in Guatemala are the subject of two documentary films by filmmaker Jay Zacc: From Doctor to Painter (2015–2016, 52 min.) and the German-language Am Anfang war der Klecks (2016, 28 min.).
Alongside painting and medicine, Luhmann has worked as a writer and editor. In 2012, he edited Poesie als Passion, a collection of poetry published by Wilhelm Fink Verlag. His biography Niklas Luhmann. Ein Leben zwischen Umbruch und Ordnung, a personal and documentary account of his father’s life, will be published by Klett-Cotta in 2026.
2026 Autopoiesis
German Embassy, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2025 Sin Título Untitled Casa No'j, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
2022 Retrospectiva 2012–2022 Retrospective 2012–2022
Antigua, Guatemala
2022 Ohne Titel Untitled
Aachen, Germany
2020 Caravana Caravan
German Embassy, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2017 Al principio fue la salpicadura In the Beginning was the Splash
German Embassy, Guatemala City, Guatemala
2016 Absichtlicher Zufall Random Intent
Stuttgart, Germany
2016 Migration
Regensburg, Germany
2016 Encuentro Luhmann Bondioli Encounter Luhmann Bondioli
Panajachel, Guatemala
2016 Encuentro Luhmann Bondioli Encounter Luhmann Bondioli
Casa No´j, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
2015 Retrospectiva 2008–2015 Retrospective 2008–2015
Panajachel, Guatemala
2015 Mocean
Casa No´j, Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
2014 Líneas Aéreas, visibles e invisibles Airlines – Visibles and Invisibles
Antigua, Guatemala
2014 Palabras desde Manchas Words out of Splashes
Granada, Nicaragua
2013 Inquietud Agitation
Granada, Nicaragua
2012 Azar intencional Random Intent
Antigua, Guatemala