Niklas Goldbach, born 1973 in Witten, Germany, lives and works in Berlin.
After studying Sociology at Bielefeld University and "Photography and Video" at the Unversity of Applied Sciences Bielefeld, he was awarded with the "Meisterschüler" degree at the University of the Arts Berlin in 2006. In 2005 he received the Fulbright Grant New York and majored in the MFA program of Hunter College, New York City.

In his videos, photographies and installations, Goldbach is involved in the relation between architecture and necropolitics in their modernist traditions and postmodern manifestations. Established between reality and fiction, Goldbach dissects and appropriates architectural elements that serve both as backdrops and catalysts of (neo)liberal and (neo)colonial subject construction to create ambiguous perceptions of man-made environments through the lens of a globally expanding interconnectivity of these sites.

In his earlier film works, his often duplicated protagonists have colonized epic stages of modern architectural complexes, postmodern urban environments or alleged paradises defying civilisation, all finding their commonality as places oscillating between utopia and dystopia.

Since 2005 Niklas Goldbach received several scholarships and awards: Fulbright Scholarship 2005 (New York City), Le Pavillon Artist in Residence Program, Palais de Tokyo 2007, Cité des Arts Paris 2007, Arbeits--stipendium Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn 2010, Arbeitsstipendium Bildende Kunst des Berliner Senats 2013, Projektförderung des Berliner Senats 2014, Paula Modersohn-Becker Jubiläumspreis 2014, Dresdener Stipendium für Fotografie 2016, Villa Aurora Fellowship Los Angeles 2017, Recherchestipendium des Berliner Senats 2021, NEUSTART Innovative Kunstprojekte 2021, NEUSTART KULTUR-Stipendium 2022. In 2023 he was awarded with the "Nordhorn Art Award".

He presented his works in numerous solo shows, group exhibitions, and festivals in venues such as the Berlinale (Forum Expanded), Berlin; Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen; EMAF – European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück; AFFR Architecture Film Festival Rotterdam; f/stop Festival, Leipzig; Kasseler Dokfilmfest; Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum; Mori-Art Museum, Tokyo; National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts; Total Museum for Contemporary Art, Seoul; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Museum Technische Sammlungen, Dresden; Museum der Moderne Salzburg; Kunstmuseum Mülheim; Berlinische Galerie Museum für moderne und zeitgenössische Kunst; Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam; Building Bridges Art Exchange, Los Angeles; Palazzo delle Arti di Napoli; Watermans Art Centre, London; Barbican Centre, London; City Gallery Gdansk; Städtische Galerie Nordhorn, Kunsthaus Dresden; Kunsthaus Wien; Galerie im Taxispalais; Innsbruck; Wien Museum MUSA; Cornerhouse, Manchester; Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin; ZKM, Karlsruhe; Kunsthalle Karlsruhe; HMKV Hartware MedienKunstVerein, Dortmund; n.b.k. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein; Württembergischer Kunstverein Stuttgart; Künstlerhaus Stuttgart; FotoFest Houston Biennial 2016; Fotobiennalen 2018 Denmark, Odense; documenta 14, Kassel; Bergen Assembly 2019; Media Art Biennale Wroclaw 2021; Biennale für Freiburg 2021; Manifesta 16 Ruhr 2026 a.o.