Josephsohn was born in Königsberg (today's Kaliningrad), East Prussia. Here he attended elementary school and completed high school in 1937. That same year, he left his homeland and moved to Florence with a small scholarship, in order to study art. Due to his Jewish ancestry, he had to leave Italy a short time later and fled to Switzerland. He arrived in Zurich in 1938 and became a student of the sculptor Otto Müller. In 1943 Josephsohn moved into his first atelier, and starting in 1964 began showing his works in various solo shows within Switzerland. He acquired Swiss citizenship in 1964.
Josephsohn's works began to attract the attention of a larger audience at the end of the 1990s. The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam dedicated a large solo exhibition to the artist in 2002. In 2003 Josephson received the art prize of Zurich. Various group and solo exhibitions followed this, among others in the Diözesanmuseum Kolumba in Cologne (2005) and in the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2007). In 2008, the MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt/Main organized a large solo exhibition of Josephsohn's works. In the years since 2000, Josephsohn's work has increasingly been regarded, also internationally, as a significant contribution to visual art.
Permanent installations of Hans Josephsohn's works can be seen at the museum La Congiunta in Tessin, Switzerland, which was built by Peter Märkli and Stefan Bellwalder and opened in 1992. In 2003 the Kesselhaus Josephsohn in St. Gallen, Switzerland, opened, where a regularly alternating selection of works is presented. At the same time, the Kesselhaus is functioning as a storage and archive for Josephsohn's works and it is located next to the Kunstgiesserei St. Gallen where Hans Josephsohn's works are cast.
Hans Josephsohn is represented by the Galerie Felix Lehner and Galerie Max Hetzler
Overview
Josephsohn's sculptures focused on the human figure as a volume in space. From the beginning of his career he worked, from the model, on sculpture's most timeless, constant themes: Representations of the human figure, standing, sitting, reclining, working on portrait heads or half-figures, made in plaster, some then later, cast in bronze.
Josephsohn's figures are bereft of any portrait-like individualization. And they stand out for their simplicity, for their being limited to the simple postures of the human body. The wish for permanence plays a key role: "My figures must be enduring in their expression, in their stance", Josephsohn said, "A narrative gesture is out of the question". His works evoke prehistory, ancient stone steles and romanesque figures.
Josephsohn's favourite working material was plaster. He found it ideal - simply it permits directness and spontaneity, both of which were necessary for Josephsohn's working process. Plaster allowed him to repeatedly add material or take it away. The directness of the work process was reflected not only in the immense vitality of the figures but even more by the traces left by this process. For example, finger imprints remain on the surface, referencing the artist's hands as it seeks to mold the material.
His artistic examination of the human figure was influenced and determined by his own experience, which for him as an artist, shaped above all by his everyday work in the studio but also by the interpersonal relations in his life. He found his models in his own personal world: They were for the most part friends, relatives - almost always women, very often his own life partner. Real persons are the starting point of this work and search for forms but his works hardly ever had portrait-like character or individual traits. Thus, also for those who knew Josephsohn's models personally, when viewing the corresponding works there is little to remind one of the individuals.
Solo exhibitions
Galerie Max Hetzler, London, England (2022)
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, Germany (2022)
ICA Milano, Milan, Italy (2019)
Museum Folkwang, Essen, Germany (2018)
Hauser & Wirth Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland (2015)
Kunstparterre, München, Germany (2015)
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland (2014)
Hauser & Wirth New York, New York, USA (2014)
Ernst Barlach Haus, Hamburg, Germany (2014)
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, UK (2013)
Modern Art Oxford, UK (2013)
Hauser & Wirth London, London (Piccadilly), UK (2012)
Lismore Castle Arts, Lismore, Ireland (2012)
Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo/Kyoto, Japan (2011)
Hauser & Wirth Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland (2010)
Armory Show, New York, USA (2009)
Hauser & Wirth Outdoor Sculpture: Hans Josephsohn, Southwood Gardens, London, UK (2009)
Josephsohn Bildhauer, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt am Main, Germany (2008)
Galerie am Stadelhofen, Zurich, Switzerland (1962)
Städtische Kunstkammer zum Strauhof, Zurich, Switzerland (1956)
Group exhibitions (selection)
Zeit für Fragmente. Werke aus der Sammlung Marx und der Sammlung der Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin (2019)
Stunde Null, Kunst von 1933 bis 1955, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich (2019)
Substance, Galerie Laurent Godin, Paris (2015)
All back in the skull together, Maccarone Gallery, New York (2015)
ArtZuid – International Sculpture Route, Amsterdam (2015)
Spatial Positions 8: Kooperationen. Diener&Diener in Zusammenarbeit mit Martin Steinmann und Josef Felix Müller / Peter Märkli und Josephsohn, Schweizerisches Architekturmuseum Basel, Switzerland (2014)
Il Palazzo Enciclopedico, Biennale, Venice, Italy (2013)
MOVING – Norman Foster on Art, Carré d'Art – musée d'art contemporain, Nîmes, France (2013)
Frauen – Liebe und Lebe, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany (2013)
The Spirit Level, Gladstone Gallery, New York NY, USA (2012)
Frieze Art Fair Sculpture Park 2012, Regent's Park, London, UK (2012)
Common Ground, Architecture Biennale Venice, Italy (2012)
Art and the City: Ein Festival für Kunst im öffentlichen Raum, Zurich-West, Switzerland (2012)
Head: A gathering of primitive, abstract, iconic, lumpen, powerful, playful, referential, reflective, layered, delirious, precious, beautiful, psychotic, grotesque, detached forms, The Approach, London, UK (2010)
ev+a. Exhibition of visual art, The Belltable Arts Centre, Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick, Ireland (2010)
Visible Invisible, Parasol Unit Foundation of Contemporary Art, London, UK (2009)
ING Discerning Eye Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London, UK (2009)
The Third Mind, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2007)
Klaus Merz und die Bilder, Literaturmuseum Strauhof, Zurich, Switzerland (2007)
Hans Josephsohn und Marisa Merz, Galerie Buchmann, Lugano, Switzerland (2007)
Die obere Hälfte - die Büste seit August Rodin, Museum Liner, Appenzell, Switzerland (Travelling Exhibition) (2006)
Architektur + Kunst - Dialoge, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (2005)
Mind the Gap, Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany (2004)
G 2003, Mostra Internazionale di Scultura all’Aperto, Vira Gambarogno, Switzerland (2003)
Der verlorene Blick, Galerie Lelong, Zurich, Switzerland (2000)
ron bladen, cris gianakos, max bill, hans josephsohn, beat zoderer, richard long, christoph haerle, richard serra, beatrice rossi und frédéric dedellay, Haus Bill, Zumikon, Switzerland (1999)
Angela Bulloch, is an artist who often works with sound and installation; she is recognised as one of the Young British Artists. Bulloch lives and works in Berlin.
Max Bill was a Swiss architect, artist, painter, typeface designer, industrial designer and graphic designer.
Sophie Henriette Gertrud Taeuber-Arp was a Swiss artist, painter, sculptor, textile designer, furniture and interior designer, architect, and dancer.
Uwe Wittwer is a Swiss artist. He lives and works in Zürich, Switzerland. The media he uses include watercolor, oil painting, inkjet prints and video.
Günther Förg was a German painter, graphic designer, sculptor and photographer. His abstract style was influenced by American abstract painting.
Albert Oehlen is a German artist. He lives and works in Bühler, Switzerland and Segovia, Spain.
Bethan Huws is a Welsh multi-media artist whose work explores place, identity, and translation, often using architecture and text. Her work has been described as "delicate, unobtrusive interventions into architectural spaces".
André Butzer, is a German painter.
Roman Signer is principally a visual artist who works in sculpture, art installations photography, and video.
Haluk Akakçe was a Turkish contemporary artist living and working in New York and Istanbul whose work explored the intersections between society and technology through video animations, wall paintings and sound installations. He trained in architecture at Bilkent University, Ankara, then graduated with an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Akakçe's work appeared in the Istanbul and São Paulo Biennials, the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York and the Walker Art Center. Among solo shows, Akakçe exhibited at the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York and the Berlin KunstWerke. He was shortlisted for the Beck's Futures award at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in 2004.
Caro Niederer is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Zürich.
Rainer Fetting is a German painter and sculptor.
David Reed is a contemporary American conceptual and visual artist.
Karin Sander is a German conceptual artist. She lives and works in Berlin and Zurich.
Serge Stauffer was a Swiss artist and art educator. He was one of the co-founders of the F+F Schule für experimentelle Gestaltung in Zurich and known for his German translations of the works of Marcel Duchamp. Stauffer can be considered to have pioneered art as research.
Marc Bauer is an artist best known for his works in the graphic medium, primarily drawing.
Hugo Markl is a contemporary American artist, curator, and creative director. He studied Visual communication at the University of Applied Arts Vienna (1985–90) where he graduated with an M.A. in fine arts. His practice spans a broad range of media including sculpture, photography, video, drawing, printmaking, installation art, and performance. Markl lives in New York City.
Mary Heilmann is an American painter based in New York City and Bridgehampton, NY. She has had solo shows and travelling exhibitions at galleries such as 303 Gallery and Hauser & Wirth (Zurich) and museums including the Wexner Center for the Arts and the New Museum. Heilmann has been cited by many younger artists, particularly women, as an influential figure.
Galerie Max Hetzler is a gallery for contemporary art with locations in Berlin, Paris and London.
Fritz Nathan was a German-Swiss gallery owner and art dealer.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
