Kai Althoff

Last updated
Kai Althoff
BornFebruary 1966
Cologne
NationalityGerman
StyleMultimedia art

Kai Althoff (born 1966 in Cologne) is a German visual artist, painter, and musician.

Contents

Life and work

Kai Althoff was born in Cologne, West Germany, in February 1966. [1] Althoff has been a long-time friend with Michael Karoli, a member of Cologne krautrock band Can, visiting the Can Studio  [ de ] when he was seven years old. [2]

Borrowing from moments of history, religious iconography, and counter-cultural movements, Althoff has been creating imaginary environments in which paintings, sculpture, drawing, video, and found objects commingle. [1] Tapping a multitude of sources, from Germanic folk traditions to recent popular culture, from medieval and gothic religious imagery to early modern expressionism, Althoff's characters inhabit imaginary worlds that serve as allegories for human experience and emotion. [3] His image bank and painterly style also draw on the past, especially early-20th-century German Expressionism, reconfigured by introducing collaged technique. [4]

Much of Althoff's work is collaborative. For the 4th Berlin Biennale, Althoff and Lutz Braun created the site-specific installation Kolten Flynn, made up of three vitrines draped in red foil and full of a child’s paintings, drawings, pens and other abandoned materials. [5] Along with Yair Oelbaum, he conceived the dramatic play There we will be buried (2010), which debuted in 2011 at the Dixon Studio in Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England. For their U.S.-premiere performance at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the pair portrayed the show’s main characters, Orpah and Lydia, two single mothers searching for a lost daughter. [6] In Die Kleine Bushaltestelle (Gerüstbau) (Little Bus Stop [Scaffolding], 2012) Althoff performed alongside fellow artist Isa Genzken in a 70-minute absurdist comedy shot on home video. [7]

Althoff's work has been included in several books listing contemporary artists, such as Art Now, published by Taschen. He is also a musician, releasing solo work under such monikers as Fanal, Engelhardt/Seef/Davis Coop. or Ashley's. He and Justus Köhncke perform as Subtle Tease, and he co-founded the band Workshop with Christoph Rath, Stefan Mohr and Stephan Abry. [8]

Althoff is represented by Gladstone Gallery in New York, [9] Galerie NEU in Berlin, [10] and Michael Werner Gallery in London.

Exhibitions

Althoff has been the subject of solo exhibitions worldwide, including Kaiki, an exhibition of artist Kai Althoff's work selected by Saim Demircan at Focal Point Gallery in Southend-on-Sea in 2011; Kai Althoff in 2008 at Vancouver Art Gallery; [11] Kai Althoff: Ich meine es auf jeden fall schlecht mit ihnen [12] in 2007 Kunsthalle Zürich; [13] Kai Althoff: Kai kein Respekt (Kai No Respect) in 2004 at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston [14] and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; [15] Immo [16] in 2004 at Simultanhalle, Cologne; [17] Kai Althoff and Armin Kraemer [18] in 2002 at Kunstverein Braunschweig, Braunschweig; and Heetz, Nowak, Rehberger in 1997 at Museo de Arte Contemporanea USP, São Paulo. From 18 September 2016 through 22 January 2017, Kai Althoff: and then leave me to the common swifts was on view at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 2014, a solo exhibition, Kai Althoff , was presented at Michael Werner Gallery, London.

Current group exhibitions include Invisible Adversaries: the Marieluise Hessel Collection, Center for Curatorial Studies, Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson and Identity Revisited, The Warehouse, Dallas in 2016; Avatar and Atavism: Outside the Avant-Garde, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf in 2015; Not Yet Titled, Museum Ludwig, Cologne in 2013.

Selected group exhibitions

Contributions

Related Research Articles

James Lee Byars was an American conceptual artist and performance artist specializing in installations and sculptures, as well as a self-considered mystic. He was best known for his use of personal esoteric motifs, and his creative persona that has been described as 'half dandified trickster and half minimalist seer'. Byars was born Detroit, Michigan, and died in Cairo, Egypt.

John Currin is an American painter based in New York City. He is most recognised for his technically proficient satirical figurative paintings that explore controversial sexual and societal topics. His work shows a wide range of influences, including sources as diverse as the Renaissance, popular culture magazines, and contemporary fashion models. He often distorts or exaggerates the erotic forms of the female body, and has stressed that his characters are reflections of himself rather than inspired by real people.

Matthias Weischer is a German painter living in Leipzig. He is considered to be part of the New Leipzig School.

Ena Swansea is an artist based in New York City. Her paintings often take memory as a point of departure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isa Genzken</span> German contemporary artist (born 1948)

Isa Genzken is a German artist who lives and works in Berlin. Her primary media are sculpture and installation, using a wide variety of materials, including concrete, plaster, wood and textile. She also works with photography, video, film and collage.

Tomma Abts is a German-born visual artist known for her abstract oil paintings. Abts won the Turner Prize in 2006. She currently lives and works in London, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norbert Bisky</span> German artist

Norbert Bisky is a German artist based in Berlin. He is one of the most important representatives of a new figurative painting in the 21st century.

Rachel Harrison is an American visual artist known for her sculpture, photography, and drawing. Her work often combines handmade forms with found objects or photographs, bringing art history, politics, and pop culture into dialogue with one another. She has been included in numerous exhibitions in Europe and the US, including the Venice Biennale, the Whitney Biennial and the Tate Triennial (2009). Her work is in the collections of major museums such as The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; and Tate Modern, London; among others. She lives and works in New York.

Friedrich Kunath is a German visual artist who lives in Los Angeles. He was born in Chemnitz, East Germany, and has had numerous solo exhibitions at institutions including the G2 Kunsthalle Leipzig (2024), the KINDL Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2023), CAC Málaga, Spain (2023), Kunstsammlung Jena, Germany (2021), Kunsthal Kade Amersfoort (2016), Schinkel Pavillon (2011), the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2010), Kunstverein Hannover (2009), Kunsthalle Baden-Baden (2009), Aspen Art Museum (2008). Group exhibitions include 'The World Belongs to You', Palazzo Grassi, Venice (2011), '11th Triennale für Kleinplastik, Fellbach' (2010) and 'Life on Mars: the 55th Carnegie International' (2008).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian McKeever (artist)</span> British artist

Ian McKeever is a contemporary British artist. Since 1990 McKeever has lived and worked in Hartgrove, Dorset, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicole Eisenman</span> American artist (born 1965)

Nicole Eisenman is a French-born American artist known for her oil paintings and sculptures. She has been awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship (1996), the Carnegie Prize (2013), and has thrice been included in the Whitney Biennial. On September 29, 2015, she won a MacArthur Fellowship award for "restoring the representation of the human form a cultural significance that had waned during the ascendancy of abstraction in the 20th century."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armin Baumgarten</span> German painter and sculptor

Armin Baumgarten is a German painter and sculptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stefan Ettlinger</span> German painter and draughtsman

Stefan Ettlinger is a German painter and draughtsman. He studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf at Alfonso Hüppi as a master student. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.

John Miller is an artist, writer, and musician based in New York and Berlin. He received a B.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1977. He attended the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program in 1978 and received an M.F.A. from California Institute of the Arts in 1979. Miller worked as a gallery attendant at Dia:Chelsea. He is currently Professor of Professional Practice in Art History at Barnard College

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jårg Geismar</span> German artist (1958–2019)

Jårg Geismar, was a German artist. He lived and worked in Düsseldorf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leidy Churchman</span> American painter

Leidy Churchman is an American painter who lives and works in New York.

Anne Imhof is a German visual artist, choreographer, and performance artist who lives and works between Frankfurt and Paris. She is best known for her endurance art, although she cites painting as central to her practice.

Lena Henke is a German sculptor, photographer and installation artist.

Ida Ekblad is a Norwegian artist who works across painting, sculpture, installation and poetry.

Reinhard Voigt is a German painter and ceramist.

References

  1. 1 2 "Kai Althoff and Nick Z: We Are Better Friends For It, May 5 - June 16, 2007". Gladstonegalley.com.
  2. ↑ Young, Rob; Schmidt, Irmin (2018). All Gates Open: The Story of Can (e-book ed.). London: Faber and Faber. p. 461. ISBN   978-0-571-31151-4.
  3. ↑ "Kai Althoff: Kai Kein Respekt (Kai No Respect) — September 25, 2004 – January 23, 2005". Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Kai Althoff, Untitled (2002)". Phillips, Contemporary Art Part I, 28 February 2008, London.
  5. ↑ "Kai Althoff, November 8, 2008 - February 15, 2009". Vancouver Art Gallery ..
  6. ↑ "2012 Biennial Residencies: There we will be buried". Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
  7. ↑ "Artists' Film Club: Isa Genzken, 13 December 2012". Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.
  8. ↑ "Kai Althoff, November 8, 2008 - February 15, 2009". Vancouver Art Gallery .
  9. ↑ "Kai Althoff - Gladstone Gallery". www.gladstonegallery.com. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  10. ↑ "Kai Althoff | Galerie Neu". galerieneu.net. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  11. ↑ "Vancouver Art Gallery". www.vanartgallery.bc.ca. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  12. ↑ "Kai Althoff | Kunsthalle Zürich". kunsthallezurich.ch (in German). Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  13. ↑ "Kai Althoff | Kunsthalle Zürich". kunsthallezurich.ch (in German). Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  14. ↑ "Kai Althoff: Kai kein Respekt (Kai no respect) | icaboston.org". www.icaboston.org. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  15. ↑ "Kai Althoff: Kai Kein Respekt (Kai No Respect)". MCA. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  16. ↑ "SIMULTANHALLE – RAUM FÜR ZEITGENÖSSISCHE KUNST". simultanhalle.de. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  17. ↑ Kai Althoff: Blümli (period, paragraph, Blümli), January 15 - March 5, 2011 Barbara Gladstone, New York.
  18. ↑ Braunschweig, Kunstverein. "Kunstverein – Braunschweig – Rückblick". www.kunstverein-bs.de. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  19. ↑ "Drawing Now: Eight Propositions | MoMA". The Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  20. ↑ "Cher Peintre..., Lieber Maler..., Dear Painter..." (PDF). Communiqué de Presse Centre Pompidou.
  21. ↑ "Michael Werner Gallery". Michael Werner Gallery. Retrieved 21 December 2024.

Bibliography

Further reading

Grosenick, Uta; Riemschneider, Burkhard, eds. (2005). Art Now (25th anniversary ed.). Köln: Taschen. pp. 24–27. ISBN   9783822840931. OCLC   191239335.

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.