Thomas Hirschhorn
°1957, Bern (CH) – lives and works in Paris (FR)
Thomas Hirschhorn is widely regarded as a leading artist in the contemporary art world. Best known for his labour-intensive and space-filling sculptural constructions produced from disposable mass-manufactured goods, Hirschhorn gathers references and imagery from popular media alongside the work of radical theorists such as Gilles Deleuze and Georges Bataille. Hirschhorn uses every day and found materials (plastic sheeting, cardboard, aluminium, packing tape and magazine images) in order to create an anti-utopian reality. He produces these immense installations for both important art institutions as for non-artistic locations in the periphery of society, whereby his actions thus question the art world itself.
Thomas Hirschhorn – Community of Fragments, installation view at Kunstforeningen Gl Strand, Copenhagen, in 2021 (Photo by David Stjernholm)
Thomas Hirschhorn – Crystal of Resistance (detail), 2011, installation view at Swiss pavilion, Venice, from the 54th Venice Biennale (Photo by Kate Lacey)
Thomas Hirschhorn – Double Garage, exhibition view at Schirn Kunsthalle, 2004
Thomas Hirschhorn – In door Van Gogh Altar, exhibition view at Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, Arles in 2014
Thomas Hirschhorn – In-Between, exhibition view at the South London Gallery, London in 2015
The work of Thomas Hirschhorn has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions, including ICA, Boston; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; MACBA, Barcelona; Kunsthaus, Zürich; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago; Museum Ludwig, Köln; Museo Tamayo, Mexico; Musée d’Art Contemporain, Montréal; Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich; and Dia Art Foundation, New York.
Additionally, he has taken part in many international group exhibitions, including Documenta 11 in Kassel, where his large-scale public work Bataille Monument was on view. He also showed at Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and the 55th Carnegie International, Pittsburgh. In 2012-2013 Hirschhorn participated at the 9th Shanghai Biennale. He also represented the Swiss Pavillon in the 54th Venice Biennial in 2011.
Hirschhorn was the recipient of numerous prestigious prizes, among them the Marcel Duchamp Prize in 2000, the Joseph Beuys Preis für Forschung in 2004 and the Kurt Schwitters Prize in 2011. His work is present in many important international collections, such as MoMA, New York; the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Tate Collection, London; S.M.A.K., Ghent; K21, Dusseldorf; Kunstmuseum, Basel; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.
Thomas Hirschhorn is represented by the following galleries;
click through to discover more of his work.
Gladstone Gallery, New York / Brussels
Thomas Hirschhorn – Too too much much, 2010, installation view at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle in 2010
Thomas Hirschhorn – Too too much much, 2010, installation view at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle in 2010
Thomas Hirschhorn – Too too much much, 2010, installation view at Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle in 2010
Thomas Hirschhorn – The Eye-Map II (What makes the eyes red), 2008
Thomas Hirschhorn – The green coffin, 2006
