Tobias Rehberger

Tobias Rehberger (1966, Esslingen am Neckar, Germany) studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Frankfurt, Germany, between 1987 and 1993, with Thomas Bayrle (1937, Berlin, Germany) and Martin Kippenberger (1953, Dortmund, Germany – 1997, Vienna, Austria), where he is presently a Sculpture teacher. Rehberger is one of the most important German artists of his generation and his work is characterized by installations, situated within the broader field of design and architecture, with which he creates interactive ambiences for the spectators. He acts on unexpected encounters, formally oscillating between abstraction and representation, ambiguity and utopia, subverting the set of references the public is used to find in the gallery or in the museum, inviting the spectator, in this way, to question the traditional structural components of the art system.

Throughout the years, he has received countless relevant distinctions, such as the Golden Lion at the 53^rdVenice Biennale, Italy (2009) and the awards Hector Kunstpreis 2009, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Germany (2009), Otto-Dix-Preis, Kunstsammlung Gera, Germany (2011), among others. The titles of his solo exhibitions are suggestive and ambiguous and they name presentations in important institutions: If you don’t use your eyes to see, you will use them to cry, Rockbund Art Museum Shanghai, China Popular Republic (2019); Yourself is sometimes a place to call your own, Museum of Contemporary Art, Busan, South Korea (2018); 1661 – 1910 from Nagasaki, Meiji, Setti, Fondation Beyeler, Basel, Switzerland (2015); Home and Away and Outside, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt (2014); The Chicken-and-Egg-No-Problem Wall Painting, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (2008); On Otto, Fondazione Prada, Milan, Italy (2007); I die every day. Cor.1 15,31, Palacio de Cristal, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain (2005); Half the Truth, neugerriemschneider, Berlin, Germany (2004); Prescrições, descrições, receitas e recibos, Museu de Serralves, Oporto, Portugal (2002); Night Shift, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2002); Treballant/trabajando/Arbeitend, Fundació la Caixa, Barcelona, Spain (2002); Whenever you need me, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, Germany (2001); The Sun from Above, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA (2000); Waiting Room – also? Intervention 13, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany (1998); Cancelled Projects, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany (1995), among others. His work is represented in countless important collections, among which: Centre Pompidou, France; Pinakothek der Moderne, Germany; Skulpturen Park Köln, Germany; Museu de Arte Contemporânea de Serralves, Portugal; Stedelijk Museum, Netherlands; Centro de Arte Contemporânea Inhotim, Brazil; Art Sonje Center, Korea; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, USA and Moderna Museet, Sweeden.

 

PS, October 2020