Thomas Hirschhorn

Thomas Hirschhorn (born in Bern, May 16, 1957) is a Swiss artist.

Life and works

In the 1980s, Hirschhorn worked in Paris as a graphic artist. He was part of the group of Communist graphic designers called Grapus. These artists were concerned with politics and culture, displaying impromptu creations and posters on the street mostly using the language of advertisement. He left Grapus to create the hypersaturated installations he is known for today, using common materials such as cardboard, foil, duct tape, and plastic wrap. He has described his choice to use everyday materials in his work as "political" and that he only uses materials that are “universal, economic, inclusive, and don’t bear any plus-value”. Hirschorn's installations are often site specific and outside the gallery, and/or interactive. He continues to offer messages in his work, as he did with Grapus. He has said that he is interested in the “hard core of reality”, without disillusions, and has displayed a strong to commitment to his work and role as an artist. He has described working and production as “necessary”, discounting anyone who encourages him to not work hard, and says “I want to be overgiving in my work”. Austrian author and Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek takes issue with the artist's views on Marxism. In a 2008 interview the artist said that he was not aware of her concerns.

For his piece Cavemanman, he transformed a gallery space into a cave using wood, cardboard, and tape and put various philosophical and pop culture symbols throughout it.

He received the (2000/2001) Marcel Duchamp Prize and the Joseph Beuys Prize in 2004. His works are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Walker Art Center, and the Tate.

He presented a lecture as part of the "Image & Text: Writing Off The Page" lecture series through the Visiting Artists Program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Spring, 2006.

In the summer of 2009, his work Cavemanman was recreated for the exhibition Walking in my Mind at London's Hayward Gallery.

In June 2011, Hirschhorn represented Switzerland at the Venice Biennale.

Thomas Hirschhorn is represented by Stephen Friedman Gallery, London

Quotes

"It’s in the suburbs that there is vitality, deception, depression, energy, utopia, autonomy, craziness, creativity, destruction, ideas, young people, hope, fights to be fought, audaciousness, disagreements, problems, and dreams. It’s in the suburbs that today’s big issues are written on the building facades. It’s in the suburbs that today’s reality can be grasped, and it’s in the suburbs that the pulse of vitality hurts"

"Terms such as obscene are used swiftly in order to protect people from exposure to the truth."

"I'm interested in the 'too much,' doing too much, giving too much, putting too much of an effort into something. Wastefulness as a tool or weapon."

"I do not want to invite or oblige viewers to become interactive with what I do; I do not want to activate the public. I want to give of myself to such a degree that viewers confronted with the work can take part and become involved, but not as actors."

"This is something essential to art: reception is never its goal. What counts for me is that my work provides material to reflect upon. Reflection is an activity."

External links

• Thomas Hirschhorn at Stephen Friedman Gallery
• 2008 Life on Mars, the 2008 Carnegie International [1]
• 2007-08 "Thomas Hirshhorn at Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal" [2]
• Haidu, Rachel, "The imaginary space of the wishful other: Thomas Hirschhorn’s Cardboard Utopias." Vector e-zine, January 2006.
• 2006 "Someone Cares," in Fillip [3]
• 2001 "Thomas Hirshhorn at Stalingrad Station", Paris, Sculpture magazine [4]
• Thomas Hirschhorn
• Thomas Hirschhorn im SIKART (Schweizerisches Institut für Kunstwissenschaft)
• TateShots at the Venice Biennale 2011: Thomas Hirschhorn at the Swiss Pavilion The artist talks about his contribution to the Venice Biennale 2011. 8 June 2011