Katharina Grosse
German painter (born 1961)
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Katharina Grosse (born 2 October 1961) is a German visual artist. She is known for her large-scale, site-related installations to create immersive visual experiences.[1] Grosse's work employs a use of architecture, sculpture, and painting. She has been using an industrial paint-sprayer to apply prismatic swaths of color to a variety of surfaces since the late 1990s, and often uses bright, unmixed sprayed-on acrylic paints to create both large-scale sculptural elements and smaller wall works.
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Katharina Grosse | |
|---|---|
Katharina Grosse photographed by Oliver Mark, Berlin 2011 | |
| Born | 2 October 1961 |
| Education | Kunstakademie Münster Kunstakademie Düsseldorf |
| Known for | Painting |
| Website | www |
Early life and education
Grosse was born in 1961 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany,[2] but grew up in the Ruhr region, where her artist mother and linguist father exposed her to theater and dance from a young age.[3]
Grosse studied at the Kunstakademie Münster from 1982 to 1986, and Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1986 to 1990.[4][2] In subsequent years, she completed artist-in-residence programs at the Villa Romana in Florence, Italy (1992);[5] Chinati Foundation in Marfa, USA (1999);[6] Elam School of Fine Art in Auckland, New Zealand (2001); and Headlands Center for the Arts in San Francisco, USA (2002).
Work
Grosse maintains studios in Berlin's Moabit district (since 2008),[7][8] Auckland[9] and Groß Kreutz (since 2020).[10]
In 2004, Grosse sprayed the bedroom of her Düsseldorf flat — including the bed, floor and the clothes, books and shoes strewn across it — in rainbow-hued acrylics. More monumental interventions followed, including in 2015, when she installed three massive trees in the Museum Wiesbaden’s neoclassical hall, their paint-drenched roots dazzlingly exposed. Rockaway (2016), a project with MoMA PS1, saw Grosse thickly spray painting an abandoned US Army bathhouse and part of the surrounding beach on New York’s Rockaway peninsula.[11]
Commissions
Grosse has been commissioned with various site-specific installations, including for the Federal Labour Court in Erfurt (1999)[12] Gate 122 of Terminal 1 at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto (2003),[13] the German Parliament in Berlin (2015)[14] and the Messeplatz at Art Basel (2025).
Other activities
Grosse taught at the Weißensee Academy of Art from 2000 to 2010. She was a professor of painting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 2010 to 2018. She was a member of the juries that selected Hito Steyerl as recipient of the Käthe Kollwitz Prize (2019)[15] and Sheela Gowda of the Maria Lassnig Prize (2019).[16]
Since 2021, Grosse has been chairing the board of KW Institute for Contemporary Art.[17] In this capacity, she was part of the search committee that chose Emma Enderby as the KW's new director in 2023.[18]
Art market
Grosse is represented by Galerie Max Hetzler (since 2022)[19] and Gagosian Gallery (since 2017).[20] She previously worked with Johann König until 2022.[21]
Personal life
Grosse is in a relationship with artist Judy Millar.[22] She has been living and working in Berlin since 2000.[23] In 2005, she purchased a former supermarket in Berlin's Friedrichshain district and turned it into her primary residence.[24]
Public commissions (selected)
- Untitled, Greater Toronto Airports Authority (2003)[25]
- Seven Days Time, Kunstmuseum Bonn (2011)[26]
- Blue Orange, Vara Bahnhof, Sweden (2012 design)[27]
- Just Two Of Us, MetroTech Commons, Public Art Fund, New York (2013)[28]
- Untitled, Ehrenhof Düsseldorf (2014)
- Untitled, The Cologne Public Transport Company - KVB, stop Chlodwigplatz, Cologne (2015)
- Untitled, Marie-Elisabeth-Lüders-Haus, Berlin (commissioned by Federal Republic of Germany for House of Representatives) (2015)
- Untitled, Washington University in St. Louis, MO, USA (commissioned by the Gary M. Sumers Recreation Center) (2016)[29]
- Rockaway!, for MoMA PS1, Fort Tilden, NY (2016)[30]
- Mural, for Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA (2019) [31]
Collections
Grosse's work is held in several permanent collections, including the following:
- Museum of Modern Art,[32] New York
- QAGOMA,[33] Brisbane, Australia
- Centre Georges Pompidou,[34] Paris
- Pomeranz Collection[35]
- Collection Société Générale[36]
Awards
- Villa Romana Prize, Florence, Italy (1992)[37]
- Schmidt-Rottluff Stipend, Germany (1993) [38]
- Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn, Germany (1995)
- Chinati Foundation's artist-in-residence program, Marfa, Texas, USA (1999 )[39]
- Artist-in-residence at Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland, New Zealand (2001)[40]
- Artist-in-residency award, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, California, USA (2002)[41]
- Fred Thieler Award, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany (2003)[2]
- Oskar-Schlemmer-Award, Great State Prize for Visual Arts of Baden-Wuerttemberg (2014)[42]
- Otto-Ritschl-Kunstpreis (2015)[43]
Publications (catalogues)
- Location, Location, Location. Contributions by Steffen Bodekker, Roman Kurzmeyer, Judy Millar, Retrograde Strategies Cooperative, Angela Schneider, Beat Wismer, Düsseldorf 2002.
- Katharina Grosse. Kunstverein Ruhr. Contribution by Peter Friese, Essen 2002.
- Cool Puppen / Der weisse Saal trifft sich im Wald / Ich wüsste jetzt nichts. Ikon Gallery, Birmingham; Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, München; Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, St. Gallen; Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel. Contributions by Marion Ackermann, Beate Ermacora, Jonathan Watkins, Roland Wäspe, Wolfratshausen 2002.
- Katharina Grosse. Fred Thieler Preis für Malerei 2003. Berlinische Galerie, Berlin. Contribution by Armin Zweite, Berlin 2003.
- Infinite Logic Conference. Magasin 3 Stockholm Konsthall, Sweden. Contributions by Richard Julin, Lars Mikael Raattamaa, Stockholm 2004.
- Double Floor Painting. Kunsthallen Brandts Klaedefabrik, Denmark. Contributions by Lene Burkard, Tor Nørretranders, Cecilie Bepler, Odense 2004.
- Holey Residue. de Appel, Amsterdam. Contribution by Janneke Wesseling, Amsterdam 2006.
- Picture Park. Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art. Contributions by Nicholas Chambers, Robert Leonard, Brisbane 2007.
- The Poise of the Head und die anderen folgen. Kunstmuseum Bochum. Contributions by Hans Gunther Golinski and Katharina Grosse, Nuremberg 2007.
- Atoms Outside Eggs. Museu de Arte Contemporânea (Fundação de Serralves), Porto. Contributions by Leonhard Emmerling, Ulrich Loock, Porto 2007.
- Another Man Who Has Dropped His Paintbrush. Galleria Civica di Modena. Contributions by Arno Brandlhuber & Katharina Grosse, Milovan Farronato, Angela Vettese, Cologne 2008.
- The Flowershow / SKROW NO REPAP. FRAC Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand. Contribution by Jean-Charles Vergne, Cologne 2008.
- Ich wünsche mir ein grosses Atelier im Zentrum der Stadt. Contributions by Georg Augustin, Laura Bieger, Andreas Denk, Ulrich Loock, Philip Ursprung, Baden, Switzerland 2009.
- Shadowbox. Temporäre Kunsthalle Berlin. Contributions by Laura Bieger, Katja Blomberg, Uta Degner, Antje Dietze, Alexander Koch, Gerd G. Kopper, Cologne 2009.
- Atoms Inside Balloons. The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA. Contributions by David Hilbert, Nana Last, and Hamza Walker, Chicago 2009.
- Barbara und Katharina Grosse. Museum für Neue Kunst Freiburg. Contributions by Walter von Lucadou, Isabel Herda, Nuremberg 2010.
- Transparent Eyeballs. Quadriennale 2010, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf. Contributions by Gregor Jansem, Annika Reich, Uwe Vetter, Düsseldorf 2011.
- Eat child eat. Contribution by Ulrich Wilmes, Berlin 2011.
- One floor up more highly. MASS MoCA, MA, North Adams, USA. Contribution by Susan Cross, Massachusetts, 2012.
- Wunderblock, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX, USA. Contributions by Jeremy Strick, Catherine Craft, Dallas 2013.
- Katharina Grosse. Monograph. Contributions and published by Ulrich Loock, Annika Reich, Katharina Grosse, Cologne 2013.
- Wer, ich? Wen, Du?. Kunsthaus Graz, Austria. Contributions by Peter Pakesch, Katrin Bucher Trantow, Adam Budak, Graz 2014.
- Inside the Speaker. Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf. Contributions by Dustin Breitenwischer, Philipp Kaiser, Ulrich Loock, Beat Wismer, Cologne 2014.
- psychylustro. City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. Contributions by Douglas Ashford, Anthony Elms, Jane Golden, Daniel Marcus, Elizabeth Thomas, Cologne 2015.
- Katharina Grosse: Seven Hours, Eight Voices, Three Trees. Museum Wiesbaden. Contributions by Ann Cotten, Dustin Breitenwischer, Jörg Daur, Alexander Klar, Sally McGrane, Teresa Präauer, Annika Reich, Monika Rinck, Cologne 2015.
- Katharina Grosse. Museum Frieder Burda. Contributions by Helmut Friedel and Katrin Dillkofer (both in German), Cologne 2016.
- Katharina Grosse: Wunderbild. Editors/Contributors: Katharina Grosse (Artist), Adam Budak (Editor), Elisabeth Lebovici, Ulrich Loock, Chantal Mouffe, Michal Nanoru. Walther König, 2018.