Gregor Schneider, born in Rheydt (Germany) in 1969, first made a name for himself in the early 1990s with subtle, barely perceptible doubled walls in galleries and art museums. Later whole sections of his so-called Haus u r in Rheydt – having undergone decades of alterations and additions – were dismantled and shown internationally in touring exhibitions. The climax of Gregor Schneider’s work on Haus u r came with his contribution to the Venice Biennale in 2001, when he implanted a complex of twenty-two rooms, passages and dead-ends into the German Pavilion – which earned him the Golden Lion award at the Biennale.
Gregor Schneider has long been fascinated with the idea of « working with the unknown »: « And the more I deal with it, the more unknown it becomes. That’s the challenge for me, to keep running on the spot. » Recently Schneider has risen to this artistic challenge by referring to socially relevant spaces that are, however, not common; the references range from a religious centre (the Kaaba in Mecca) to a red-light district frequented by child prostitutes (Steindamm, Hamburg) to the maximum-security internment facility on Cuba (Camp V, Guantánamo Bay).
For Gregor Schneider’s first museum exhibitions in Haus Lange, Krefeld, 1994 and at Kunsthalle Bern, 1996 he exhibited his photographs and films. Then in 1998 he had his first large-scale exhibition in Paris at Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris. Thirteen years later the Konrad Fischer Galerie Berlin is pleased to present an exhibition in Paris focusing on Schneider’s photographic work.
Included in the exhibition are photographs which have never been shown before, like the draft of the Black Cube designed for the area between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde in 2008 as well as works from several well-known series. Also on view are early works and prints from the « Haus u r » series as well as more recent examples of Gregor Schneider’s photographic oeuvre. Since the exhibition of Haus u r rooms at Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris and the exhibition Süßer Duft’ at La Maison Rouge in 2008, this exhibition is the first comprehensive presentation of Schneider’s photographs in France.
Gregor Schneider has long been fascinated with the idea of « working with the unknown »: « And the more I deal with it, the more unknown it becomes. That’s the challenge for me, to keep running on the spot. » Recently Schneider has risen to this artistic challenge by referring to socially relevant spaces that are, however, not common; the references range from a religious centre (the Kaaba in Mecca) to a red-light district frequented by child prostitutes (Steindamm, Hamburg) to the maximum-security internment facility on Cuba (Camp V, Guantánamo Bay).
For Gregor Schneider’s first museum exhibitions in Haus Lange, Krefeld, 1994 and at Kunsthalle Bern, 1996 he exhibited his photographs and films. Then in 1998 he had his first large-scale exhibition in Paris at Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris. Thirteen years later the Konrad Fischer Galerie Berlin is pleased to present an exhibition in Paris focusing on Schneider’s photographic work.
Included in the exhibition are photographs which have never been shown before, like the draft of the Black Cube designed for the area between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde in 2008 as well as works from several well-known series. Also on view are early works and prints from the « Haus u r » series as well as more recent examples of Gregor Schneider’s photographic oeuvre. Since the exhibition of Haus u r rooms at Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris and the exhibition Süßer Duft’ at La Maison Rouge in 2008, this exhibition is the first comprehensive presentation of Schneider’s photographs in France.