Meuser
Year of birth, place
1947
Germany
Role at the ZKM
- Artist of the Collection
Biography
Meuser was born in Essen in 1947. He studied (1968-76) at the Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf, under Joseph Beuys and Erwin Heerich, simultaneously attending Düsseldorf University, where he studied Philosophy and History of Art. He lives in Düsseldorf.
Meuser creates most of his sculptures and objects out of imposingly massive pieces of scrap iron. His working method is pragmatic, sober, even plodding: he retains a reasonable combination of found elements such as T-girders or steel panels, but transports these relics of a former, specific function into a new context. The overall character of any given work is determined by qualities derived from earlier functional contexts - form, qualities of the surface, proportion - and the interrelation of these; but its various components are further unified through the application of rust-protection paint or flat varnish, these also concealing rust and other signs of dilapidation, evidence of which would otherwise eclipse other qualities. Meuser creates three-dimensional realities that nonetheless invariably appear as if they are in search of a wall so as to produce a pictorial effect.
Individual exhibition (selection)
1978 Galerie Arno Kohnen, Düsseldorf
1979 Kippenberger's Büro, Berlin
1981 Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf
1982 Galerie Max Hetzler, Stuttgart
1983 Kunstraum, Munich
1988 Koury-Wingate Gallery, New York
1989 Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna
1990 Galerie Grässlin, Frankfurt/M
1991 Kunsthalle, Zürich
1992 Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm
1994 Galerie Grässlin, Frankfurt/M
1995 Galerie Borgmann-Capitain, Cologne
1996 »Metrostation Overkampf«, Lichthof der Staatlichen Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Karlsruhe
Group exhibitions (selection)
1976 »mit neben gegen«, Kunstverein, Frankfurt/M
1979 »Finger für Deutschland«, Atelier Jörg Immendorf, Düsseldorf; »Treibhaus«, Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf
1984 »Im Mittelpunkt: Kunst«, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster
1985 »Bremer Kunstpreis 1985«, Kunsthalle, Bremen
1988 »B.R.D. - Abstract Tendencies in New German Art«, Karl Bornstein Gallery, Santa Monica
1989 »Prospect '89«, Schirn Kunsthalle and Kunstverein, Frankfurt/M; Galerie Grässlin, Frankfurt/M (with Förg, Kiecol, Nauman, Rückriem)
1991 »Bildlicht - Malerei zwischen Material und Immaterialität«, Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna; »Gedanken Gänge«, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, subsequently at Provinciaalmuseum Hasselt, Rijksmuseum Twente, Enschede
1992 documenta IX, Kassel
1993 »Museum auf Zeit«, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel; » ... kommt mit seinen Gaben«, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach
[David Richardt, 1997]
Meuser creates most of his sculptures and objects out of imposingly massive pieces of scrap iron. His working method is pragmatic, sober, even plodding: he retains a reasonable combination of found elements such as T-girders or steel panels, but transports these relics of a former, specific function into a new context. The overall character of any given work is determined by qualities derived from earlier functional contexts - form, qualities of the surface, proportion - and the interrelation of these; but its various components are further unified through the application of rust-protection paint or flat varnish, these also concealing rust and other signs of dilapidation, evidence of which would otherwise eclipse other qualities. Meuser creates three-dimensional realities that nonetheless invariably appear as if they are in search of a wall so as to produce a pictorial effect.
Individual exhibition (selection)
1978 Galerie Arno Kohnen, Düsseldorf
1979 Kippenberger's Büro, Berlin
1981 Galerie Schmela, Düsseldorf
1982 Galerie Max Hetzler, Stuttgart
1983 Kunstraum, Munich
1988 Koury-Wingate Gallery, New York
1989 Galerie nächst St. Stephan, Vienna
1990 Galerie Grässlin, Frankfurt/M
1991 Kunsthalle, Zürich
1992 Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm
1994 Galerie Grässlin, Frankfurt/M
1995 Galerie Borgmann-Capitain, Cologne
1996 »Metrostation Overkampf«, Lichthof der Staatlichen Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Karlsruhe
Group exhibitions (selection)
1976 »mit neben gegen«, Kunstverein, Frankfurt/M
1979 »Finger für Deutschland«, Atelier Jörg Immendorf, Düsseldorf; »Treibhaus«, Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf
1984 »Im Mittelpunkt: Kunst«, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster
1985 »Bremer Kunstpreis 1985«, Kunsthalle, Bremen
1988 »B.R.D. - Abstract Tendencies in New German Art«, Karl Bornstein Gallery, Santa Monica
1989 »Prospect '89«, Schirn Kunsthalle and Kunstverein, Frankfurt/M; Galerie Grässlin, Frankfurt/M (with Förg, Kiecol, Nauman, Rückriem)
1991 »Bildlicht - Malerei zwischen Material und Immaterialität«, Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna; »Gedanken Gänge«, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, subsequently at Provinciaalmuseum Hasselt, Rijksmuseum Twente, Enschede
1992 documenta IX, Kassel
1993 »Museum auf Zeit«, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel; » ... kommt mit seinen Gaben«, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach
[David Richardt, 1997]