Kai Althoff (born 1966 in Cologne) is a German visual artist and musician.

Life and work

Kai Althoff was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, in February 1966. He is a multimedia artist and a painter. Borrowing from moments of history, religious iconography, and counter-cultural movements, Althoff creates imaginary environments in which paintings, sculpture, drawing, video, and found objects commingle. Tapping a multitude of sources, from Germanic folk traditions to recent popular culture, from medieval and gothic religious imagery to early modern expressionism, Althoff’s characters inhabit imaginary worlds that serve as allegories for human experience and emotion. His image bank and painterly style also draw on the past, especially early-20th-century

German Expressionism German Expressionism () consisted of several related creative movements in Germany before the First World War that reached a peak in Berlin during the 1920s. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central ...

, reconfigured by introducing collaged technique. Much of Althoff's work is collaborative. For the 4th

Berlin Biennale The Berlin Biennale (full name: Berlin Biennale für zeitgenössische Kunst, Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art) is a contemporary art exhibition, which has been held at various locations in Berlin, Germany, every two to three years since 1998. T ...

, Althoff and Lutz Braun created the site-specific installation ''Kolten Flynn'', made up of three vitrines draped in red foil and full of a child’s paintings, drawings, pens and other abandoned materials. Along with Yair Oelbaum, he conceived the dramatic play ''There we will be buried'' (2010), which debuted in 2011 at the Dixon Studio in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...

in Essex, England. For their U.S.-premiere performance at the

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–194 ...

, the pair portrayed the show’s main characters, Orpah and Lydia, two single mothers searching for a lost daughter. In ''Die Kleine Bushaltestelle (Gerüstbau)'' (''Little Bus Stop caffolding', 2012) Althoff performed alongside fellow artist Isa Genzken in a 70-minute absurdist comedy shot on home video. Althoff's work has been included in several books listing contemporary artists, such as ''Art Now'', published by

Taschen Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen. History The company began as Taschen Comics, ...

. He is also a musician, releasing solo work under such monikers as ''Fanal'', ''Engelhardt/Seef/Davis Coop.'' or ''Ashley's''. He and

Justus Köhncke Justus Köhncke (born 1966 in Gießen) is a German techno producer and pop musician from Cologne. Köhncke was a member of the house trio Whirlpool Productions, along with Hans Nieswandt and Eric D. Clark. Together, they had a number one hit ...

perform as ''Subtle Tease'', and he co-founded the band ''Workshop'' with Christoph Rath, Stefan Mohr and Stephan Abry. Althoff is represented by Gladstone Gallery in New York, Galerie NEU in Berlin, an
Michael Werner Gallery
in London.

Exhibitions

Althoff has been the subject of solo exhibitions worldwide, including ''Kaiki, an exhibition of artist Kai Althoff’s work selected by Saim Demircan'' at Focal Point Gallery in

in 2011; ''Kai Althoff'' in 2008 at

Vancouver Art Gallery The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is an art museum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The museum occupies a adjacent to Robson Square in downtown Vancouver, making it the largest art museum in Western Canada by building size. Designed by Franc ...

;''Kai Althoff: Ich meine es auf jeden fall schlecht mit ihnen'' in 2007

Kunsthalle Zürich The Kunsthalle Zürich is a contemporary art exhibition centre in Zurich, Switzerland. It is located on Limmatstrasse, near the city centre. A number of temporary exhibitions are organized each year. In 2014 Daniel Baumann replaced Beatrix Ruf ...

; ''Kai Althoff: Kai kein Respekt (Kai No Respect)'' in 2004 at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; ''Immo'' in 2004 at Simultanhalle, Cologne; ''Kai Althoff and Armin Kraemer'' in 2002 a
Kunstverein Braunschweig
Braunschweig; and ''Heetz, Nowak, Rehberger'' in 1997 at Museo de Arte Contemporanea USP, São Paulo. From 18 September 2016 through 22 January 2017,
Kai Althoff: and then leave me to the common swifts
' was on view at the

Museum of Modern Art, New York The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one o ...

. In 2014, a solo exhibition,
Kai Althoff
', was presented at

Michael Werner Gallery In 1963, Michael Werner opened his first gallery, Werner & Katz, in Berlin, Germany with the first solo exhibition of Georg Baselitz. Galerie Michael Werner was later established in Cologne in 1969. Since then, Galerie Michael Werner has worked w ...

, London. Current group exhibitions include Invisible ''Adversaries: the Marieluise Hessel Collection'', Center for Curatorial Studies, Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson and ''Identity Revisited'', The Warehouse, Dallas in 2016; ''Avatar and Atavism: Outside the Avant-Garde'', Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf in 2015; ''Not Yet Titled'',

Museum Ludwig Museum Ludwig, located in Cologne, Germany, houses a collection of modern art. It includes works from Pop Art, Abstract and Surrealism, and has one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. It holds many works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lic ...

, Cologne in 2013.

Selected group exhibitions

*1993: ''Aperto 93'',

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, Stand Schafhausen, Venice *1993: ''E'', Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin *1995: ''Wild Walls'',

Stedelijk Museum The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (; Municipal Museum Amsterdam), colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

, Amsterdam *1996: ''Wunderbar'', Kunstverein, Hamburg *1997: Time Out, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg *1997: Home Sweet Home, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg *1998: ''Ars Viva 98/99'', Kunstverein Braunschweig, Braunschweig; Brandenburgische Kunstsammlungen, Cottbus; Portikus, Frankfurt *1999: ''German Open. Gegenwartskunst in Deutschland'', Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg *2001: ''Vom Eindruck zum Ausdruck'', Grasslin Collection, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg *2001: ''Neue Welt'', Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt *2002: ''Drawing Now: Eight Propositions'',

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

*2002: ''Chère Paintre, Liebe Maler, Dear Painter'' at the Pompidou Centre in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

*2003: ''A Perilous Space'' at Magnani in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

*2003: ''Lieber Maler, male mir'' and Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt *2003: ''

'', Museo Correr, Venice *2006: ''Painting in Tongues'' at

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA) is a contemporary art museum with two locations in greater Los Angeles, California. The main branch is located on Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, near the Walt Disney Concert Hall. MOCA's ...

*2006: ''Heart of Darkness: Kai Althoff, Ellen Gallagher and EdgarCleijne, Thomas Hirschhorn'' at

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...

, Minneapolis *2007: ''Make Your Own Life: Artists In & Out of Cologne'', Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami *2008: ''Life on Mars'' at

Carnegie International The Carnegie International is a North American exhibition of contemporary art from around the globe. It was first organized at the behest of industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie on November 5, 1896 in Pittsburgh. Carnegie established th ...

, Pittsburgh *2009: ''Between Art and Life: The Painting and Sculpture Collection'',

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

, San Francisco *2009: ''Compass in Hand: Selections'' from the Judith Rothschild Foundation,

*2009: ''Mapping the Studio: Artists from the Francois Pinault Collection'', Palazzo Grassi, Venice *2009: ''Brandon Stosuy and Kai Althoff: Mirror Me'', DISPATCH Projects, New York *2010: ''Beyond , In WNY, Alternating Currents'', Albright Knox Triennial, New York *2010: ''At Home/Not At Home: Works from the Collection of Martin and Rebecca Eisenberg'', Bard Center for Curatorial Studies and Hessel Museum of Art, New York *2012: ''A Bigger Splash: Painting after Performance'', Tate, London *2012: ''The Whitney Biennial'',

, New York

Contributions

* 2008:

References

Bibliography

* Michael Bracewell, Peter Doig, Romeo Klein and Helena Morell, ''Kai Althoff: Recent Paintings,'' Michael Werner (2015), * Kai Althoff, ''Kai Althoff: and then leave me to the common swifts'', Museum of Modern Art, New York (2016),

External links

Kai Althoff on ArtFacts.Net
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Althoff, Kai Living people German male artists German male musicians Artists from Cologne 1966 births German contemporary artists