John Bock (born 1965 in Schenefeld, Germany) is a German artist. He studied in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany and lives and works in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Work

Bock is a multi-media artist primarily known for his performances. Since 1991, he creates environments hand crafted from found materials which function as symbolic settings for his "lectures." More recently there has been an increased production of film and video work. In his "lectures", Bock acts on "stages" built from tables, cupboards or multi-level wood constructions. The objects are handmade or re-modeled accessories of the lecture, made out of clothing, electrical equipment such as hoovers and mixers, or "plastic diagrams" that illustrate his mathematical explanations. After the lecture, they are left on the stage which thus forms a "theatrical collage". The "lectures" are structured by different scenes in which Bock sometimes works with (non-professional) actors; frequently he plays pop songs or classical pieces from a record player. The lecture is mostly recorded on video. The film is then integrated in the installation, documenting the lecture throughout the exhibition. Bock has been professor for sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts of

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

since 2004.

Exhibitions

Bock participated in numerous international exhibitions, among others the

Venice Biennial The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

(1999 and 2005) and the documenta 11 in Kassel (2002). He has also had solo exhibitions in a number of international institutions including

MoMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

and the

New Museum The New Museum of Contemporary Art is a museum at 235 Bowery, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker. History The museum originally opened in a space in the Graduate Center of the then-nam ...

in New York,

Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art The KW Institute for Contemporary Art (also known as Kunst-Werke) is a contemporary art institution located in Auguststraße 69 in Berlin-Mitte, Germany. Klaus Biesenbach was the founding director of KW; the current director is Emma Enderby. KW ...

in Berlin,

Kunsthalle A kunsthalle () is a facility that mounts temporary art exhibitions, similar to an art gallery. It is distinct from an art museum by not having a permanent collection. In the German-speaking regions of Europe, ''Kunsthallen'' are often operated ...

in Basel, Secession, Wien, and the

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an modernism, artistic and cultural centre on The Mall (London), The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps a ...

in London. He has participated in various group shows including Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art,

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

, London, and "Laughing in a Foreign Language",

The Hayward The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

Gallery, London, both in 2008. John Bock: Maltreated Frigate, a monograph of his work, was published by Walther Koenig Ltd, 2007. Bock is represented by Galerie Klosterfelde, Berlin, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.

Selected exhibitions

Source:.

Germany

Europe

Americas

Asia + Oceania

Lectures

* 2000: Four Lectures, Museum of Modern Art, New York ** “Aller Anfang ist Merz – von Kurt Schwitters bis heute”, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany, 6 June ** Gribbohm meets Mini-Max society, (lecture 4, MoMA N.Y.C.) ** thread waxing space, “death race”, Brooklyn, Dec. * 2009: Lecture / Fashion Show The greased bendsteering in the luggage gets tangled up with the white shirt (in German: Die abgeschmierte Knicklenkung im Gepäck verheddert sich im weissen Hemd) at HKW, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany

References

External links

John Bock at Anton Kern Gallery

at Sadie Coles HQ
John Bock at Fondazione Nicola TrussardiLecture / Fashion Show The greased bendsteering in the luggage gets tangled up with the white shirt at HKW, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany
VernissageTV Video September 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bock, John Living people 1965 births German contemporary artists Artists from Schleswig-Holstein