Maria Eichhorn (born 19 November 1962, in Bamberg) is a German artist based 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 ...
. She is best known for
site-specific works and installations that investigate political and
economic system
An economic system, or economic order, is a system of production, resource allocation and distribution of goods and services within an economy. It includes the combination of the various institutions, agencies, entities, decision-making proces ...
s, often revealing their intrinsic absurdity or the extent to which we normalize their complex codes and networks. She represented Germany at the 2022 Venice Biennale.
Background
Maria Eichhorn was born in 1962 in
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...
, Germany. From 1983 to 1990, she lived in Berlin and studied at the
Hochschule der Kunste (Berlin University of the Arts) in the class of Karl Horst Hödicke. Since the late 1980s, her work has explored the relationship between the symbolic and the real, between the practice of art and direct actions geared towards positive changes in personal life, social relations and the human and natural environments. She has exhibited since the late 1980s, including shows in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, Berlin,
Bern
Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
,
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
,
Zurich
Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...
and
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
. She has taught at the School of Art and Design in Zurich since 2003.
Artistic practice
Maria Eichhorn's artistic practice challenges facile categorization. Her work has spanned a variety of genres and media from wall texts to artist books, staged events to interviews, broad-ranging symposia to public billboards, film and video, as well as institutions and provenance research. Works such as "Money at Kunsthalle Bern" (2000) and "5 weeks, 25 days, 175 hours" (2016) explore gallery systems and the structures that enable an exhibition space to function including facilities and working lives of gallery staffs.
Eichhorn's ambitious, large-scale projects often take on the mechanics of legal, social and financial processes, making permanent interventions that evolve over time.
Selected exhibitions
* 2018: Zwölf Arbeiten/Twelve Works (1988–2018), Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland
* ''Maria Eichhorn'', Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, Canada (2015)
* ''Maria Eichhorn'', Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria (2014)
* ''Zimmerstraße 88/89, 10117 Berlin'', Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin, Germany (2011)
* ''Maria Eichhorn & Asta Gröting'', Kunsthal 44 Møen, Askeby, Sweden (2011)
*''Maria Eichhorn.Vier Multiples in Tasche,'' Edition Block, Berlin, Germany (2009)
*''Maria Eichhorn. Filmlexikon sexueller Praktiken'', Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland (2009)
*''Dispersion,'' Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, United Kingdom (2008)
*''Maria Eichhorn Aktiengesellschaft/Maria Eichhorn Public Limited Company'', Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven, Netherlands (2007)
*''Maria Eichhorn, Die Anteilscheine der Kunsthalle Bern, Grafische Sammlung'', Kunstmuseum Bernb, Bern, Switzerland (2007)
*''Films, Vox, œuvre sonore'', Centre de l´Image Contemporaine, Montréal, Canada (2006)
*''Maria Eichhorn, 27. August – 8. Oktober 2005'', Galerie Barbara Weiss, Berlin, Germany (2005)
*''Die Anteilscheine der Kunsthalle Bern'', Stiftung Kunsthalle Bern, Bern, Switzerland (2005)
*''16 Factures'', Centre d'Art Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain (2004), curated by
Ferran Barenblit
*''CAMPUS'', Freie Universität, Bozen, Italy (2004)
*''Prohibited Imports'', Masataka Hayakawa Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2003)
*''23 Kurzfilme / 23 Filmplakate (1995/2002''), Galerie Hauser & Wirth & Presenhuber, Zurich, Switzerland (2002)
*''Curtain (yellow),'' Masataka Hayakawa Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (2002)
*''"The Artist's Reserved Rights Transfer and Sale Agreement" by Seth Siegelaub and Bob Projansky'', Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, Austria (1998)
*''Chair Events von George Brecht / 33 1/3 von John Cage / Flux Ping-Pong von George Maciunas'', Galerie Susanne Ottesen, Copenhagen, Denmark (1995)
*''Projekt Hollmannstraße'', Eckgrundstück Lindenstraße/Hollmannstraße, Berlin, Germany (1987)
Selected publications
*
*
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eichhorn, Maria
German installation artists
German women artists
German contemporary artists
1962 births
Living people
People from Bamberg
Berlin University of the Arts alumni