On Trees in Other Conditions
“Christoph Loos has been involved in an ongoing dialogue with the element of wood since the very beginning of his artistic career, and has examined it through the most diverse media. Over the course of the last ten years he has created woodcuts, sculptures, drawings and photographs.” This might serve as a simplified summary of his artistic work.
In fact, however, Christoph Loos has been methodically engaged in a pursuit to discover the many levels and the complexity of one topic in ever newer aspects: the tree as a metaphor for the existential manifestation of memory, time and progression, and the tree as a symbol of an entity in which the dialectic of shell and seed, inside and outside – through to the final degree of life and death – is apparent. The intensity and dedication with which Loos approaches the essence of the tree in its complex archaic conception may not be least of all a result of the fact that the artist is, on his mother’s side, the scion of an old dynasty of “wood barons”, in which a knowledge of this very special resource has been handed down over generations. The techniques that Loos makes use of are as diverse as the object itself. (…)
(Dr. Gabriele Uelsberg, Direktorin Rhein. LandesMuseum Bonn)
“But why is the impossible the thing the work longs for if it has become the concern of its own origin?”
(Maurice Blanchot, 1907–2003)
Curriculum Vitae
| 1959 | Born in Bad Reichenhall |
| 1979-81 | Traveling-projects to Israel, Greece and South-America |
| 1981-86 | Political work in the Sozialistische Selbsthilfe Cologne (SSK) |
| 1986-88 | Apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker |
| 1988-91 | Studies of Sculpture at the Alanus-University of Arts Alfter/Bonn |
| 1991-95 | Studies of Philosophy at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum |
| 1995-96 | Studies of Graphic Art under Prof. F. Eggenschwiler at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf |
| 2002 | Lecturer for Woodcut Printmaking at the European Academy of Fine Arts, Trier |
| 2004 | Senior-Lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts at J.-Gutenberg-University, Mainz |
| 2004-07 | Dix-Foundation-Professor at the Academy of Art, Offenbach a.M. |
| 2006 | Founding of the Institut für Experimentelle TopoGraphien [IETG] |
| 2008 | Nomination Printmaking-Professorship at the School of Art, Yale University, USA |
| 2008 | Visiting-Professor at the Arts University College at Bournemouth, England |
| 2009 | Visiting-Professor (Research Fellow) at the University of Teesside, England |
| 2010 | Visiting-Professor Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera Milano, Italy |
| 2010 | Nomination Grafik-Prof. a. d. Hochschule f. Grafik u. Buchkunst (HGB) Leipzig |
| 2013 | Visiting-Professor Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze, Italy |
| 2013 | Nomination Grafik-Prof. Bergen Academy of Art and Design, Norway |
| 2014 | Awarded to Doctor of Philosophy, Manchester School of Art at the MMU |
| 2019 | Adjunct Professor Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, Italy Metafisica Povera or The Blind & Automatic Drawing Project |
Award/Grant:
Hans-Thuar-Award, Bonn
Artist-in-Residence Scholarship, Aomori Contemporary Art Centre (ACAC), Japan
Pollock-Krasner-Foundation-Grant, New York
Project Grant by “Verein Ausstellungshaus für Christliche Kunst”, Munich
List of exhibitions and publications
Solo Exhibition (Selection):
| 1996 | “Hans-Thuar-Award”, Kunstmuseum Bonn |
| 1997 | “Wärmetod (I)”, Kunstverein Friedberg (C) |
| “Wärmetod (I)”, Museum Abtei Liesborn | |
| 1998 | “Wärmetod (I)”, Anhaltischer Kunstverein Dessau |
| “Wärmetod (I)”, Städt. Galerie Mainz | |
| 2000 | “ZimZum”, Städt. Kunstmuseum Spendhaus Reutlingen (C) |
| “ZimZum”, Universitätsmuseum Marburg (C) | |
| 2001 | “ZimZum/Codex dissolutus”, Städt. Galerie Iserlohn (with Gereon Inger) |
| “ZimZum”, Stadtmuseum Siegburg | |
| “Fluchtlinien”, Kunstverein Kapelle Weitendorf, Wismar (C) | |
| “Rarus”, Galerie Werner Klein, Cologne | |
| 2003 | “Romanzen und Matritzen”, Verein & Galerie für Original Radierung, Munich |
| 2004 | “Kette und Schuß”, Galerie Henseleit Buchholz, Cologne |
| 2005 | “Chiasma (II)”, Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Aachen (C) |
| “Chiasma (II)”, Goethe-Institut Kyoto, Japan (C) (Offical Contribution for the “Germany-Year in Japan 2005/2006”) |
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| 2006 | “Nanna-Paradox”, Rheinisches LandesMuseum Bonn (C) |
| “Nanna-Paradox”, Museum im Prediger, Schwäbisch Gmünd | |
| “Nanna-Paradox”, Goethe-Institut Dublin | |
| 2007 | “Pastorale”, Galerie Henseleit Buchholz, Cologne |
| 2008 | “Blind-Drawings”, Art Cabinet Hennig, Bonn |
| 2010 | “Noema/Holzschnitte”, Galerie semina rerum, Zürich |
| 2011 | “Causa sui (I)”, Galerie Julia Philippi, Heidelberg |
| “Rosebud/Doppelgänger”, Städt. Galerie Essen, Schloß Borbeck Site-specific installation in the lily pond of the palace garden |
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| 2012 | “Hetero Topos”, Kunstverein Rastatt |
| 2014 | “Der Palast um 3 Uhr morgens (Ordo Inversus)” Site-specific installation in the cloister of the monastery Alpirsbach |
| 2015 | “Codex Mundi”, The Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland |
| 2016 | “Stabat Mater (ad libitum)”, Landesmuseum Mainz |
| “Dissimulatio”, Museum of Modern Art Cairo | |
| 2017 | “Ostinato” (with Young-Jae Lee), Galerie Uhn, Königstein i. T. |
| “Parusia – Die Idee in den Dingen”, Kloster Bentlage Rheine (C) | |
| “Parusia – Die Idee in den Dingen”, Cork Institute of Technology CIT, Ireland (C) | |
| “Parusia – Die Idee in den Dingen”, Städtische Galerie Iserlohn (C) | |
| “In Memoriam Kropotkin”, Galerie Philippi, Heidelberg | |
| 2018 | “Parusia – Die Idee in den Dingen”, Stiftung Schloss und Park Benrath Düsseldorf (C) |
| “Parusia – Die Idee in den Dingen”, Nicolaus Copernicus University Toruń (C) | |
| 2020 | “Both Sides Now”, Galerie Melchior & Galerie Rasch, Kassel |
| 2024 | “Die Parabel vom Ochsenberg”, Museum Haus Opherdicke (F) |
Participation in Group Exhibitions (Selection):
| 1992 | Kunststation St. Peter, Cologne |
| 1993 | “Ida-Gerhardi-Preis”, Städt. Galerie Lüdenscheid |
| 1994 | “Kunstpreis Landau”, Kunstverein Landau |
| 1995 | “bon direct”, Bonner Kunstverein (C) |
| “Holz/Schnitte”, Gothaer Kunstforum Cologne (C) (with G. Baselitz, F. Droese, M. Lüpertz etc.) |
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| 1997 | “Querschnitt. Deutscher Holzschnitt heute” Städt. Galerie Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach (C) |
| 1998 | “Querschnitt. Deutscher Holzschnitt heute” Museum Zwickau, Städt. Galerie Bietigheim-Bissingen, Städt. Galerie Iserlohn |
| “Der ausgehöhlte Stamm” (Art and Cult Objects from Europe, Africa, Oceania), Städt. Museen Heilbronn (C) | |
| “Märkisches Stipendium”, Städt. Galerie Lüdenscheid | |
| 2000 | “Letzte Nacht Erste Nacht”, Galerie der Künstler, Munich |
| “Gegengift”, Schloß Waldthausen, Mainz | |
| 2001 | “In Holz geschnitten” (Dürer, Gaugin, Penck u.d.A.), Museum Bochum (C) |
| 2003 | “Vernicular Spirit”, Aomori Contemporary Art Centre, Japan (C) |
| 2004 | “Atelier-Komplexe”, Galerie Henseleit Buchholz, Cologne |
| 2007 | “Hochdruckzone”, Städt. Kunstmuseum Spendhaus Reutlingen (C) |
| 2008 | “Hochdruckzone”, Neue Sächsische Galerie Chemnitz (C) |
| 2009 | “Aus dem Stamm – Holzskulptur heute”, Kunstverein Wilhelmshöhe (C) |
| “Aus dem Stamm – Holzskulptur heute”, Kunstmuseum Singen (C) | |
| “Exhibition of competition work BBR”, Bundesarchiv Berlin | |
| 2010 | “In spirit of Rubens and Contemporary Art”, Kunstverein Siegen |
| 2011 | “Zeitgenössische Positionen im Hochdruck”, Museum für Druckkunst Leipzig |
| 2012 | “Montag ist erst übermorgen”, Kupferstichkabinett, Akademie d. Bild. Künste Wien |
| 2014 | “Große Geister”, Kunstmuseum Bonn (New presentation of the Permanent Collection) |
| 2015 | “Lichtsplitter”, Woodcuts from the collection, Museum Morsbroich Leverkusen |
| “The 6th Beijing International Art Biennale”, National Art Museum of China (C) | |
| 2019 | “Temporäre Installationen Orangerie”, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe |
| 2022 | “Von der Fläche zum Raum – Bildhauerzeichnungen seit 1945”, Kunsthalle Mannheim |
| 2023 | “Immanuel Kant und die offenen Fragen”, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn |
(C) Catalogue/Artist Book
(F) Film Documentation/Artist Film
Work in Public Collections (Selection):
Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum Aachen
Kunsthalle Mannheim
Kunstmuseum Bonn
Rheinisches LandesMuseum Bonn
Museum Morsbroich Leverkusen
Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
Folkwang Museum Essen
Staatliches Museum Schwerin
Kloster Bentlage Rheine
Skulpturenmuseum Glaskasten Marl
Kunstmuseum Spendhaus Reutlingen
Museum u. Galerie im Prediger, Schwäbisch Gmünd
Universitätsmuseum Marburg
Kultusministerium Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz
Musée d’Art et d’Histoire Genf
The Ashmolean, Universitätsmuseum Oxford
New Haven, Yale University Arts L.
Aomori Contemporary Art Centre (ACAC)
