Born in 1966 in Cologne, Germany

Living and working in Berlin

Solo Shows (Selection)

2024
  • Vision of a Vision, Casado Santapau Gallery , Madrid
2021
  • Senza Fine, Mehdi Chouakri Gallery , Berlin
2020
  • Freitag der 13, Mehdi Chouakri Gallery , Berlin
2019
  • Tell me about me, Solo Duo con Gregor Hildebrandt, Galería Casado Santapau, Madrid.
2018
  • Le Terrain Vague, Modern Art/Stuart Shave gallery,London
2017
  • Future Music, Galería Casado Santapau,Madrid
  • Oral Heart, Anton Kern gallery, N.Y.
2016
  • Working Girl, Sies & Höke, Düsseldorf.
  • Germany Sex and the City, Art:Concept, Paris, France
2015
  • Tropenkoller, Stuart Shave Modern Art, London, United Kingdom
2014
  • PEOPLELIKE YOU MAKE IT EASY, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
  • Mäusebunker, The Kitchen, New York, NY
2013
  • Lothar Hempel, Art Basel Parcours, Museum Kleines Klingental – Historic Monastery Building, Basel, Switzerland
  • Songs for the Blind, Hezi Cohen Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel
  • Loneliness is a cloak you wear, a deep shade of blue is always there, Gerharsen Gerner, Berlin, Germany
2012
  • Opium, La Conservera Centro de Arte Contemporanea, Ceutí (Murcia), Spain
  • The story of The Old New Girls, Galerie Art Concept, Paris, France
2011
  • Suedehead, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY [cat.]
2010
  • Silberblick/Squint, Stuart Shave/ Modern Art, London, UK
  • Lothar Hempel: ZOO, Sadler’s Wells, London, UK
  • Piramix Pix, Gerhardsen Gerner, Berlin, Germany
2009
  • Kats, Nerves, Shadows & Gin, Anton Kern, New York, NY
  • Rise and Fall, MGM, Oslo, Norway
  • Gio Marconi, Milan, Italy
2008
  • Casanova & Other Problems, Stuart Shave Modern Art, London, UK
  • Signal, Art: Concept, Paris, France
  • Casanova, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Ireland [cat.]
2007
  • Alphabet City, curated by Florence Derieux, Le Magasin, Centre National d’Art Contemporain, Grenoble, France [cat.]
  • Effetti Speciali, c/o – Atle Gerhardsen, Berlin, Germany
2006
  • Umbrella, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY [cat.]
  • Tarantella, Bar Ornella, Köln, Germany
2005
  • Casa musica (extrema), Atle Gerhardsen, Berlin, Germany
  • Butterfly, c/o Atle Gerhardsen, Art Nova, Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL
2004
  • Fieber/Fever: 5 New Paintings and Other Stories, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY Ikarus, Art: Concept, Paris, France
  • On the Olympus, Unlimited Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece
  • Versteck! with Petra Hollenbach, Parkhaus, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • Anton Kern Gallery 16 East 55th Street New York NY 10022 T 212.367.9663 F 212.367.813 antonkerngallery.com
2003
  • Der Gesang der Vögel ist sinnlos! (The Song of the Bird is Nonsense!),
  • Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
2002
  • Diamanten, c/o Atle Gerhardsen, Berlin, Germany
  • Fleisch: Maschine, Magnani, London, UK
  • Concentrations 42, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
  • Propaganda, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), London, UK
  • Wespennest, Dallas Art Museum, Dallas, TX
2001
  • Magnet, Art:Concept, Paris, France
2000
  • Das Orakel lächelt. Das Orakel lacht. Das Orakel lächelt. Ars Futura Galerie, Zurich, Switzerland An Schlaf ist nicht zu denken, Lab of Gravity, Hamburg, Germany
  • Wespennest, (Wasp’s Nest) Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
1999
  • Amerika verschwindet nur das Lächeln bleibt (America Disappears Only the Smile Remains), Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
  • KAPUTTund die Folgen (Kaputt and the Consequences), Robert Prime, London, UK
  • Videos, Centre Saint Gervais, Geneva, Switzerland
1998
  • Ein Sandstrand voll Glas (A Beach Full of Glass), Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne, Germany
  • Kunstschnee will schmelzen, Bureau Amsterdam,
  • Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1997
  • Samstag Morgen, Zuckersumpf, Robert Prime, London, UK
  • This Bittersweet Disaster, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
1996
  • Strom, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
  • The Bienenkorb Times, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne
  • Germany FRACLanguedoc Roussillon, Montpellier, France
1994
  • LOW, Artistbooth, Cologne Art Fair, Cologne, Germany
  • LA BOUM, with Thorsten Slama, New Reality Mix, Stockholm, Sweden
  • OMRON, six videos by Lothar Hempel, Preview Theatre Wardour Street, London, UK
  • Bewegungslehre (No Future), Buchholz und Buchholz, Cologne, Germany
1992
  • 240 Minuten, with George Graw, Galerie Esther Schipper, Cologne, Germany

Group Exhibitions (Selection)

2021
  • Tales of Manhattan, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
  • Erotic roundup, Mehdi Chouakri, Berlin
  • Mäusebunker & Hygieneinstitut: Experimental Setup BERLIN. Buildings by G + M Hänska I Fehling + Gogel , 17th Venice Architecture Biennale
2018
  • Where are we now , Hempel_Hildebrandt_Miller , FS.Art, Berlin
2017
  • Zeitgeist, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain (MAMCO), Geneva, Switzerland
  • Modern Sculpture, CASADOSANTAPAU, Madrid, Spain
2016
  • Staged: Spectacle and Role Playing in Contemporary Art, Sammlung Goetz Collection at Kunsthalle der Hypo Kulturstiftung, Munich, Germany
  • Theories of Modern Art, Modern Art, London, UK
  • 6s and 7s, Marlborough Gallery, 40 West 57th Street, New York, NY
2015
  • LOVE, Nymphius Projekte, Berlin, Germany
  • Focus Resonance, Interior and the Collector, Collection #5, 12th Biennale de Lyon, France
  • Threads: A Phantasmagoria about Distance, 10th Kaunas Biennial, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Kaunas, Lithuania
    IMAGEOBJECTS, Public Art Fund, City Hall Park, New York, NY
  • La Femme de trente ans, Art Concept, Paris, France
  • An Unfixed Image: The Photographic Across Media, TCNJArt Gallery, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ
  • Anton Kern Gallery 16 East 55th Street New York NY 10022 T 212.367.9663 F 212.367.813 antonkerngallery.com
  • All the World’s a Stage: Works from the Goetz Collection, Sala de Arte Santander, Fundación Banco Santander, Madrid, Spain
2014
  • Wo ist hier? #1: Malerei und Gegenwart, Kunstverein Reutlingen, Reutlingen, Germany
  • Luggage and Observations, Galerie Klaus Gerrit Friese, Stuttgart, Germany
  • A MANWALKS INTO A BAR…, Landshuter Strasse 49, Mainburg, Germany
2013
  • Cérémonie, curated by Timothée Chaillou, Melinda Gloss, Paris
  • Experience Pommery #11, curated by Florence Derieux, Domaine Pommery, Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France
2012
  • Voice of the Triangle, Stuart Shave/Modern Art, London, UK
  • Tomorrow, Die Bastei, Cologne, Germany
  • Blind Cut, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, NY
  • Without Hope, Without Fear, Mottahedan Projects, Al Quoz, Dubai, UAEAccrocharge, Gerhardsen Gerner, Berlin, Germany
  • It’s Always Summer on the Inside, Organized by Dan McCarthy, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, NY
2011
  • Herzliya Biennial for Contemporary Art, Herzliya, Israel
  • MakeUp, A Palazzo Gallery, Brescia, Italy
  • The Bell Show, Lüttgenmeijer, Berlin, Germany
  • portraits & faces, heldart, Berlin, Germany
  • Synecdoche, Bourouina Gallery, Berlin, Germany
  • Space Oddity, Centre of Contemporary Art Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
2010
  • Qui Es-Tu Peter? (Who Are You Peter?), Louis Vuitton Cultural Space, Paris, France
  • Poetry in Double Time: A Small Rustling Revolution. Idiolect Visual Arts, Brugge, Belgium
  • The Artist’s Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA Storytellers, Centre d’art contemporain / Passages, Troyes, France
  • Plus Ultra – Opere dalla Collezione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, MACROTestaccio, Rome, Italy Crosstown Traffic, Wentrup, Berlin, Germany
  • Cinematique, esthetique, politique, hermetique, Art:Concept, Paris, France
2009
  • Art by the Sea, Beaufort 03, Ostend, Belgium
  • Jean-Luc Blanc: Opéra Rock, curated by Alexis Vaillant, CAPCMusée d`Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
  • Heaven, Athens Biennale, Athens, Greece
  • Biennale Estuaire Nantes < > St. Nazaires, Fond régional d`Art Contemporain des Pays de la Loire / Hangar à bananes, St. Nazaire, France
  • Beaufort 03, Triennial for Contemporary Art, Blankenberge, Belgium
  • SCULPTURESHOW, Eastside Projects, Birmingham, UK
  • Festival de la création du Centre Pompidou, Conciergerie, Paris, France
  • Rituals of Homecoming, curated by Adam Budak, Ludwik Grohman Villa, Lodz, Poland
  • Birds love fish, CHERT, Berlin, Germany
  • Un plan simple (Perspective – Scène – Écran), Maison populaire, Centre d’art Mira Phalaina, Paris-ontreuil, France
2008
  • Sphinxx, curated by Alexis Vaillant, Modern Art, London, UK
  • La Fete Est Permanente / The Eternal Network, FRAC– Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France
  • A show of many parts, each part more spectacular and elaborate than the last, Curated by Kirsty Ogg, The City Gallery, Leicester, UK
  • 7th Gwangju Biennale, Gwangju, South Korea
  • Art Berlin Contemporary 2008, c/o – Atle Gerhardsen, Berlin, Germany
  • Family and Friends, Anton Kern, New York, NY
  • Lust warande, Skulpturenpark, Tilburg, Netherlands
  • Mystery of the Invisible Clock, Curated by Joshua Nathanson, Karyn Lovegrove Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
  • Anton Kern Gallery 16 East 55th Street New York NY 10022 T 212.367.9663 F 212.367.813 antonkerngallery.com
  • Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art, Mission: to interpret and understand contemporary art, Barbican Art Gallery, London, UK
  • Lustwarande 08 – Wanderland, Tilburg, Holland
2007
  • Effigies, Modern Art, London, UK
  • A. Desire, Dennis Kimmerich, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • Half square, half crazy / À demi carré, à demi fou, Centre National d’Art Contemporain de la Villa Arson, Nizza Very Abstract and Hyper Figurative, curated by Jens Hoffmann, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, UK
  • Pale Carnage, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Dundee, Australia
  • Galleri MGM, Oslo, Norway
  • Pale Carnage, Arnolfini, Bristol, UK
  • Imagination becomes Reality. Werke aus der Sammlung Goetz, ZKM– Museum für Neue Kunst, Karlsruhe, Germany
2006
  • Implosion, Anton Kern Gallery, New York
  • Pelouses autorisées, Parc de la Villette, Paris
  • The Triumph of Painting, Part 4, The Saatchi Gallery, Londres / Leeds City Art Gallery, Leeds
  • Angela Bulloch, A K Dolven, Olafur Eliasson, Ceal Floyer, Liam Gillick, Lothar Hempel, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Galleri MGM, Oslo, Norway
  • I Love My Scene: Scene 1 (curated by Jose Freire), Mary Boone Gallery, New York
2005
  • Growing Up Absurd Problems of Youth in the Organized System, Kent Institute of Art and Design, Kent, Grande-Bretagne, Greece
  • The difference between you and me, The Ian Potter Museum of Art, Melbourne, VICImagination becomes Reality, Part II. Painting Surface Space, Sammlung Goetz, Munich Bidibidobidiboo, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin
  • World artists now!, Bijutsu Shuppan-Sha, Japan
2004
  • She’s Come Undone, curated by Augusto Arbizo, Artemis Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York, NY
  • Now is a Good Time, curated by Dean Valentine, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
  • The Snow Show, Tate Liverpool, UK
  • The Snow Show, curated by Lance Fung, Cities of Kemi and Rovaniemi, Lapland, Finland
  • Curb Your Enthusiasm, Millers Terrace, London, UK
  • The Drawing Project, Vamiali’s, Athens, Greece Creative Growth, CCA, San Francisco, CA
2003
  • Dark Shadows, Marc Foxx Gallery, Los Angeles Michael Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles
  • Hands Up, Baby, Hands Up! 160 Jahre Oldenburger Kunstverein, 160 Arbeiten auf Papier, Oldenburger Kunstverein, Oldenburg, Germany
2002
  • Schöne Aussicht, Galerie Otto Schweins, Cologne, Germany
  • It’s Unfair! Museum de Pavilijoens, Almere, Netherlands
  • Accrochage, c/o Atle Gerhardsen, Berlin, Germany
  • Internationales Netzwerk, Fluxus und die Folgen, Karstadt Wiesbaden, Germany
  • Les vertus sont des titres, les souffrances sont des droits. Exposition de la collection du Frac Poitou- Charentes, Hôtel Saint-Simon / Théâtre d’Angoulème, Angoulême, France
2001
  • A New Horizon, Art:Concept, Paris, France
  • Uniform: Order and Disorder, P.S.1, New York
  • Und keiner hinkt 22 Wege vom Schwegler wegzukommen, Museum Kurhaus Kleve, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • Drawings, Galeria Sales, Rome, Italy
  • I LOVENew York, Anton Kern, New York, NY
  • Anton Kern Gallery 16 East 55th Street New York NY 10022 T 212.367.9663 F 212.367.813 antonkerngallery.com
  • Beauty Of Intimacy – Lens and Paper, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
2000
  • Age of Influence: Reflections in the Mirror of American Culture, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL 10 Jahre Ars Futura, Ars Futura, Zurich, Germany
  • Portraits, Thomas Rehbeiin Galerie, Cologne, Germany
  • Beauty of Intimacy – Lens and Paper, The Loudon Collection, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany
1999
  • Titles for Drawings, AC Project Room, January, New York
  • oldNEWtOWn, Casey Kaplan, January, New York
  • Who, if not we?, curated by Yilmaz Dziewior, Elizabeth Cherry Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ Nur Wasser Lässt sich leichter schneiden, Projektraum Hafen, Hamburg, Germany
  • Dessins, Forde Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
  • A Radiant Future, Forde – Espace d’art contemporain, Genève, Switzerland
  • Officina Europa, Galeria d’Arte Moderna, Bologna, Italy
1998
  • Conspirazione, Collection Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
  • Roommates, Van Loon Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Yesterday Begins Tomorrow: Ideals, Dreams, and the Contemporary Awakening, curated by Francesco Bonami, Bard College, New York, NY
  • Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne, Germany
  • El Niño, Städtisches Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach, Germany
  • Ars viva 98/99 – Installationen, Brandenburgische Kunstsammlungen Cottbus, Kunstverein Braunschweig, Portikus Frankfurt am Main, Germany
  • Zone, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
1997
  • Group Show: Painting, Photography, Drawing, Anton Kern Gallery, NY
  • Aura, (with Walter Dahn, Rosemarie Trockel & Dirk Bell) Galerie Ars Futura, Zürich, Switzerland
  • X 2, Wiener Secession, Vienna, Austria
  • Panic, ICA, London, UK
  • Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, Belgium
  • Surprised, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nürnberg, Germany
  • Bring your own Walkman, W 139, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Delta, a geographical expression, curated by Francesco Bonami, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
  • Cologne show, Goethe Institut, Turin, Italy
1996
  • Glockengeschrei nach Deutz, das Beste aller Seiten!, Daniel Buchholz, Cologne, Germany
  • This really nice, a project with students from the royal academy of arts, Aircondition, Copenhagen, Sweden
  • TRAFFIC, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, CAPCMusée, Bordeaux, France
  • PUSHUPS, The Factory, Athens, Greece
  • AUTOREVERSE 2, le magasin, Grenoble, France
  • How will we behave?, Robert Prime Gallery, London, UK
  • Escape Attempts, curated by Simon Sheik and Globe, Christiania, Copenhagen, Sweden
1995
  • Atomic!, Oberwelt Galerie, Stuttgart, Germany
  • Auto Reverse, Centre Européen de la Culture, Geneva, Switzerland
  • The Video Collection, Filmfestival Knokke, Knokke, Belgium
  • Figures, Le Parvis, Centre Meridien
  • The Moral Maze, curated by Liam Gillick and Philippe Parreno, e Consortium, Dijon, France
  • Stoppage, curated by Liam Gillick, CCCTours, Villa Arson, Nice, France
  • I Confess, Nicolay Art Center, Copenhagen, Sweden
  • Purple 8 1/2, curated by Purple Prose, Galerie Jousse Seguin, Paris, France
  • L‘Hiver de l‘Amour, Part 2, PS 1, New York, NY
  • Anton Kern Gallery 16 East 55th Street New York NY 10022 T 212.367.9663 F 212.367.813 antonkerngallery.com
  • Aperto, previously unreleased! curated by Sabrina Grassi, A.P.A.C. Nevers, France Photomontage, le Consortium, Dijon, France
  • Labyrinthe Morale, curated by Liam Gillick and Philippe Pareno L‘Usine, Dijon, France
  • X/Y, curated by Christine van Asche, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
  • Palast der Künste, Utopie macht endlos, (Lotus Club), Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany
1994
  • Sonne München, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne, Germany
  • Homegrown, Lotus Club, Cologne, Germany
  • Grand Prix, Air de Paris, Nice, France
  • L‘Hiver de l‘Amour, Musée d‘art Contemporain de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France Rue des Marins, Air de Paris, Nice, France
  • Residence Secondaire, Galerie Sabrina Grassi, Paris, France
  • 20, curated by Tomaso Corvi-Mora, Galleria Pascale Laccese, Milan, Italy
  • Caravanserai, Galerie W 139, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Henry Bond, Olafur Eliasson, Lothar Hempel, Saga Basement, Copenhagen
  • Das Studium der Kunstgeschichte, Schleifschnecke, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, Germany
  • Miniatures, the Agency, London, UK
  • Mixbild, Galerie Esther Schipper und Michael Krome, Cologne, Germany
  • 13 Levels of Meaning,“with Henry Bond, Ars Futura, Zurich, Germany
  • Atomic, Neurotic, Exstatic,”curated by Hendrik Larsson, The New ROOM, Göteborg, Sweden
1993
  • Some artists I’ve been thinking about who falls under the title of: Wouldn’t it be more pluralistic to embrace turmoil and/or violence?, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, NY
  • Galerie Esther Schipper at the Christopher Grimes Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
  • Biennale di Venezia, APERTO, Venice, Italy
  • Summer Show, Galerie Esther Schipper, Cologne, Germany
  • Future Book Collection, Air de Nice, Nice, France
  • Fuck the System, Villa Rossi, Lucca, Italy
  • Food for Thought, curated by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Franklin Furnace, New York
  • Phenylovethylamour, Unfair 1993, project by Lothar Hempel and Carsten Hoeller, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne, Germany
  • Unplugged, curated by Nicholas Bourriaud, jeder kind is van marmer, Bloom Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Christmasshop, Air de Paris, Paris, France
  • Video, Galerie Sabrina Grassi, Paris, France
  • 7e Semaine Internationale de Video (S.I.V.), Centre pour l’Image contemporaine Saint-Gervais, Genève, Switzerland [cat.]
1992
  • Prince, Madonna, Marky Mark & Cinderella, Ancient Etablissement Sacré, Liège, Belgium
  • Paradise Europa, BIZART, Copenhagen, Sweden
  • Tattoo Collection, Air de Paris & Urbi et Orbi at the Jennifer Flay Gallery, Paris
  • Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne, and Andrea Rosen, New York, NY
  • Galerie Monika Sprüth, Cologne, Germany
  • Galeria Pasquale Leccese, Milan, Italy

Public collections

  • FRAC– Poitou-Charentes, Angouleme, France
  • Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst GfZK, Leipzig, Germany
  • Fondazione Morra Greco, Naples, Italy
  • The Saatchi Gallery, London, UK
  • Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA
  • Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

Events

1995
  • Trinkwasser! Jazz Festival Köln, Cologne, Germany
  • Wie kann ich sagen, was ich denke, bevor ich höre, was ich sage! (Together with Carsten Hoeller) a production by Casino I., Red Salon in the Volksbühne, Berlin, Germany
  • King’s Cross Project, Public Art Development Trust, London, UK
  • Anton Kern Gallery 16 East 55th Street New York NY 10022 T 212.367.9663 F 212.367.813 antonkerngallery.com

Monographs and Exhibition catalogues

2014
  • A MANWALKS INTO A BAR…, Hatje Cantz, Osfildern, Germany.
2012
  • Berlin: Autocenter.
2011
  • New York: Anton Kern Gallery.
2008
  • Il Casanova di Federico Fellini: Lothar Hempel. Dublin: Douglas Hyde Gallery.
  • Kobel, Stefan. Abc art Berlin Contemporary Newspaper. Berlin.
2007
  • Lothar Hempel: Alphabet City. Grenoble: Le Magasin – Centre National d’Art Centemporain de Grenoble and JRP
  • Pale Carnage, Arnolfini. Bristol/Dundee: Dundee Contemporary Arts.
2006
  • New York: Anton Kern Gallery.
2005
  • Berlin: c/o – Atle Gerhardsen.
  • Goetz, Ingvild & Rainald Schumacher. Imagination becomes Reality, Part II. Painting Surface Space. Munich: Sammlung Goetz
  • The Snow Show. London: Thames & Hudson.
2002
  • Stern, Emma. Propaganda – Lothar Hempel. Interview with Toby Webster. London: ICA
  • Concentrations 42. Lothar Hempel, Dallas: Dallas Museum of Art.
  • Lothar Hempel – Fleisch. London: Maschine, Magnani.
2001
  • Uniform: Order and Disorder. New York: P.S.1.
  • Lothar Hempel. Magnet. Paris: Art: Concept. Art — Pop — City. Berlin: Büro Friedrich.
2000
  • Helga Meister: Und kein hinkt? Kleve: Wge vom Schwegler wegzukommen.
  • The Beauty of Intimacy: Lens & Paper. Baden-Baden: Gemeentemuseum Den Haag/Kunsthalle
  • Baden/Kunstraum Innsbruck.
1999
  • Officina Europa. Bologna: Galleria d’art moderna.
  • Ars Viva 98/99 Installationen, Cologne: Kulturkrei der deautschen Wirtschaft im BDI.
1998
  • El Niño, Mönchengladbach: Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach
  • Kunstschnee will schmilzen, Amsterdam: Bureau Amsterdam, Stedelijk Musem.
1997
  • Vienna: Wiener Secession.
  • Paris: Musee d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
  • Surprisen 2, Nürnberg: Kunsthalle Nürnberg.
  • Van Heeswijk, Jeanne and Ine Gevers. Beyond Ethics and Aesthetics. Nijmegen: Sun Publishers. 7e Semaine Internationale de Vidßeo (S.I.V.). Geneva: Centre pour l ́Image contemporaine Saint
1996
  • PUSHUPS, the factory, Athens: Athens Fine Arts School. TRAFFIC, Bordeaux: CAPC
1995
  • X/Y, Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou.
  • I Confess, Copenhagen: Nicolaij Art Center.
1994
  • L’Hiver de l’Amour. Paris: ARC.
  • Cologne: Buchholz und Buchholz.
  • Baden-Anton Kern Gallery 16 East 55th Street New York NY 10022 T 212.367.9663 F 212.367.813 antonkerngallery.com
1993
  • Hempel, Lothar and Carsten Hoeller. Phenylovethylamour, Unfair 1993. Cologne.
  • XLVEsposizione Internazionale d’Arte, Milan: La Biennale di Venezia, Venice Aperto ’93.
1992
  • Paradise Europe. Copenhagen: BizArt Forlag.

Audio / Video Publications and Editions

2022
  • Double LP and digital album from NESSUNO: “Songs For The Blind”
  • “Chapter 69 – the Early Years,” 3 videos by Lothar Hempel, videocassette VHSPal, 30,” Editione Gregorio Magnani
1995
  • “More Startrax,” featuring Kai Althoff & Justus Köhnke, a collaboration with
    Parthena Trellopoulos, 7″ vinyl single
  • “Chapter 69 – the Early Years,” 3 videos by Lothar Hempel, videocassette VHSPal, 30,” Editione Gregorio Magnani
1994
  • “Startrax,” featuring Absolut & Superstar, a collaboration with Parhtena Trellopoulos, 7″ vinyl single
  • “We believe in You,” Videocassette VHSPal, 8:20″ Edition Sabrina Grassi
1993
  • “A Very Sad Story,” Videocassette VHSPal, 7:30,” Edition Daniel Buchholz
  • “LOVEIS NO FOUR LETTER WORD,” the favorite lovesongs by twenty male artists, audiocassettes
1992
  • “240 Minuten,” Videocassette VHSPal, 240,” Edition by Esther Schipper

Bibliography

2015
  • Cascone, Sarah. “The Public Art Fund Brings Digitally Manipulated Sculpture to City Hall Park,” news, May 12, 2015.
  • Fox,Charlie.“Review:LotharHempel’s“Tropenkoller”atModernArt,London,”Art-Agenda,March
2014
  • Yablonsky, Linda. “There Goes the Neighborhood,” Artforum Scene & Heard, September 10, 2014. Balestin, Juliana.
  • “Lothar Hempel at Anton Kern Gallery,” Purple Magazine diary, September 10, Kozinn, Allan.
  • “As Usual, Unusual Offerings From The Kitchen,” The New York Times’ ArtsBeat,
    artnet 20,2015. 2014. August 6, 2014.2011. 6, 2014.
2013
  • “Lothar Hempel, Aubrey Beardsley at Modern Art,” Contemporary Art Daily, January 2013.
2011
  • Indrisek, Scott. “Lothar Hempel,” Modern Painters, November 2011, p.82-83. Schübel,Wayra.
  • “GongShowbeiMickySchubert,BellShowbeiLüttgenmeijer,”vonHundert,May N.N.
  • “Suedehead, Lothar Hempel at Anton Kern,” Juxtapoz, October 21, 2011.
2010
  • Dantan, Ghislaine. “Lothar Hempel, kaput,” Art magazine, November 6, 2010.
  • Buhr, Elke. “Aliens im Wunderland,” Monopol Magazin, October 2010, p.84-90.
  • Reimers, Anne. “Der Zeitgeist wird in Berlin erfunden,” FAZ.net, October 12, 2010.
  • Schleussner, Laura. “Lothar Hempel,” Flash Art, July–September 2010, p.112.
  • Wewer, Antje. “Klein, aber Soho,” Monopol Magazin, August 5, 2010.
  • Geldard, Rebecca. “Lothar Hempel,” TimeOut, June 16, 2010.
  • Sherwin, Skye. “Artist of the week 90: Lothar Hempel,” Guardian.co.uk, June 3, 2010.
  • N. “Lothar Hempel,” von Hundert, June 2010.
  • Holt, Pippa. “Art Attack,” The Vogue Blog, May 11, 2010.
  • Jansen, Meike. “Endloser Tanz,” taz – Die Tageszeitung, April 28 2010.
  • N. “Lothar Hempel,” SublimeThings.com, March 20, 2010.
  • Cotter, Holland. “An Abundance of Room, an Absence of V.I.P. Gloss,” The New York Times, 2010.N.N. “Lothar Hempel,” exibart.com, January 19, 2010.
  • Chiacchio, Francesca. “Lothar Hempel alla galleria Giò Marconi di Milano,” Teknemedia.net, 15, 2010.
  • “The Kitchen Sets Fall 2014 Season, Featuring Music, Theater & More,” Broadway World, August Anton Kern Gallery 16 East 55th Street New York NY 10022 T 212.367.9663 F 212.367.813 antonkerngallery.com
    March 5, January
2009
  • Carlin, T.J., Lothar Hempel. “Kats, Nerves, Shadows & Gin,” TimeOut New York, Issue 701, March 5-11, 2009.
2008
  • Butler, Kate. “Lothar Hempel: Casanova,” The Sunday Times, January 2008.
  • Guarracino, Antonella. “Lothar Hempel,” Exibart.com, February 13, 2008.
  • Schwerfel, Heinz Peter. “Schwerfel on Tour: Gwangju-Biennale,” Art-magazin.de, September 5. Stewart, Christabel. “Hollywood Swingin: Lothar Hempel,” Tank Magazine, Vol. 5, p. 22-23.
  • N. “Window Dressed to Impress,” The Irish Times, February 27, 2008.
    Kobel, Stefan. “Lothar Hempel,” abc art berlin contemporary newspaper, Berlin, Germany.
2007
  • Bart van der Heide. “Lothar Hempel,” Frieze, Issue 110, October 2007.
  • Judd Tully. “Editor’s Picks: The Best of Frieze,” ArtInfo, October 12-14, 2007.
  • “Basel Show,” Case de Abitare, Issue, 110, September 2007.
  • Claire Moulène. “Lothar Hempel,” Artforum, Summer 2007.
  • Issue 4, Vincent Pecoil. “Lothar Hempel,” Flash Art, May-June, p.137.
  • Manuel Cirauqui. “Memories of a Mask,” Lapiz: Revista internacional del art, No. 233, May 2007, p.66-75. Lisa Turvey. “Lothar Hempel,” Artforum, January 2007, p.125.
2006
  • “What’s on,” The Art Newspaper, No.169, May 2006.
  • Johnson, Ken. “I Love My Scene: Scene 1,” The New York Times, February 17, 2006. Art News, No.165, February 2006.
2005
  • Noah Chasim, Marvel and Fieber/Fever, Time Out New York, January 13-19, p. 57.
2003
  • Gronlund, Melissa. “Lothar Hempel,” Contemporary, No. 52, 2003.
2002
  • Russell Taylor, John. “Road From Nowhere: Lothar Hempel,” The Times, September 2002.
  • Hayworth, Nick. “Making Light of Heavy Themes,” Evening Standard, September 2002.
  • “Lothar Hempel – ICA,” ARTPREVIEW, September 2002.
  • “Lothar Hempel,” I-D Magazine, September 2002.
  • Guner, Fisun. “Don’t Believe the Hype,” MetroLife, September 24, 2002.
  • ecoil, Vincent. “Lothar Hempel at Art: Concept, Paris,” arttext, Spring 2002.
  • eil, Benjamin. “Lothar Hempel,” Flash Art, May-June 2002.
  • 2000 Jörn Ebner. “Lothar Hempel,” Kunstmagazin, No. 43, February 2000,
  • 30-33. Hoffmann, Justin. “Lothar Hempel,” Kunstforum, Bd.150, April-June 2000, p. 430.
1999
  • Higgie, Jennifer. “Let’s get Lost,” Frieze, Issue 48, September-October 1999.
  • Arning, Bill. “Lothar Hempel, America Disappears/Only the Smiles Remains,” Time Out New York, April 29- May 6, 1999, p.65.
  • Archer, Michael. “Lothar Hempel,” Art Monthly, No.225, April 1999, p.29-30.
  • Steiner, Barbara. Snipers, Lotusclub and more…, NachWeimar [cat.]
    Verwoert, Jan. “Lothar Hempel,” Springerin, Nr. 2/1999 (March-June).
1998
  • Weil, Bejamin. “Lothar Hempel,” Flash Art, March-April 1998, p.108.
1997
  • Higgie, Jennifer. “Lothar Hempel,” Frieze, Issue 37, November/December 1997.
  • Lothar Hempel, Jodie, Permanent Food, Paris, France.
1996
  • Avgikos, Jan. “Angus Fairhurst and Lothar Hempel at Anton Kern Gallery,”
  • Artforum, October 1996. Freedman, Carl.
  • “Traffic,” Frieze, May 1996.
  • “Traffic,” Artforum, May 1996.
  • Schneider, Christian. “Hempel, Höller, Eliasson,” Metropolis M, January 1996.
  • Anton Kern Gallery 16 East 55th Street New York NY 10022 T 212.367.9663 F 212.367.813 antonkerngallery.com Hempel, Lothar.“Let’s smile forever,” ZAP-Magazine, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
1995
  • “Lothar Hempel and Olafur Eliasson, Kryll as the Food of Tomorrow,” Buffalo Bill, September 1995.
1994
  • Hempel, Lothar. “Let yourself go,” Documents, March 1994.
  • Weil, Benjamin. “Souvenirs des Immateriaux,” Purple Prose, Vol. 3.
1992
  • Schwering, Gregor. “Junge Kunst aus Köln,” ZYMA, November 1992.
  • Hempel, Lothar. “Ballance Akt,” AMOKKOMA, Vol. 3.
  • Hempel, Lothar. “Ich kämpfe um Dich,” Purple Press, Vol. 2.

VISION OF A VISION

 

Emma Stern: This summer, you’ve been painting new works, 7 of which will be exhibited in September in Madrid. I want to talk with you today about these paintings. They remind me of something I experienced with an almost lost film by Robert Bresson. The film is:

“Four nights of a dreamer,” France 1971, 87 minutes, colour.

I had never seen the film, or maybe once decades ago, in a late-night Bresson festival in Cologne. I didn’t remember it, but I obsessively searched for it since, after all, it’s the only Bresson film I didn’t know. It’s no longer screened anywhere, and it’s not available on DVD either. At one point, I convinced myself that I would never get to see this film. So, I started fantasizing and tried to imagine it in its entirety. The images I had in my mind at that time were very similar to your paintings here. They also featured these strange stiff people, who look like puppets, standing in ominous rooms in unclear relationships with one another. What kind of figures are these, and what is happening in these paintings?

 

Lothar Hempel: Strange… “Four nights of a dreamer” and I’ll show 7 images, making it a complete week. This is not intentional, but it’s interesting nonetheless. These paintings are quite narrative, so it fits with the temporal aspect. That predominance of narrative irritates me, and I’ve always tried to work against it, but recently it was simply stronger. It undoubtedly has to do with the many films I continuously watch. There’s one painting  and it’s a whole story:

“Auf der Flucht” (On the run), 2024, 55 x 60 cm, oil and acrylic paint on aluminium.

I see a mother and her son fleeing through a thorny forest. The son wears an officer’s uniform that seems to be from Eastern Europe and somewhat archaic, almost like armour. Perhaps he is the heir to the throne, a prince, maybe it’s a scene shortly after a revolution, in an intermediate period, sometime before World War II. The two are pursued by insurgents and are fleeing toward the border. The danger is palpable and you can already hear the barking of the bloodhounds, having caught their scent. While the mother (Melancholy) recedes further and further into the background, still a part of the already lost past, the prince, with his weapon drawn, truly blooms in adversity. Here is where his story begins, a new chapter, a new future.

 

ES: This is epic, dramatic. Like the beginning of a melodramatic film, and it also has a mythical quality, a legend, an ethnogenesis… but it also sounds like dream interpretation.

 

LH: These ideas emerge while painting and then become reality. At the beginning, I know absolutely nothing about my figures. And later, something emerges that has meaning, something that moves me and that I can follow through. This is how an image is born, and these images are self-sufficient, they have a life of their own. There’s also this painting:

“Fruit Market”, 2024, 72 x 44 cm, oil and acrylic paint on aluminium.

This one here is in a completely different place, on a tropical island to be precise, possibly in Guadeloupe. It’s set about 300 years ago in a port city. There’s a young woman carrying a fruit basket on her head, heading to the market square to sell her goods. She is approached by a stranger, and she doesn’t quite know whether she likes it. This may be the first work in which I depict someone at work…

 

ES: Before World War II and 300 years ago! You use time very generously! Are there also paintings that deal with the “here and now”?

 

LH: Each painting has to do with the present. Right now, we find ourselves at a threshold, and it’s not clear which direction we should take. I feel that currently many, like me, taking a deep look into the past to realize where we come from and who we were, in order to know again who we want to be. This exhibition is also about visions…

 

ES: Are these people in your paintings, or rather positions, ideas, actors?

 

LH: These figures are sometimes based on photos I take of people on the street. Or photos taken from books or computer screens. Some are friends, others are strangers, and some are fictional. That’s why it’s hard to differentiate, but in principle, a person in a painting always represents an idea. There are also many moment-people here. Expression-people. A third painting is:

“Snowball”, 2024, 80 x 90 cm, oil and acrylic paint on aluminium.

In the background, you can see a medieval town with a tower and a stone bridge. In the front, there’s a group of 3 figures, and in the way they’re standing there, so strangely aligned, it looks like a silent film. I can almost hear the organ music from off-stage. On the left, in a robe, there’s an artist shaping this grotesque sculpture in the centre, which has something of a mummy. The figure on the right is inspired by a photo I took in Japan and she is holding a snowball. Why a snowball? Behind the group, there’s the silhouette of a bull. The painting resonates with sacrifice and ritual, but it can’t really be interpreted. The meaning remains open, and that’s how I want it.

 

ES: Here’s another work:

“In einem fernen Land” (In a Far Land), 2024, 55 x 60 cm, oil and acrylic paint on aluminium.

Are these two taking an oath? And with the flag in the background, it has something official about it! Anyway, the two seem anything but official and civilized, they look more like people from the South Seas, like people of nature.

 

LH: It’s a very intimate moment, part of a complicated love story within a historical context. We are witnessing a key scene, and the two are clearly real humans, that is wild. That’s clearly recognizable. And that is very good.

 

ES: Such paintings can only be made if you’ve seen many films. It is as if your eyes were projectors and your canvas a movie screen. Somehow you are a monster… (laughs!)

 

LH: Painting, music, photography, cinema are incestuously connected. A horrible family, but fruitful. My paintings are permeable and communicate with each other. This creates unpredictable effects and possibly even something akin to insight. And by that, I mean liberation! Of course, a lot of monstrosity is also generated… And this work here:

“Tropicalia”, 2024, 190 x 130 cm, oil and acrylic paint on aluminium.

This is a film about Mexico in the 1950s. There are 3 people in front of a landlord’s terrace. They’re actors, artists and drifters. They want to make some money by offering their art. It’s quite possible they also want to steal something. There is an Aztec sculpture, a coin, and a bird. The proportions are altered to emphazise class differences. In the background, a red mountain is visible. It’s like a play within a play. Mise en Abyme. This is the beginning of something. A door opens to an area behind the stage, but the door is only painted.

 

ES: You accidentally said: MOVIE! And this painting:

“Vision einer Vision” (Vision of a Vision), 2024, dimensions unknown, oil and acrylic paint on aluminium.

The woman in the middle is in a trance and is soon going to rise from the ground and levitate in the air. She wants to become a symbol! The man to her right is her companion, who is trying to keep her grounded for the moment. He remains fairly calm, though in reality, he’s worried because he has already seen too much. This scene also takes place in a tropical location, as can be seen from the giant plants. Everything takes place in a tropical, completely saturated environment.

 

LH: And then this work:

“Vor 10.000 Jahren” (10,000 Years Ago), 2024, 90 x 80 cm, oil and acrylic paint on aluminium.**

This takes place long before our time, where shapes blend into one another and a great deal seems possible. On the right, a stone statue awakens from a long sleep (death) and discovers the advantages of being alive. “I don’t want to be stone again!” it thinks. The woman on the left, on the other hand, only thinks about standing out as much as possible. She wants to be fully recognized and understood. She wants to be read like a book. She’s a living sign. The entire painting is full of sound.

 

ES: The whole exhibition is full of sounds.

 

LH: All these works are about the night. I love the night. Painting is deeply connected with the night and with animals. The eyes of cats illuminate the night. People sing to overcome fear. Suddenly a light. So we come full circle and visions bloom.