Jonathan Meese

Born in 1971 in Tokyo, Jonathan Meese studied at Hochschule der Bildenden Künste, Hamburg from 1995-8; he lives and works in Berlin and Hamburg. Meese is a performance artist, painter, and sculptor and one of the most acclaimed German artists of his generation. His recent solo museum exhibitions include The Hague GEM Museum, Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin, Museum of Contemporary Art Miami, and CAC Malàga. Progressing Joseph Beuys’ concept of artist-as-shaman, Meese presents himself in his portraits as a fictional quasi-demonic character that both channels and ‘purifies’ the creative forces of art itself, with the aim of creating a revolutionary state of artistic consciousness. Meese’s practice is highly theatrical and brings together a wide range of cultural references from both history and popular culture; his paintings and sculptures adopt humorously exaggerated gothic aesthetics, brutal ‘faux-naive’ stylings, and extreme approaches to the physicality of materials. The texts in his works are often written in his own invented language.

Biography

Selected Solo Exhibitions

 

2022
  • SELFPORTRAIT AND NUDES (GESAMTKUNSTWERK), Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2021
  • Jonathan Meese: Amazonengold De Large, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • Jonathan Meese, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria
  • ONLINE: Jonathan Meese: Early Work, 1993-2003, David Nolan, Upper West Side, New York, USA
  • Across the Universe (Dr. Space-Animalism “E.A.G.L.E.”: Fly Like an Eagle), David Nolan, Upper West Side, New York, USA
  • TVLG_Chamber: Jonathan Meese: Erzceramics De Large (Aber Bitte Mit Sahne), Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2020
  • Jonathan Meese: DR. 50/50FITTYMEESE (Pump Away Reality), Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2019
  • Jonathan Meese: Nanny Guinevere (Dr. Excalibur Is Back), Bernier / Eliades, Athens, Athens, Greece
  • Jonathan Meese: Meese Haute Couture (La Haute Couture de l’Avenir s’appelle Sommeil), Galerie Templon, Paris (Grenier Saint-Lazare), 3e, Paris, France
2018
  • Jonathan Meese: Meese’s Odyssey, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
  • Jonathan Meese: DR. S.P.A.C.E.- KINGKONG de LARGE (Love-Animalism), Gerhardsen Gerner, Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  • Jonathan Meese: Die Nackteste Freiheit Der Kunst, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf, Germany
2017
  • Jonathan Meese: De Pakt Mit Richard Wagnerz, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria
  • Jonathan Meese: “E.T.” VS. “DR. IDEOLOGY” (JOHNNY FUZZY M. SINCLAIR), Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Jonathan Meese: BLITZPHOTOÜBERMALEREI (Evolution statt Revolution), Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf, Germany
2016
  • Jonathan Meese: Dr. Trans-Form-Erz, David Nolan, Upper West Side, New York, USA
2015
  • Jonathan Meese: Dr. No Sportarzahn (Evolutionsschritt De Fit), Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria
  • Jonathan Meese, Knust Kunz, Munich (Ludwigstrasse), Munich, Germany
  • Jonathan Meese, Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Jonathan Meese: Parsifal de Large, Galerie Templon, Paris (rue Beaubourg), 3e, Paris, France
2014
  • Jonathan Meese, Modern Art London, Helmet Row, London, UK
  • Jonathan Meese: Countdown, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • Jonathan Meese, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark
2013
  • Jonathan Meese: MALERMEESE – MEESERMALER, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Mönchsberg, Salzburg, Austria
  • Jonathan Meese: Tropical Alaska-Kid (Der Molokobefehl), OVCHARENKO, Moscow, Russia
2012
  • Jonathan Meese: Graphics, Galerie Catherine Putman, Paris, France
  • Jonathan Meese, Bernier / Eliades, Athens, Athens, Greece
2011
  • Jonathan Meese, Bortolami Gallery, New York, USA
  • Jonathan Meese: St. Neutralité, Galerie Templon, Paris (rue Beaubourg), 3e, Paris, France
2010
  • Jonathan Meese: Sculpture, Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), North Miami, Miami, Florida, USA
2009
  • Jonathan Meese: Mishima Is Back, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan
  • :: Baby ‘Kunst’ (Metabolism Rock’s) / Meese Jonathan, OVCHARENKO, Moscow, Russia
  • Jonathan Meese Lucy in the Pie With You, Soldier Blue 2008, Modern Art London, Helmet Row, Fitzrovia, London, UK
2008
  • Jonathan Meese, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Marais), 3e, Paris, France
  • Jonathan Meese Metabolism. No Zen In Bronxen, You Atomic Human Toy, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (Villa Kast), Salzburg, Austria
  • Jonathan Meese – Bo Bjerggard, Kopenhagen, CFA, Contemporary Fine Arts (Mitte), Mitte, Berlin, Germany
  • Jonathan Meese – Babypropagandaddy’s Metabolismys, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Jonathan Meese, CFA, Contemporary Fine Arts (Mitte), Mitte, Berlin, Germany
  • Dictatorbaby Mary Poppin’s Cats, Dogs and Eggpies (The Revolutionbaby De Large is Back), Bortolami Gallery, Chelsea, New York, USA
2007
  • JONATHAN MEESE, CFA, Contemporary Fine Arts (Mitte), Mitte, Berlin, Germany
  • JONATHAN MEESE MISS ATLANTIS, Essl Museum (Sammlung Essl), Klosterneuburg, Austria
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
  • Szabolcs Bozó, Jonathan Meese, Brian Rochefort, THE 3 MUSKETEERS (TRIO DE LARGE), PLC Gstaad, Switzerland
2022
  • Maler als Theatermacher. Jörg Immendorff – Jonathan Meese, Achim Freyer Stiftung, Berlin, Germany
  • Jonathan Meese und Conny Maier, Ostfriesland Biennale, Aurich, Germany
  • Die Nacktheit der Zeichnung, Arbeiten in schwarz und weiß von Beckmann bis Warhol, Gesellschaft für Gegenwartskunst zusammen mit den Städtischen Kunstsammlungen Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
  • Animal Farm, Bernier/Eliades, Athens, Greece
2021
  • The Art of Helping: 25 Years of fiftyfifty: Charity Exhibition, NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • Ganz Anders Gleich, Crone Side, Berlin, Berlin, Germany
  • Showroom, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna, Austria
  • God save the Records !, Immanence, Espace d’Art Contemporain, 15e, Paris, France
  • Jonathan Meese & Rinus Van de Velde: Two of Hearts, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark
2020
  • The Art of Helping 25 Years of fiftyfifty: A Charity Exhibition, NRW-Forum Kultur und Wirtschaft, Düsseldorf, Germany
  • On Everyone’s Lips. From Pieter Bruegel to Cindy Sherman, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
  • Der Goldene Reiter, CFA, Contemporary Fine Arts, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany
  • Szene Berlin: Berlin Kommt Nach Niedersachsen, Hall Art Foundation, Schloss Derneburg Museum, Hildesheim, Germany
  • ONLINE: Works on Paper, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark
2019
  • Installations From 25 Years Of The Falckenberg Collection, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Falckenberg Collection, Hamburg, Germany
  • Group Exhibition, Gerhardsen Gerner, Oslo, Oslo, Norway
  • Live Forever, Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Wars: 20th and 21th Centuries, David Nolan, Upper West Side, New York, USA
  • Final Painting Now, Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin, Charlottenburg, Berlin, Germany
  • Kunst Kunst Kunst, Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
  • #30, Lachenmann Art, Frankfurt M, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany
  • Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter, Tal R: The Men Who Fell from Earth, EMMA, Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Espoo, Finland
  • The Last Waltz (for Leon), Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2018
  • The Art of Collaboration, Venus Over Manhattan, Upper East Side, New York, USA
  • Remember to React: 60 Years of Collecting, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
  • Du, Venus und Ich / You, Venus and I, Janinebeangallery, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
  • Blickkontakt: Gesichter einer Sammlung, Städtische Galerie, Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
  • Permanent Collection, Es Baluard, Museum of Modern & Contemporary Art, Palma De Mallorca, Spain
  • Group Exhibition: New Editions, Knust Kunz, Munich (Ludwigstrasse), Munich, Germany
  • Always Trust The Artist, Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2017
  • Berlin Now, David Nolan, Upper West Side, New York, USA
  • Animals, Charles Riva Project, Brussels, Belgium
  • The Men Who Fell from Earth, Holstebro Kunstmuseum, Holstebro, Denmark
  • Trésors, Immanence, Espace d’Art Contemporain, 15e, Paris, France
  • Horses, Eighteen, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Horses, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Karin Sander: ZEIGEN. An audio tour through the collection of the GfZK Leipzig, Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig (GfZK), Leipzig, Germany
  • Drawing Island, The Journal Gallery, Tribeca, New York, USA
  • Untitled, Gerhardsen Gerner, Oslo, Oslo, Norway
2016
  • LENGUAJE, L 21, Son Castelló, Palma De Mallorca, Spain
  • Lost With Alice, Patrick Painter, Inc., Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Portraits, Skarstedt Gallery, New York, Upper East Side, New York, USA
  • A Fair Land, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, Ireland
  • Between Two Horizons. French and german avant-gardes from the Saarlandmuseum, Centre Pompidou Metz, Metz, France
  • Elective Affinities: German Art Since the Late 1960s, Exhibition Hall ARSENALS, LNMA, Riga, Latvia
  • Season in the Sun, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Theories of Modern Art, Modern Art London, Helmet Row, London, UK
  • Borsch and Champagne: Selected Works from the collection of Vladimir Ovcharenko, Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Petrovka Street, Moscow, Russia
  • Tomorrow is a long time, Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2015
  • We will begin by drawing, we shall continue to draw, and then we shall draw some more, Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Eri Mieltä: Nykytaiteen Toisinajattelijoita, Kiasma, Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, Finland
  • Manuel Bonik – Undine Goldberg: 01 No5 Revisited, Laura Mars Gallery, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
  • Undine Goldberg: Modejahre, Laura Mars Gallery, Kreuzberg, Berlin, Germany
  • Deutsche Kunst Nach 1960, Essl Museum (Sammlung Essl), Klosterneuburg, Austria
  • Dusk to Dusk: Unsettled, Unraveled, Unreal, Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Westchester, Los Angeles, California, USA
  • All the World’s a Stage, Sammlung Goetz (Goetz Collection), Munich, Germany
  • Small Faces, Large Sizes, Elgiz Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
  • New Painting in the Collection, Holstebro Kunstmuseum, Holstebro, Denmark
2014
  • Vanity Case, Bourouina Gallery, Berlin, Germany
  • Anarchy. Utopia. Revolution., Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest, Hungary
  • Happy Birthday Franz!, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris (Belleville), 20e, Paris, France
  • Portray, Tim Van Laere Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
  • Wrong’s What I Do Best, San Francisco Art Institute, Walter and McBean Galleries, San Francisco, California, USA
  • Forever: Group Exhibition, DNA Galerie, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
  • Front Row, CFA, Contemporary Fine Arts (Mitte), Mitte, Berlin, Germany
  • Broken Gods Broken Heroes, Slewe Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2013
  • Longing For Myself, Essl Museum (Sammlung Essl), Klosterneuburg, Austria
  • The Third Wave: Gruppe SPUR, pop and politics, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel, Germany
  • World-Renowned Art and World-Wide Art, Holstebro Kunstmuseum, Holstebro, Denmark
2012
  • Masquerade – Friends’s Jubilee, Frans Hals Museum, Hal, Haarlem, Netherlands
  • ARTandPRESS – Art. Truth. Reality., ZKM | Center for Art & Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
  • Collaborations & Interventions, CCA Andratx, Andratx, Spain
2011
  • World Art and Art From Around the World, Holstebro Kunstmuseum, Holstebro, Denmark
  • Zwei Sammler – Thomas Olbricht and Harald Falckenberg, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
2010
  • Tuileries 2010, FIAC, Paris, France
  • Re-Dressing, Bortolami Gallery, New York, USA
  • The Great World Theatre: 90 Years of the Salzburg Festival, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Rupertinum, Salzburg, Austria
  • Rirkrit Tiravanija, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
  • Boy, Oh Boy!, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Downtown Miami, Miami, Florida, USA
  • Album: A Group Exhibition, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark
2009
  • Gbb 1999, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Vesterbro, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Get It Right Back To Where We Started From…, Koenig & Clinton, Brooklyn, New York, USA
  • A – F. New German Sculpture, Upstairs Berlin, Mitte, Berlin, Germany
  • The Figure and Dr Freud, Haunch of Venison, New York, Midtown, New York, USA
  • Slough, David Nolan, Upper West Side, New York, USA
  • Slough, David Nolan, Upper West Side, New York, USA
  • Two in one, Witte de With Centrum voor Hedendaagse Kunst (Center for Contemporary Art), Rotterdam, Netherlands
  • Fuentes. Non-European Influences On Contemporary Artists, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris (Marais), 3e, Paris, France
2008
  • Whole Lotta Love, CFA, Contemporary Fine Arts (Mitte), Mitte, Berlin, Germany
2007
  • Paul Thek: In the Context of Today’s Contemporary Art, ZKM | Center for Art & Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
Public collections
  • About Change Collection, Berlin
  • Arario Gallery, South Korea
  • Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada
  • Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
  • Centro de Artes Visuales Fundacíon Helga de Alvear, Cáceres Spain Doron Sebbag Art Collection ORS LTD, Israel
  • Es Baluard Museu d’Art Modern i Contemporani de Palma, Palma, Spain
  • Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg
  • Hall Collection, Derneburg
  • Holstebro Museum, Denmark
  • Hudson Valley Center of Art, Peekskill, USA Huis Henk Visch, Eindhoven
  • IKOB. Museum für Zeitgenössische Kunst Eupen, Belgium Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, Austria
  • K20, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen
  • Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld
  • Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg
  • Louisiana-Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark
  • Magasin III, Stockholm, Sweden
  • Musées de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
  • Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, USA
  • Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, USA Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
  • Rubell Family Collection, Miami, USA
  • Salsali Private Collection, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
  • Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg
  • Sammlung Goetz, Munich
  • Sammlung Schaufler, Schauwerk Sindelfingen
  • SMAK, Ghent, The Netherlands
  • Städtisches Kunstmuseum Spendhaus Reutlingen
  • Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Taguchi Art Collection, Tokyo, Japan
  • Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna, Austria

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