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Ben CraseKendell Geers
The work of South African artist Kendell Geers is often felt as an artistic response to horrid socio-political conditions, as it is deeply influenced by his identity as a white Afrikaner raised during apartheid in his native country. His practice is layered with ethical, spiritual, and aesthetic questions, exploring the boundaries of what is permissible and questioning the most basic concepts of identity, power, and language. The raw but poetic way in which Geers communicates both attracts and repulses, fascinates and awakens. He uses a wide variety of media, references, and strategies in a confrontational rather than dictatorial manner. Through this process the artist?s bright and dark sides are endlessly negotiated in an effort to find a balance between the beautiful and the dangerous.
Geers has shown in numerous international group exhibitions and extensively across Europe, including the African Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale (2007) and Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany (2002). Most recently, a retrospective of his work was exhibited at Haus der Kunst in Munich (2013).
Born in 1968 in South Africa
Lives and works in Brussels
SELECTED SOLO SHOWS
2014
Solve et Coagula, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris, FR
2013
Alphabête, Galerie Rodolphe Jassen, Bruxelles, BE
Endgame, Galleria Continua, Le Moulin, Fr
Stealing Fire From Heaven, GALERIST, Istanbul, TR
1988-2012
Von den Freunden Haus der Kunst, Munich, DE
Endgame, Galleria Continua / Le Moulin, Boissy-le-Châtel, FR
2012
Songs of Innocence and of Experience, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, ZA
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, Chateau Blandy-les-Tours, Melun, Paris, FR
2011
Hellraiser, ADN Galeria, Barcelona, ES
Fin de Partie, Galleria Continua, Beijing, CN
No Government, No Cry, CIAP, Hasselt, BE
2010
29th Sao Paulo Biennial, BR
Domino Canibal, Proyecto de arte contemporaneo, Murcia, ES
GUEST+A HOST = A GHOST, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, EN
Handgrenades from my heart, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, BE
Third World Dissorder, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, ZA
2009
A GHEST + A HOST = A GHOST, Stephen Friedman Gallery , London, UK
Irrespektiv, Mart - Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto, IT
The wasteland, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris, FR
2008
Irrespektiv, MOCA, Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon, FR
Irrespektiv, DA2 Domus Artium 2002, Salamanca, ES
PostPunkPaganPop, Gallery de Pury & Luxembourg, Zürich, CH
2007
Kannibale, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris, FR
Irrespektiv, BALTIC, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
Irrespektiv, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Gent, BE
Auto da fé, BPS22, Charleroi, BE
2006
The word made flesh, Gallerie Stephen Friedman, London, EN
2005
Satyr:Ikon, Galleria Continua, San Gimigano, IT
The Fall, Sorry we?re closed, Bruxelles, BE
Hung, Drawn and Quartered, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, US
2004
Hung, Drawn and Quartered, Contemporary Art Center, Cincinatti, US
Sexus, Cimaise et Portique, Albi, FR
The forest of suicides, MACRO Museum, Roma, IT
In the flesh, Salon 94, New York, US
2003
NOITU(LOVE)R, Castello di Ama per l?arte contemporanea Lecchi in Chianti, IT
Inferno, CCA Kitakyushu Project Gallery, JP
Terrorealismus, Migros Museum, Zurich, CH
The Prodigal son, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, ZA
Rogue States, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, EN
2002
Grenzgänger, Galerie Luis Campana, Köln, DE
Mondo Kane, Galleria Continua, San Gimignano, IT
A Spy in the House of Love, Camouflage, Brussels, BE
Sympathy for the Devil , Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR
2001
Where Angels Fear to Tread, Delfina Project Space, London, EN
Televisionaries, Würtembergischer Kunstverein and Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, DE
2000
Timbuktu, MAK, Vienna, AT
¡Ya Basta!, Le Consortium, Dijon, FR
Ex Africa Semper Aliquid Novi, Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris, FR
Arte all?Arte V edizione, Volterra, IT
Inova, University of Wisconsin?Milwaukee, Milwaukee, US
Art Unlimited, Basel ArtFair, Basel, CH
1999
States of Emergency, Vienna Secession, Vienna, AT
Heart of Darkness, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, ZA
Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, EN
Project Rooms, Arco, Madrid, ES
1998
Guilty, Fort Klapperkop, Pretoria, ZA?98.3, ArtPace, San Antonio, Texas, US
Heart of Darkness, Gallery in the Round, Grahamstown, ZA
1997
Memento Mori, de Vleeshal, Middelburg, Holland
1996
Black on the Inside (with Neil Goedhals), Galerie Metroplex, Johannesburg, ZA
16 June 1976 (with Willie Bester), Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, ZA
1995
Work on Paper, Chalkham Hill Press Gallery, Johannesburg, ZA
W.C., Villa Arson, Nice, FR
1994
Air de Paris, Everard Read Contemporary & ICA & Market Theatre Galleries, Johannesburg, ZA
We are Johannesburg Artists and Nothing More, Michaelis Art Gallery, Cape Town, ZA
1993
The New Patron, Everard Read Contemporary, Johannesburg, ZA
Threshold: The Exhibition, Everard Read Contemporary, Johannesburg, ZA
Objects, Natal Technikon Art Gallery, Durban, ZA
1991
Mediations, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, ZA
1988
Box Theatre, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, ZA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2014
Slow Future, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland
INSERT2014, Mati Ghar, Indira Ghandi National Centre for Arts, New Delhi, IND
Ruffneck Constructivists, ICA, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Divine Comedy, curated by Simon Njami, Frankfurt MMK, Frankfurt, DE
travels to Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington, US
Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid, ES
Correo Venezia, Hayward Gallery, London, EN
2013
My Joburg, La Maison Rouge, Paris, FR
Artificial Amsterdam, de Appel Arts Centre, Amsterdam, NL
Carpenters Workshop, Paris, FR
Sex, Money and Power, Maison Particulière, Brussels, BE
2012-2013
The Progress of Love, The Menil Collection, Texas, US
2012
Newtopia: The State of Human Rights, Mechelen, NL
Big Brother, l'artiste face aux tyrans, Palais des Arts et du Festival, Dinard, Brittany, FR
Mexico: Expected/Unexpected, Katzen Arts Centre, Washington D.C., US
The Rainbow Nation, Contemporary South African sculpture, Museum Beelden aan Zee, El Den Haag- Scheveningen, NL
2011
No Government No cry, a project by Kendell Geers, CIAP Actuele Kunst, Hasselt, BE
The Right to Protest, Museum on the Seam, Jerusalem, IL
Mexico: Expected/Unexpected, Museum of Latin American Art, California, USA
Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, California, US
All that Glisters, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, EN
Terrible Beauty - Art, Crisis, Change & The Office of Non-Compliance, Dublin Contemporary, Dublin, IE
The Luminous Interval, The Daskalopoulos Collection, The Guggenheim, Bilbao, ES
Celluloid Brushes, Film Posters by artists, Etablissement d'en Face, Brussels, BE
It won't happen again, Galleria Continua, Beijing, CN
Eat me, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, ZA
2010
Dominó Caníbal, Proyecto de Arte Contemporáneo Murcia, Murcia, ES
SCRATCH, AND Galleria, Barcelona, ES
Bern Biennale, The Museum of Fine Art in Bern, CH
The 29th Bienal de São Paulo, BR
New Monuments, Middelheimmuseum, Antwerp, BE
Lebenslust und Totentanz, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems, Austria
UltraMegaLore-Fashion Icon, Het Modemuseum Hasselt, BE
One Shot! Football and contemporary art, BPS22 espace de création contemporaine, Charleroi, BE
Dada South, Iziko Museums Of Cape Town, ZA
Contemplating the Void, Guggenheim Museum, New York, US
The Right to Protest, Museum on the Seam: Socio-Political Contemporary Art Museum in Jerusalem, IL
UltraMegaLore - Fashion Icon Testimony, Modemuseum Hasselt, Hasselt, BE
Strengths and Convictions, Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, SE
Lust and Vice: The Seven Deadly Sins from Dürer to Nauman, Bern, CH
México - esperado/inesperado, Espace de création contemporaine, Charleroi, BE
Viaggio in Italia, Palazzo Fabroni, Pistoia, IT
2009
Dark Summer, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, BE
Time of the signs, de Pury & Luxembourg, Zuurich, CH
SCRATCH!, ADN Galeria, Barcelona, ES
Visions of paradise : utopias | olystopias | heterotopias, Berezdivin Collection, Puerto Rico, BR
Art Foundation Mallorca, CCA Andratx, Mallorca, ES
Spheres 2009, Galleria Continua, Le Moulin, Paris, FR
Locus Solus, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris, FR
Hellwach Gegenwartig, Ausblicke auf die Sammlung Marta, Marta Herford, DE
Dark Summer, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, BE
A House is not a Home, La Calmeleterie, Amboise, FR
SONS Shoes Or not Shoes ? , Kruishoutem, BE
Time of the Signs, de Pury & Luxembourg Gallery, Zürich, CH
Signals in the Dark : Art in the Shadow of War, Model Art and Niland Gallery, Sligo, IE
2008
Artist-Citizen, 49th October Salon, Belgrade, RS
Neon, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Sydney, AU
Resilience, Galleria continua / Le Moulin, FR
Bare Life, Jerusalem's Museum on the Seam, IL
Neon Bible, Collection Yvon Lambert, Avignon, FR
Neighbourhood Secrets, Kvadrat, Stavanger 2008 European Capital of Culture, NO
Person of the Crowd: The contemporary Art of Flânerie, Neuberger Museum of Art, New York, US
Signals in the Dark: Art in the Shadow of War, Blackwood Gallery, Curated by Séamus Kealy, University of Toronto at Mississauga, CA
Betwixt, Magasin 3, Stockholm, SE
2007
J'embrasse Pas, Collection Yvon Lambert, Avignon, FR
Passage du Temps, Collection François Pinault Foundation, Lille, FR
My Sweet Sixteen Party, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, BE
Werchter Rock Festival, Amuseevous project, Werchter, BE
Hidden Cities, Third International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, Rotterdam, ND
African Pavilion, 52 Biennale di Venezia, Venice, IT
Global Cities, Turbine Hall, Tate Modern, London, EN
L?emprise du lieu, curated by Daniel Buren , Domaine Pommery, Reims, FR
One Colour, Galleria Continua, Beijing, CN
The Freak Show, Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon, FR
Stock Zero, Or The Icy Water Of Egoistical Calculation, Nicolas Bourriaud, 2 Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow, RU
1 Biennal of the Canaries islands, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, MX
Emerging Wor(l)ds, The Prague Contemporary Art Festival, Prague, CZ
Il faut rendre à Cézanne..., Collection Yvon Lambert, Avignon, FR
2006
Being in Brussels, Argos, Brussels, BE
SD Observatory, IVAM, Valencia, ES
HUMAN GAME, curated by Francesco Bonami, Fondazione Pitti Immagine, Stazione Leopolda, Florence, IT
A Fiction of Authenticity-Contemporary Africa Abroad, Blaffer Gallery-The Art Museum of the University of Houston, Houston, TX, US
One Star Stop, Galerie Erna HÈcey, Brussels, BE
Take a Walk on the Wild Side, de Pury & Luxembourg, Zürich, CH
Images Publiques, 1ère Triennale d'art public, Liège, BE
Ballkünstler, Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig, DE
The Flip Book Show, Fotomuseum, Antwerp, BE
Taste. In Viaggio Con Le Diversità Del Gusto, Stazione Leopolda, Firenze, IT
Metropolitanscape, Il paesaggio urbano nell'arte contemporanea, Palazzo Cavour, Turin, IT
DON JUAN alias Don Giovanni or ?Two plus two equals four? or ?Lust is the only swindle I wish permanence? , Kunsthalle Wien, AT
Exces, Nr.12 Beelden en lichamen in buitensporige tijden , Z33, Zuivelmarkt , Hasselt, BE
Looking both ways, Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, US
George Condo, Wim Delvoye, Kendell Geers, MRZYK & Moriceau, Thomas Palme, Gert & Uwe Tobias, Galerie Rodolphe Janssen, Brussels, BE
2005
Lichtkunst aus Kunstlicht, ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, DE
War is over 1945-2005 la libertà dell'arte da Picasso a Warhol a Cattelan, GAMeC ? Galleria d?Arte, Moderna e Contemporanea di Bergamo, IT
ADAM, International exhibition of contemporary art, Smart Project Space, Amsterdam, ND
Expérience de la durée, Biennale d'art contemporain de Lyon 2005, Lyon, FR
Leaps of Faith, Nicosia, CY
Daumenkino, The Flip Book Show, KunstHalle Dusseldorf, DE
CCA Kitakyushu Artist?s Books, Galerie Christophe Daviet-Thery, Paris, FR
Brussels South Airport, Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna, AT
Manmano, Galleria Continua, Beijing, CN
10 year Anniversary Exhibition, Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, EN
Dionysiac, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
Looking both ways, curated by L.A.Farell, Gulbenkian, Lisbon, PT (touring show)
Looking both ways, curated by L.A.Farell, City Art Centre, Edinburgh, SC (touring show)
2004
Wall Drawings, MMSU,16 International Drawings Exhibition curated by Branko Franceschi, Rijeka, HR
Terminal 5, curated by Rachel K.Ward, John F.Kennedy International Airport, New York, US
Stock Zero-Opera, curated by Nicolas Bourriaud, MNAC, Bucharest, RO
Art in the Age of Terrorism, Millais Gallery, Southampton, UK
Channel Zero, Curated by Katerina Gregos, Netherlands Media Art Institute, Amsterdam, ND
Democracy is fun, White box, New York, US
Transcultures, The cultural Olympiad and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, GR
Tijdelijk verblijf/ Séjour Ephemère/temporary residence, Stedelijk Musea Kortrijk, Kortrijk, BE
Ipeg bild.ton.maschine, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE
Looking both ways, curated by L.A.Farell, Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, US (touring show)
Cremers haufen.alltag,prozesse, handlungen: kunst der 60er jahre und heute, Westfälisches Landesmuseum für kunst und kulturgeschichte, Münster, DE
The Ten Commandments; Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden, DE
OK, America ! APEX Art, New York, US
Le Opere e i Giorni, Certosa di San Lorenzo, Padula, IT
?Not Done, Muhka, Antwerp, BE
Art Unlimited, Galeria Continua, Basel art fair, CH
Visions of Paradise, João Ferreira Fine Art, Cape Town, ZA
Looking both ways, curated by L.A.Farell, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, US
Looking both ways, curated by L.A.Farell, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem (touring show)
Les Afriques, Tri Postal, Lille, FR
2003
Synopsis III -Testimonies: between fiction and reality, EMET, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, GR
Looking both ways, curated by L.A.Farell, Museum for African Art, New York, US
Poetic Justice, 8 International Istanbul Biennal, Haghia Sophia Museum, TR
Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, New Museum, New York, US
Fiction of Authenticity: Contemporary Africa Abroad, Contemporary Art Museum St Louis, US
Opening Gallery Beaulieu, Oudenaarde, BE
Poëzie Zomer, Opzij van het kijken, Watou, BE
African Exile Museum, Migros Museum, Zürich, CH?
A Prove d?Ascolto, Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea, Trento, IT
Time, art and architecture, Biennal of Valencia, ES
Coollustre, curated by Eric Troncy, Collection Lambert en Avignon, FR
Göteborgs Internationella Konstbiennal, Göteborg, SE
Next Flag, Hans Bogatzke Collection, B.P.S.22, Charleroi, BE
Thatcher, The Blue Gallery, London, EN
HardCore, Vers un Nouvel Activisme, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR
M_ARS ? Art and War, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, AT
Salon des Refusées, Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice, IT
Sted//Place Galerie Asbæk & Kastrupgardsamlingen, Copenhagen, DK
Observatorio #5 Camouflage, Brussels, BE
Next Flag, B.P.S.22, Charleroi, BE
Video-Zone@LX, Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, PO
2002
Documenta 11, Kassel, DE
Trauma, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, EN
The Short Century, PS1, New York, US
Editionen Part One / 2002, Galerie & Edition Artelier, Graz, AT
Tutto Casino, Villa Medici, Rome, IT
To Actuality, Bolzano, IT
Video-Zone, 1st International Video-Art Biennial, Tel Aviv, IL
Refuge Tilflukt, Henie Onstad, NO
Handlungsanweisungen - Instructions for Actions, (with Anri Sala) Kunsthalle, Wien, AT
privat, CHARIM GALERIE; Wien, AT