German
Basic Data
Christian Megert can be called one of the most famous representatives of Concrete Art in Europe. He was born in Switzerland in 1936 and studied at the school of arts and crafts in his hometown Bern. His artistic development is strongly linked to his connections to the artist group ZERO.
- Born: 6 January 1936
- Place of birth: Bern, Switzerland
- Nationality: Swiss
- Studied at: Kunstgewerbeschule Bern
- Artist group: ZERO
- Occupation: Sculptor, object and installation artist
- Era: Contemporary art
- Stylistic direction: Abstract art
Christian Megert has lectured ‘Integration Bildende Kunst und Architektur’ at the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf for some years.
Christian Megert Art For Sale
Biography
Christian Megert was born in Bern on January 6, 1936. There he attended the School of Arts and Crafts from 1952 to 1955. In the following years, the young Megert made several trips for study purposes, including Stockholm, Berlin or Paris.
In 1956 Megert's first exhibition took place in Bern. From the 1950s on, his works revolutionized the concept of art. Early on, the painter turned away from representational painting. He created monochrome material and structural paintings as well as sculptural works in synthetic resin and iron. Megert found his "antithesis" to painting through the use of mirrors, which increased the depth effect of his works and integrated the viewer into his art in a unique way. In his late work there are also partly colored overpaintings of the mirrors, through which a certain spatial quality finds its way into his work.
In the 60s followed several exhibitions with the group ZERO. In addition, he realized a series of environments, such as entire mirror rooms, as in the gallery of Addi Køpcke or at the 4th Documenta in Kassel. With mirrors, the Swiss artist can construct an illusory space, which is created by the mirror reflection, so that image and real space come into connection. Beginning around the mid-1960s, he combined mirrors with light sources such as fluorescent tubes and motors to create kinetic objects with illusionistic spatial effects that can open up a variety of perceptual levels.
In the early 1970s, the artist moved to Düsseldorf. Here he worked from 1976 to 2002 as a professor in the Department of Integration of Visual Arts and Architecture at the Academy of Arts. Since about the mid-1970s, he designed public interiors and realized a large number of large sculptures made of polished stone and steel in combination with mirrors. In 2009, a retrospective was dedicated to him at the Museum für Konkrete Kunst Ingolstadt, in whose foundation he was accepted. Today Megert lives and works in Düsseldorf and Bern and is one of the best known Swiss artists.
Exhibitions
- 12.06.2021 - 31.10.2021 8. SOCLE DU MONDE BIENNALE 2021 – Socle du Monde Biennale. Herning.
- 07.08.2021 - 29.08.2021 FLUGBLÄTTER / FLYING LETTERS - Kunstverein Linz am Rhein.
- 12.06.2021 - 26.09.2021 Schweizer Skulptur seit 1945 – Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau.
- 22.02.2020 - 22.03.2020 „…weggenommen, was zu sehen sein soll“ – Kunstverein Bad Salzdetfurth e.V., Bodenburg.
- 25.10.2019 - 14.12.2019 Flugblätter - a project by Birgit Jensen - CLAY STREET PRESS Cincinnati.
- 05.10.2019 - 13.10.2019 FLUGBLÄTTER – Wie stehen Künstler zur Welt - Schloss Plüschow.
- 06.06.2019 - 24.09.2019 christian megert - solo show - Galerie Denise-René, Paris.
- 06.04.2019 - 11.08.2019 Negative Space. Trajectories of Sculpture - Zentum Kunst und Medien, Karlsruhe.
- 22.09.2018 - 20.01.2019 Action <> Reaction. 100 Years of Kinetic Art - Kunsthal Rotterdam.
- 09.06.2018 - 22.04.2019 ZERO - Mona - Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart.
- 21.10.2017 - 14.01.2018 Christian Megert - Akademie-Galerie, Dusseldorf.
Films
- Christian Megert - ein neuer raum, 29´, film by Werner Raeune in cooperation with Franziska Megert, Germany 2014.
- ohne anfang, ohne grenzen und ende, retrospektive christian megert 1964 -1995, by Christian Megert & Franziska Megert , Germany 2002.
- Christian Megert, Strukturen und Skulpturen, Monotypien und Zeichnungen, 1955-1961, film by Franziska Megert, Germany 2002.
Literature
- Christian Megert: ohne Anfang und Ende, exhibition catalog, Museum Ritter (Publ.), Heidelberg 2015.
- Auf dem Weg zu Zero: Christian Megert. Linie und Struktur 1955 - 1961, exhibition catalog, Volker Diehl (Publ.), Berlin 2014.
- Christian Megert - because it is real, exhibition catalog, Galerie Geiger (Publ.), Constanz 2012.
- Christian Megert: Retrospektive, exhibition catalog, Tobias Hoffmann (Publ.), Bielefeld, Leipzig 2009.
Collections
Denmark
- Aalborg - KUNSTEN Museum of Modern Art
Germany
- Berlin - Daimler Contemporary
- Dusseldorf - Akademie-Galerie
- Dusseldorf - Museum Kunstpalast
- Otterndorf - Museum gegenstandsfreier Kunst
- Sindelfingen - SCHAUWERK
Italy
- Genoa - Museo di Villa Croce
Weblinks
- Christian Megert Kunstaspekte exhibition and collection overview.
- Official Website of the artist.
