Norbert Bisky (born 1970) is a German artist based in Berlin. He is one of the most important representatives of a new figurative painting in the 21st century.Texte zur Kunst art magazine, No. 78, 20th year, June 2010, p. 250Article in Handelsblatt newspaper, 23 May 2019; accessed 26 November 2019Article in Berliner Morgenpost newspaper, 10 January 2015; accessed 26 November 2019
Life
Norbert Bisky was born in Leipzig and grew up in the former German Democratic RepublicInterview with Norbert Bisky by Herlinde Koelbl, Zeit online edition; published 18 March 2010; accessed 12 May 2019 as "part of a very Communist family that really believed in all that stuff".Norbert Bisky in an interview with Karen Wright, in: Modern Painters, March 2005, pp. 76-81.Mullins, 2006, p. 142
From 1994 to 1999 Norbert Bisky studied painting at Hochschule der Künste in Berlin where he was a Master Student of Georg Baselitz and at the Salzburg Summer Academy in the class of Jim Dine.
In 1995, he spent a year as an exchange student in Madrid, where he discovered the works of Francisco de Goya, Francisco de Zubaráns and Jusepe de Ribera.
Bisky was a guest professor at the HEAD Academy of arts in Geneva from 2008 to 2010 and from 2016 to 2018 at HBK Braunschweig.Website of HBK Braunschweig; accessed 12 May 2019Official website of the artist; accessed 12 May 2019 In 2015, he swapped studios with Tel Aviv-based artist Erez Israeli for three months.Article in Jüdische Allgemeine newspaper; published 27 March 2015; accessed 12 May 2019
Work
Norbert Biskys early paintings are most commonly described as heavily influenced by socialist realism, the official art of the GDR. Comparing the belief in communism to a religion, he processed his childhood memories by painting "those images of paradise" and "false promises" into dazzling bright images of idealized bodies and untouched nature.Norbert Bisky in an interview with Karen Wright, in: Modern Painters, March 2005, pp. 76-81.
In later years, Bisky's large-size paintings, often depicting adolescents, increasingly shifted towards darker themes. Personal loss, the experience of terror, travels to Brazil and media reports inspired him to examine subjects such as violence, sexuality and destruction symbolized by figures, in many cases floating, falling or tumbling without any gravitational axis.Ein großer Maler auf dem Absturz nach oben, Article by Hans-Joachim Müller for Die Welt newspaper; published 27 April 2017; accessed 12 May 2019 Firmly established in the public conscience through media images following the September 11 attacks, these falling figures explore the transience of youth, the loss of autonomy, isolation and the disintegration of modern civilization.
The aesthetic tumult surrounding the figures is punctuated by the cross pollination of cues from Christian ideology, art history, gay culture, pornography and apocalyptic visions.Angriff mit Farbe, Article by Elisa von Hof for Berliner Morgenpost newspaper; published 9 September 2017; accessed 12 May 2019 Through this, Bisky transmits an impression of instability on the canvas that distinctly resonates with our contemporary state of affairs.https://artmap.com/koenigandclinton/exhibition/norbert-bisky-2007 Exhibition text for "What's Wrong With Me?" at Leo Koenig Inc., New York, 2007
In May 2013, Norbert Bisky created his first stage set for the piece "Masse" by the Berlin State Ballet that premiered in the legendary Berlin Nightclub Berghain in May 2013 and was the subject of a TV documentary by German director Nicole Graf.Website of Ballet Journal
Since May 2017 Norbert Bisky's large-format painting "Vertigo" is prominently displayed in Berghain's entrance hall as part of the club's art concept, which also features works by Wolfgang Tillmans and Joseph Marr.Want to See Norbert Bisky's New Paintings? You'll Have to Get Into Berlin's Notorious Berghain Nightclub First, Article by Henri Neuendorf for Artnet.com; published 28 April 2017; accessed 12 May 2019
For World Press Freedom Day, Norbert Bisky created the painting "Rauschen" which was printed on the title page of numerous German daily newspapers, in collaboration with the Federal association of German newspaper publishers (BDZV: Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger) on 3 May 2019.Website of Monopol magazineTV documentation
Bisky is being represented by Fabienne Levy Gallery in Lausanne, Switzerland.Artist website at Fabienne Levy Until 2023, he was also represented by König Galerie in Berlin.Artist website at König Galerie, accessed 7 June 2024 Since March 2025, he is represented by Esther Schipper gallery.Website of gallery Esther Schipper, accessed May 15, 2025Interview in Monopol Magazine, accessed May 15, 2025
Exhibitions 2025 "Polympsest", Esther Schipper Gallery, Berlin, Germanyhttps://www.estherschipper.com/exhibitions/1424-polympsest-norbert-bisky/ 2024 "Passengers", Fabienne Levy Gallery, Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland "Walküren", Worms City Museum, Worms, Germanyhttps://www.museum-andreasstift.de/museum-andreasstift/ausstellungen/sonderausstellungen/norbert-bisky-walkueren.php "Ludology", Galerie Templon, New YorkGallery website, accessed 7 June 2024 2023 "Im Freien", Kunstverein Freunde Aktueller Kunst, Zwickau, accessed 7 June 2024 "Swing State", Navot Miller & Norbert Bisky, Weserhalle, Berlin, accessed 7 June 2024 2022 "UTOPIANISTAS", Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France "Taumel", König Galerie, Berlin, Germany "Kurpark", Cokkie Snoei Gallery, Rotterdam, Netherlands "Walküren-Basislager", Staatsoper Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany "Mirror Society", SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, USA 2021 „DISINFOTAINMENT", G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig, GermanyWebsite of G2 Kunsthalle 2020 "Unrest", Fabienne Levy Gallery, Lausanne, Switzerland "Metrocake", KONIG TOKIO, Tokio, Japan "Berlin Sunday", Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers, FranceWebsite of Le Confort Moderne "Desmadre Berlin", Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, FranceWebsite of Galerie Templon 2019 "RANT", Villa Schöningen, Potsdam, GermanyWebsite of Villa Schöningen / "POMPA", St. Matthäus-Kirche, Berlin, GermanyWebsite of St. Matthew's Church "Tainted Love/Club Edit", Villa Arson, Nizza, France 2018 "Fernwärme", Museum Langmatt, Baden, Switzerland "Hope and Hazard: A Comedy of Eros", curated by Eric Fischl, Hall Art Foundation, Reading, USAWebsite of Hall Art Foundation "Boezemvriend" (with Grit Hachmeister), Cokkie Snoei Gallery, Rotterdam, Netherlands 2017 "Trilemma", König Galerie, Berlin, Germany "Die Revolution ist tot. Lang lebe die Revolution!", Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandWebsite of Kunstmuseum Bern "MISSING: Der Turm der blauen Pferde by Franz Marc – Contemporary artists in search of a lost masterpiece", Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, GermanyWebsite of Haus am Waldsee 2016 "Dies Irae", Crone Wien, Vienna, Austria "A FUGA", Galeria Baró, São Paulo, Brazil "Elective Affinities – German Art Since The Late 1960s", Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga, Latvia "Zeitgeist – Arte da Nova Berlim", Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilWebsite of CCBB 2015 "Hérésie", Galerie Daniel Templon, Brussels, Belgium "Levinsky Street", Givon Art Gallery, Tel Aviv, IsraelGallery website "Balagan", Bötzow Berlin, Berlin, Germany[boetzowberlin.de/index.php?id=52] "Black Bandits", Haus am Lützowplatz, Berlin, Germany 2014 "Zentrifuge", Kunsthalle Rostock, Rostock, Germany "Works on Paper", Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France "Riots", Galería Espacio Mínimo, Madrid, SpainGallery website "10", Berghain, Berlin, Germany "Utopie Picturale 2", Fonderie Kugler, Geneva, SwitzerlandGallery website 2013 "Norbert Bisky: Special Report", MEWO Kunsthalle, Memmingen, Germany "Paraisópolis", Galerie Crone, Berlin, Germany 2012 "Stampede", Leo Koenig Inc., New York, USA "I am a Berliner", Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel "Laboratories of the Senses", MARTa Herford, Herford, Germany 2011 "A Retrospective. Ten Years of Painting", Kunsthalle Marcel Duchamp, Cully, Switzerland "Decompression", Galerie Daniel Templon, Paris, France 2010 "befall", Galerie Crone, Berlin, GermanyArticle in Tagesspiegel newspaper "Maudit", Galerie Charlotte Moser, Geneva, Switzerland 2009 "Mandelkern", Kunstverein Dortmund, Dortmund, Germany "crossing jordaan", Cokkie Snoei, Rotterdam und Amsterdam, NetherlandsGallery website "Nefasto Máximo", Galería Espacio Mínimo, Madrid, SpainGallery website "Norbert Bisky: Paintings", Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, IsraelMuseum website 2008 "cloud cuckoo land", Gallery Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai, India "privat", Galerie Crone, Berlin, GermanyArticle in B.Z. newspaper "minimental", Cokkie Snoei Gallery, RotterdamGallery website 2007 "Ich war's nicht", Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Germany "What's wrong with me", Leo Koenig Inc., New York, USA "Behind Innocence", Gallery Hyundai, Seoul, South KoreaGallery website 2006 "Total Care", Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania "es tut mir so leid", Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin, GermanyGallery website 2005 "Norbert Bisky", Studio d'Arte Cannaviello, Milan, Italy "Déluge", Galerie Suzanne Tarasiève, Paris, France "Malerei", Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany 2004 "The Proud, the Few", Leo Koenig Inc., New York, USA "Abgesagt", Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim, Germany "Opkomst en Verval", Cokkie Snoei Gallery, Rotterdam, NetherlandsGallery website 2003 "Schlachteplatte", Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin, GermanyGallery website 2002 "Norbert Bisky", Museum Junge Kunst, Frankfurt/Oder, Germany 2001 "Wir werden siegen", Galerie Michael Schultz, Berlin, GermanyGallery website "Almauftrieb", Kulturbrauerei Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin, Germany "Vorkämpfer", Chelsea Kunstraum, Cologne, Germany
Public collections Hall Art Foundation MoMAMoMA Website Palm Springs Art Museum National Museum of Contemporary Art, Gwacheon, South Korea Israel Museum, Jerusalem Fonds National d'Art Contemporain, Paris, France Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, Germany Deutsche Bank Collection, Frankfurt, Germany G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig, Germany Kunsthalle Rostock Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Germany Brandenburgisches Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/Oder, Germany Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany Stiftung Kunstforum der Berliner Volksbank, Berlin, Germany Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany Schlossmuseum Murnau, Murnau am Staffelsee, Germany Ellipse Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal The MER Collection, Segovia, Spain
See also List of German painters
Notes
Sources Mullins, Charlotte (2006). Painting People: Figure Painting Today. New York: Distributed Art Publishers.
External links Official website Interview with Norbert Bisky in Exberliner Magazine Leo Koenig Inc.: Norbert Bisky
Artnet.com profile