NEW YORK, NY.- For his first exhibition at
Templon NY, German artist Franz Ackermann continues to explore his concept of an evolving exhibition with Multiple Locations. Fruit of an in depth reflection over several years on the notion of physical and mental displacement, this selection comprises previously unseen oils on canvas and mixed media works.
With each exhibition leading him to new destinations, the sense of displacement is what feeds the nomadic artist's practice. On the canvas, he mixes random memories together with explosive colours and strong emotions inspired by his many travels. His mental maps with their exuberant palette of hues combine fragments of photographs and outlines of skyscrapers in a subtle nod to the legendary seething energy of the megalopolis that never sleeps, trying to find a way through the countless blocks of paint that are striking in their imperfection. What Ackermann is proposing here is a totally transformable experimental game. These windows on the world seize on the ordinary perception of modernity all the better to transfigure it and bring to life a contemporary conundrum rooted in a life of explorations.
Born in 1963, Franz Ackermann lives and works in Berlin and Karlsruhe. Over the last 20 years, he has taken part in numerous major group exhibitions in Europe, the USA and Japan including: 2018, Kunstmuseum, Bonn, Germany; 2017, Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, USA; 2016, Pinacoteca de Sao Paolo, Brazil; 2009, Tate Triennial, London, UK; 2009, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, USA; 2006, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany; 2005, Whitney Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; 2005, MoMA, New York, USA; 2005, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan, and 2003, Venice Biennale, Italy. In France, Franz Ackermann's work has been shown in 2005 at the Biennale dArt Contemporain in Lyon and Printemps de Septembre in Toulouse, in 2004 at La Maison Rouge and in 2003 at the Palais de Tokyo, both in Paris. The Staatliche Kunsthalle in Karlsruhe (2014) and Berlinische Galerie in Berlin (2013) recently held major solo exhibitions of his work. And in 2018, as part of the renovation of the Miami Beach Convention Center, Franz Ackermann created About Sand, a stunning mural for the outer façade of the building. He has been represented by Galerie Templon since 2015 and Multiple Locations is his fourth exhibition with the gallery.