ASTRID KLEIN

About the artist

Selected works

Exhibitions

Astrid Klein

*1951 Cologne – lives in Cologne

The complete works of Astrid Klein, created over four decades, include various media: drawings, collages, photographs, text, paintings, installations, sculptures. Very soon she was considered a pioneer of experimental photography and photographic collage. She ignored the limits of a chosen medium, experimented, decontextualised, and added new value. Klein studied at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences between 1973 and 1977. From 1993 to 2017, she lectured at the Academy of Fine Arts in Leipzig, and in 1986 she was a guest lecturer at the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg.

Shortly after graduating, she achieved recognition due to the many awards and scholarships she received. She participated in legendary exhibitions such as “… von hier aus” in Düsseldorf (1984), “Kunst nach 1945” at the Nationalgalerie in Berlin (1985), documenta in Kassel (1987), “Art from Europe” at the Tate Gallery in London (1987), and “Deutschlandbilder” at Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau (1997). Even today, her works can be viewed in museums all over the world, particularly in North and South America, Asia, and Europe. In 2018, Deichtorhallen in Hamburg held a large retrospective of Klein’s work.

Selected works

Reinhard Pods, Ohne Titel (will), 1981, Oil on canvas, 200 x 220.3 cm

Astrid Klein
Ohne Titel

2010
Iridescent bronze acrylic on canvas
160 x 130 cm

Reinhard Pods, Ohne Titel (will), 1981, Oil on canvas, 200 x 220.3 cm

Astrid Klein
Ohne Titel (Solutions imaginaires)

2010
Iridescent bronze acrylic on canvas
160 x 139 cm

Reinhard Pods, Ohne Titel (will), 1981, Oil on canvas, 200 x 220.3 cm

Astrid Klein
Ohne Titel

1996
Acrylic on canvas, ribbons
150 x 130 cm

Reinhard Pods, Ohne Titel (will), 1981, Oil on canvas, 200 x 220.3 cm

Astrid Klein
Ohne Titel

2020
Iridescent silver acrylic paint on canvas
180 x 148 cm

Reinhard Pods, Ohne Titel (will), 1981, Oil on canvas, 200 x 220.3 cm

Astrid Klein
Ohne Titel (centralnervous)

2020
Iridescent silver acrylic paint on canvas
180 x 143 cm

Reinhard Pods, Ohne Titel (will), 1981, Oil on canvas, 200 x 220.3 cm

Astrid Klein
Untitled (Neon)

2022
Neon sculpture: foil color ocher painted on 85 meters transparent tape, neon, neon rings
250 x 100 x 50 cm

Reinhard Pods, Ohne Titel (will), 1981, Oil on canvas, 200 x 220.3 cm

Astrid Klein
Untitled (Cette mise à nu est déjà annoncée par le silence)

1980
Fotocollage
196 x 140 cm

Reinhard Pods, Ohne Titel (will), 1981, Oil on canvas, 200 x 220.3 cm

Astrid Klein
Untitled (Cette mise à nu est déjà annoncée par le silence)

2010
Iridescent silver acrylic paints on canvas, adhesive tape
180 x 130 cm

Exhibitions

Klein Galerie Haas AG Zürich

4. June – 18. July 2015

Astrid Klein

Collages, Mirrors and White Paintings

Pictorial material sensuality on the one hand and intellectual engagement in the form of text on the other, these are essential characteristics of Astrid Klein’s work.  In her various works (painting/collage), writing and image enter into a unity that is just as fascinating as writing and light: through illumination, the contents appear borne by the immateriality of the corresponding counterpart; through over-illumination, their messages approach abstraction.

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