Jimmie Durham

Himmel und Erde müssen vergehen - Jimmie Durham
Three stones (Core Sample from St. Peter´s Cathedral, Core Sample from European Parliment, Bierstein) - Jimmie Durham
Six Snake Stones - Jimmie Durham
Late Last Night - Jimmie Durham
Remnant - Jimmie Durham
A Staff To Mark The Center Of The World, Gwangju Biennale - Jimmie Durham
‘STONE’ SCULPTURE - Jimmie Durham
Home At Last, Home At Last, Home At Last - Jimmie Durham
After Barnett Newman - Jimmie Durham
Untitled - Jimmie Durham
Untitled - Jimmie Durham
Untitled - Jimmie Durham
Untitled - Jimmie Durham
Semi-linear Study #1 - Jimmie Durham
Neodymium Isotope - Jimmie Durham
Non-symmetrical Plagioclase - Jimmie Durham
Painted Self-Portrait - Jimmie Durham
Self-Portrait Pretending to Be Euroman - Jimmie Durham
Self-Protrait with animal - Jimmie Durham
Self-Portrait Pretending to Be Maria Thereza Alves as Terminator - Jimmie Durham
Shiny Self-Portrait - Jimmie Durham
RED, BLEW - Jimmie Durham
JE N’ SAIS QUOI - Jimmie Durham
1948 - Jimmie Durham
1948 - Jimmie Durham
1948 - Jimmie Durham
1948 - Jimmie Durham
1948 - Jimmie Durham
A Meteoric Fall to Heaven - Jimmie Durham
Self-Portrait with Black Eye and Bruises - Jimmie Durham
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Biography

 Jimmie DURHAM wurde 1940 in Washington, Arkansas (USA), geboren und verstarb 2021 in Berlin.

Er war ein vielseitiger Künstler, Performer, Dichter und Aktivist, bekannt vor allem für seine politisch engagierte Arbeit. Nach einem Kunststudium in Genf und seiner Tätigkeit im American Indian Movement wurde er in den 1980er-Jahren Teil der lebendigen Kunstszene in Downtown New York. Dort stellte er in Institutionen wie Artists Space und EXIT Art aus. Seine frühen Werke thematisierten unter anderem Rassismus, Apartheid und die Außenpolitik der USA. 
1987 verließ DURHAM, gemeinsam mit seiner Partnerin, der Künstlerin Maria Thereza Alves, die USA und zog zunächst nach Mexiko, später wiederum nach Europa. Seine Werke erlangten internationale Anerkennung und wurden in bedeutenden Ausstellungen in Europa, Amerika und Mexiko gezeigt. Seit Mitte der 1990er-Jahre entschied sich DURHAM jedoch gegen Ausstellungen in den USA. Sein Werk bleibt – trotz vieler auch poetischer und humorvoller Seiten – eine kritische Auseinandersetzung mit Kolonialismus, Repräsentation und institutioneller Macht: 

WE HAVE NO LAND BASE, no reservation. only individual allotments. many europeans know of us only through movies: cherokees, creeks, choctaws and chickasaws are from the atlantic coast and have been colonized for 400 years. scottish men came in early, so it is not unusual that we look scottish, with blue eyes… (from my mother’s side there are also african mixes from a couple of hundred years ago. it shows up in my oldest sister)“. (Zitat Jimmie DURHAM, 2012) 

Die Arbeiten von Jimmie DURHAM wurden in zahlreichen Einzelausstellungen gezeigt, beispielsweise im MADRE (Neapel), Remai Modern (Saskatoon), Muzeum Sztuki (Lódz), Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Whitney Museum (New York), Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst (Zürich), MAXXI (Rom), Serpentine Gallery (London), Parasol (London), M HKA (Antwerpen), Portikus (Frankfurt), Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Kunstverein München, ICA (London), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brüssel), n.b.K. Berlin.
Jimmie DURHAM war bei zahlreichen Venedig-Biennalen vertreten und nahm unter anderem an der Moscow Biennale for Contemporary Art, Whitney Biennal (New York), Taipei Biennale, documenta 9 und 13 (Kassel), Architekturbiennale von Venedig, Ural Industrial Biennale for Contemporary Art, São Paulo Biennale, Lyon Biennale sowie der Sydney Biennale teil.
Der Künstler wurde 2019 mit dem Goldenen Löwen für sein Lebenswerk sowie 2016 mit dem Goslarer Kaiserring ausgezeichnet.


Seine Werke befinden sich in zahlreichen Sammlungen, darunter EVN Collection (Österreich), Fondazione Morra Greco (Neapel), FRAC Champagne-Ardenne Collection, Hirshhorn Collection (Washington), M HKA (Antwerpen), migros Collection (Zürich), Moderna Museet (Stockholm), Sammlung Falckenberg (Hamburg), MoMA (New York), Mrac Occitanie (Sérignan), MUDAM (Luxemburg), mumok (Wien), MUSAC COLLECTION (Castellò), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Muzeum Sztuki (Lódz), Museum Ludwig (Köln), Remai Modern (Saskatoon), Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (München), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Whitney Museum of American Art (New York).

Jimmie DURHAM was born in 1940 in Washington, Arkansas (USA), and passed away in 2021 in Berlin.
He was a versatile artist, performer, poet, and activist, best known for his politically engaged work. After studying art in Geneva and being active in the American Indian Movement, he became part of the vibrant downtown New York art scene in the 1980s, exhibiting in institutions such as Artists Space and EXIT Art. His early works addressed topics including racism, apartheid, and U.S. foreign policy.
In 1987, DURHAM left the United States together with his partner, artist Maria Thereza Alves, first moving to Mexico and later to Europe. His work gained international recognition and was featured in major exhibitions across Europe, the Americas, and Mexico. From the mid-1990s onward, however, DURHAM chose not to exhibit in the United States. Despite many poetic and humorous aspects, his work remains a critical engagement with colonialism, representation, and institutional power:

“WE HAVE NO LAND BASE, no reservation. only individual allotments. many europeans know of us only through movies: cherokees, creeks, choctaws and chickasaws are from the atlantic coast and have been colonized for 400 years. scottish men came in early, so it is not unusual that we look scottish, with blue eyes… (from my mother’s side there are also african mixes from a couple of hundred years ago. it shows up in my oldest sister).”
(quot. Jimmie DURHAM, 2012)

Jimmie DURHAM’s works have been shown in numerous solo exhibitions, including at MADRE (Naples), Remai Modern (Saskatoon), Muzeum Sztuki (Łódź), Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Whitney Museum (New York), Migros Museum of Contemporary Art (Zurich), MAXXI (Rome), Serpentine Gallery (London), Parasol Unit (London), M HKA (Antwerp), Portikus (Frankfurt), Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris, Kunstverein München, ICA (London), Palais des Beaux-Arts (Brussels), and n.b.k. Berlin.
He participated in numerous editions of the Venice Biennale, and was featured in the Moscow Biennale for Contemporary Art, Whitney Biennial (New York), Taipei Biennale, documenta 9 and 13 (Kassel), Venice Architecture Biennale, Ural Industrial Biennale for Contemporary Art, São Paulo Biennale, Lyon Biennale, and the Sydney Biennale.
In recognition of his work, the artist was awarded the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale in 2019 and the Goslar Kaiserring in 2016.

His works are included in numerous collections, including the EVN Collection (Austria), Fondazione Morra Greco (Naples), FRAC Champagne-Ardenne Collection, Hirshhorn Collection (Washington), M HKA (Antwerp), Migros Collection (Zurich), Moderna Museet (Stockholm), Sammlung Falckenberg (Hamburg), MoMA (New York), Mrac Occitanie (Sérignan), MUDAM (Luxembourg), mumok (Vienna), MUSAC COLLECTION (Castellò), Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Muzeum Sztuki (Łódź), Museum Ludwig (Cologne), Remai Modern (Saskatoon), Staatliche Graphische Sammlung (Munich), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), and the Whitney Museum of American Art (New York).

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