Nasce nel 1947 a Vienna. Dopo una produzione giovanile segnata dall’interesse per la pittura e il collage, formatosi nella Vienna degli anni ’60-’70 dominata dall’Azionismo Viennese e dalla Performance Art, dal 1974 inizia a produrre i celebri Passstücke, sculture in carta pesta, gesso, metallo dalla forte componente performativa e interattiva. La scultura per West è una risposta al meccanismo di azione e reazione che sta alla base del rapporto tra spettatore e oggetto. Anche quando negli anni ‘80 l’artista passa alle sculture di grandi dimensioni, realizzate con materiali più resistenti come poliestere o alluminio, le sue forme antropomorfe ma astratte ricordano composizioni leggere e manipolabili.
SELEZIONE ESPOSIZIONI PERSONALI:
1970
Vienna, Galerie Hamburger
1971
Graz, L’Equipe, Diskothek
1974
Vienna, Atrium, Diskothek
1977
Vienna, Galerie Nachst St. Stephan, Neue Subtilitat
1979
Francoforte, Galerie Forme, Semantik und Verblodung
1980
Vienna,
Galerie Nachst St. Stephan
Innsbruck,
Galerie Krinzinger
1981
Basilea, Galerie Palazzo
1983
Vienna, Kunsthandlung Hummel, Signaturalismen
1984
Colonia, Im Klapperhof
1985
Monaco, Kunstzentrum der Engelhorn Stiftung, Franz West / Hans Kupelwieser
1986
Colonia,
Galerie Max Hetzler
Vienna,
Galerie Peter Pakesch
Graz, Neue
Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Legitime
Skulpturen
1988
Vienna,
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Berna,
Kunsthalle Bern
Torino,
Galleria Giorgio Persano, Brandl – West
Stoccarda,
Galerie Isabella, Neue Skulpturen
1989
New York,
MoMA PS1, Possibilities
Milano,
Galleria Giorgio Persano
New York,
Editions Julie Sylvester, Homemades –
Accomodes
Vienna, Kunsthistorisches
Museum
1990
Venezia, Biennale di Venezia
Chicago,
Rhona Hoffman Gallery
Amsterdam,
Stichting de Appel Museum, Franz
West/Otto Zitko
Parigi,
Musée de l’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Herbert Brandl/Ernst Caramelle/Franz West
Vienna,
Janner Galerie, Defunctus
1991
Nizza, Villa
Arson, Etude de Couleur
Salisburgo,
Salzburger Kunstverein, Bruckenkopfe
Colonia,
Galerie Max Hetzler
Torino,
Galleria Giorgio Persano
1992
Francoforte, Galerie Grasslin-Ehrhardt
1993
Napoli,
Galleria Vera Vita Gioia (con Ettore Spalletti)
Los Angeles,
Burnett Miller Gallery, Franz West/Denzil
Hurley
New York,
David Zwirner, Investigations of American
Art
Ginevra,
Musée de l’Art Contemporain, 3 older 17
1994
Londra,
Lisson Gallery, Konversation
New York,
David Zwirner, Home Elements (A
Retrospective)
New York,
DIA Center for the Arts, Rest
Graz, Neue
Galerie Graz, Labor (con Michelangelo
Pistoletto)
Los Angeles,
Museum of Contemporary Art, Test
1996
Parigi,
Galerie Ghislaine Hussenot, Franz West
Personale
Vienna,
Galerie Kalb
Maastricht,
Bonnefanten Museum, Leviten
New York,
David Zwirner, New Works
Vienna,
Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig 20er Haus, Proforma
Amburgo,
Kunstverein in Hamburg, West/Harp
Francoforte,
Galerie Barbel Grasslin, Franz West –
eine Retrospektive
1997
Oporto,
Fundacao de Serralves, Franz West
New York,
Project Room. Museum of Modern Art, Spatial
Problems
Zurigo,
Galerie Walcheturm, Colabs eign Mab
1998
New York,
David Zwirner, Bar, with Heimo Zobernig
Tokyo, Akira
Ikeda Gallery, Franz West
Antwerp,
Openluchtmuseum voor Beeldhouwkunst Middelheim, Franz West
1999
Vienna,
Galerie Meyer Kainer, Franz West/Heimo
Zobernig
New York,
David Zwirner, Franz West
Malmo,
Rooseum, Franz West
Zurigo,
Galerie Hauser & Wirth & Presenhuber, Vom Feinsten
2000
Roma, Villa
Medici, Atelier del Bosco
Roma,
Accademia di ungheria, Domenico
Bianchi/Franz West: intorno a Borromini
Milano,
Galleria Massimo de Carlo, Ettore
Spalletti/Franz West
Karlsruhe,
Museum fur Neue kunst, In & Out
Chicago,
Renaissance Society, Pre-Semblance and
the everyday
2001
Berlino,
Berlin Projects, Early Works
Amburgo,
Deichtorhallen, Appartement
Vienna,
Museum fur agewandte Kunst, Gnadenlos/Mercilles
Londra,
Gagosia Gallery, Franz West
Madrid,
Palacio de Velazquez – Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofia, In & Out
2002
Marsiglia,
Musée d’Art Contemporain, Burning
North Adams,
Massachussetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Merciless
2003
Bregenz, Kunsthas Bregenz, We’ll not carry coals
Londra,
Whitechapel Gallery, Franz West – Works 1973-2003
New York,
Gagosian Gallery, Franz West, Sisyphos:
Litter and Waste
Roma,
Valentina Bonomo Arte Contemporanea, Franz
West
2004
New York,
Lincoln Center and Doris C. Freedman Plaza, Franz
West: Recent sculptures
Londra,
Sutton Lane, Reflection Part 1:
Michelangelo Pistoletto/Franz West
2005
Beverly
Hills, Gagosian Gallery, Franz West: Sale
Salisburgo,
Ruzicksa Gallery, Franz West: Early Work
2007
Londra, Gagosian Gallery, Franz West: Displacement and Condensation
2008
Baltimora,
Baltimore Museum of Art, To Build A House
you Start With the Roof
Vienna,
Museum fur Angewandte Kunst, Sit on My
Chair, Lay on My Bed
New York,
Gagosian Gallery, Franz West: Passstuke
2009
Città del
Messico, Museo Tamayo, White Elephant
Basilea,
Fondation Beyeler, Franz West
Los Angeles,
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, To
Build A House You Start With The Roof
2010
Colonia,
Museum Ludwig; Napoli, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donna Regina, Autotheater
Roma,
Gagosian Gallery, Roman Room
2012
Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Franz West
2013
Francoforte, Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Franz West: Where is My Eight
2014
New York, David Zwirner, Franz West
2015
New York,
Gagosian Gallery, Franz West:
Moebelskulpturen/Furniture Works
Zurigo,
Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Franz West
2017
Antwerp, Tim
Van Laere Gallery, Franz West
Ginevra,
Gagosian, Franz West: Works 1970 – 2010
2018
Parigi, Centre Georges Pompidou; Londra, Tate Modern, Franz West
2019
Londra, Tate London, Franz West
SELEZIONE ESPOSIZIONI COLLETTIVE:
1980
Vienna, Kunsthandlung Hummel, Eros
1982
Vienna,
Galerie Nachst St. Stephan, Neue Skulptur
Vienna,
Wiener Secession, Object und Plastik
1984
Vienna, Kunsthandlung
Hummel, Kunst mit Fotografie
Budapest, Biennale fur Kleinplastik
1985
Zurigo,
Kunsthaus Zurich, Spuren, Skulpturen und
Monumente ihrer prazisen Reise
Bochum,
Museum Bochum, Neue Wege des plastichen
Gestaltens
Graz, Neue
Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum, Trigon
85
1986
Düsseldorf,
Kunsthalle, Skulptur Sein
Budapest,
Kunsthalle Budapest, Zuruck zur Farbe
1987
Nizza, Villa
Arson, Sous le soleil
Münster, Skulptur Projecte Munster
1988
Venezia, XLIII Biennale di Venezia, Aperto 88
Berlino,
Hamburger Bahnhof, Zeitlos
1989
Milano,
Palazzo della Permanente, Kunst, Bozen
Gent, Museum
van Hedendaagse Kunst, Open Mind
1990
Londra, The
Institute of Contemporary Art – Serpentine Gallery, Possible Worlds
Toulon,
Musée de Toulon, Vienne Aujourd’hui
New York,
MoMA PS1 – Institute of Contemporary Art, Casino
fantasma
Friburgo,
Musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Fribourg, A
la Recherche de l’Eden – Vienne 1950-1990
1991
Berlino,
Martin Gropius Bau, Metropolis
Barcellona,
Fundacio Caixa de Pensionis, Opac
Amburgo,
Kunstverein; Dresda, Galerie der Landeshauptstadt Dresden, Kunst Europa. Junge kunst aus Osterreich
1992
Kassel, Documenta IX
Colonia,
Museum Ludwig, Ars Pro Domo
Amburgo,
Kunsthaus Hamburg, Words don’t come easy
1993
Kassel,
Museum Fridericianum, Museum auf Zeit
Berna,
Kunsthalle Bern, 75 Jahre Kunsthalle Bern
Budapest,
Kunsthalle Budapest, Spiel ohne Grenzen
1994
Parigi,
Centre Georges Pompidou, Hors Limities: L’Art
et la Vie 1952-1994
Milano,
Galleria Massimo de Carlo, Naked City
Vienna,
Kunsthalle Wien, Jetztzeit
1995
Losanna, Biennale Internationale de Lausanne
Londra,
Serpentine Gallery, Take me (I’m yours)
Philadelphia,
The Carnegie Museum of Art, 1995 Carnegie
International
1996
Prato,
Centro Luigi Pecci, Habitus Abito Abitare
Sydney, Sydney Biennial
Roma, Galleria
Comunale d’Arte Moderna, Palazzo Mauri, Risonanza
1996
Vienna,
Kunsthalle Wien, Die Schrift des Raumes
1997
Denver,
Denver Art Museum; Buenos Aires, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, The Austrian vision – Positions of
Contemporary Art
Budapest,
Museum Ludwig, Schwere-Los
Münster, Skulptur Projekte
Venezia, Biennale di Venezia
Kassel, Documenta X
New York, Independent
Curators Incorporated, Do it
Lione, Lyon Biennale
1998
Prato, Museo
Luigi Pecci, 10 – Intensità in Europa
San Paolo, Biennale Sao Paulo
Bruxelles,
Palais des Beaux Arts, Austria im
Rosennets
New York,
Museum of Modern Art, More pieces for the
puzzle: Recent Additions to the Collection
New York,
Postmasters, Useful
Los Angeles,
Museum of Contemporary Art, (itinerante), Out
of Actions, Between performance and the object. 1949-1979
2000
Londra,
Whitechapel Art Gallery, Protest &
Survive
Milano, PAC,
La forma del mondo/La fine del mondo
Lucerna,
Neues Kunstmuseum Luzern, Mixing memory
and desire
Sydney, 12th Biennal of Sydney
Torino,
Castello di Rivoli, Quotidiana – The continuity
of everyday in 20th Century art
2001
Colonia,
Museum Ludwig
New York,
Museum of Modern Art New York, Parkett –
Collaborations Editions since 1984
2002
Londra, Royal Academy of Arts, Summer exhibition 2002
2003
Venezia, La Biennale di Venezia
Bruxelles,
Musée des Arts Contemporains, Le Beau
Corps de la Mémoire
2004
Madrid,
Reina Sofia, Los Monocromos
Berlino,
Hamburger Bahnhof, Sammlung Friedrich
Christian Flick
2005
Colonia,
Museum Ludwig, Kunst in Schokolade
New York,
Gavin Brown enterprise, Drunk vs Stoned 2
2006
Washington,
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The
Uncertainty of Objects and Ideas: Recent Sculpture
Barcellona,
Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, Public
Space/Two Audiences: works and document from the Herbert Collection. Inventaire
2007
Venezia, 52 Biennale di Venezia
Venezia,
Palazzo Grassi, Sequence 1. Painting and
Sculpture from Francois Pinault Collection
New York,
Museum of Modern Art, Comic Abstraction
2009
New York,
MoMA, Sculpture in Color,
Skulpturengarten MoMA
Baden-Baden,
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Entre deus Actes –
Loge de Comédienne
2010
Londra,
Hayward Gallery, The New Décor
Liverpool, Liverpool Biennial
2011
Gent,
S.M.A.K., Collection Presentation
Milano,
Hangar Bicocca, Terre Vulnerabili III
Venezia, 54 Biennale di Venezia
2012
Berlino, Martin Gropius Bau, Art and Press
2014
New York,
David Zwirner, No problem: Cologne/New
York 1984-1989
Londra,
Hauser & Wirth, Hans Arp, Chance –
Form – Language (and a FRANZWESTigation)
2015
Parigi,
Monnaie de Paris, Take me, I’m yours
Copenaghen,
Kunsthall Carlottenborg, Paul McCarthy,
Franz West, Peter Lundat Chart Art Fair
Milano,
Museo della Triennale, Austrian Design
Explosion
Chicago,
Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, S,M,L,XL
Salisburgo,
Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Dinge
bewegen
2016
Salisburgo,
Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Anti:modern
New York,
The Drawing Center, Drawing Dialogues:
The Sol LeWitt Collection
Basilea,
Kunstmuseum Basel, Sculpture on the move
2017
Venezia, 57 Biennale di Venezia
