Andreas Hofer (artist)

Andreas Hofer (born in 1963 in Munich) – he signs his works Andy Hope 1930 – conceives his exhibitions as densely complex installations that offer a glimpse of a long forgotten period, an unknown era or a yet unlived future.

Biography

He trained at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, and at the Chelsea College of Art and Design in London from 1991 to 1997. He has lived in Berlin since 2000.While the diversity of media he employs – painting, drawing, collage, spatial installation, sculpture, video, book and object – places his work beyond easy definition, his thematic and formal references defy any categorisation. His vocabulary ranges from Christian, satanist, astrological or mythological symbolism to recollections from art history, like Malevich’s “Black Square”, which he quotes with a pair of vampiric fangs added. Without any discernible preference, he juxtaposes figures from Hollywood, pop culture and comic strip with icons of modernism or sci-fi, and confronts elements of horror from western mass media with the disgraced, banned stylistic features that mark the art of the Third Reich. Andreas Hofer evokes characters that exist in the uncanny of a familiar world while acting in a field of indeterminacy that offers no promises of any rules, limits or security. A Christ-like figure with a blessing hand is revealed to be Charles Manson, a village scene turns into a launch site for space rockets. Similarly unexpectedly, votive pictures or African folkloristic symbols can be seen returning to the realm of an art influenced by Ensor, Goya, Blake and Warhol.

Following his first participation in a show at the Haus der Kunst in Munich in 1995, he has exhibited in galleries in Düsseldorf, Münster, Wolfsburg, Berlin and Munich, and has been included in group shows of contemporary artists throughout Germany. Andreas Hofer is represented in important collections (Sammlung Lenbachhaus Munich, Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach, Centre Pompidou and internationally renowned private collections). The Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich presented an extensive body of work in Andreas Hofer’s first solo museum show in 2005. A well-received, comprehensive exhibition was the solo show “This Island Earth” in London in spring 2006.

Selected Exhibitions

* 2007 Only Gods Will Survive, Metro Pictures Gallery, New York
* 2006 Trans Time, Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin
* 2006 This Island Earth, Hauser & Wirth, London (cat.)
* 2005 Neverworld Technik, Kunstverein Ulm (cat.)
* Galassia che vai, Galerie Bleich-Rossi, Graz (cat.)
* Time Banners, Galerie Nomadenoase, Paris
* 2005 Two Bad, Galerie Bernd Kugler, Innsbruck (cat.)
* Welt ohne Ende, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich (cat.)
* 2004 Batman Gallery, Galerie Christine Mayer, Munich
* 2003 Tomorrow People, Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin
* 2002 Hinter den Hügeln, Galerie Christine Mayer, Munich
* 2001 Down the Hollywood line, Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Berlin
* 1999 Ich seh nach draußen und seh die Wand, SITE-Ausstellungsraum, Düsseldorf
* 1996 c/o Puschmann, Ausstellungsraum Balanstrasse, Munich
* 1995 Haus der Kunst, Munich; lothringer13, Munich

Own Publications

* 2006
** "Hinter den Hügeln", Paris: Edition Silverbridge, 2006 (artist book)

* 2005
** Galerie Guido W. Baudach (ed.), "Andreas Hofer - Peiner Block", Berlin: Verlag Heckler & Koch, 2005, (artist book)

** Galerie Bleich-Rossi (ed.), "Andreas Hofer - Galassia che vai", Graz: Verlag Galerie Bleich-Rossi, 2005 (exh. cat.)

** "Andreas Hofer - Two Bad", Innsbruck: Verlag Galerie Bernd Kugler, 2005 (exh. cat.)

** Lenbachhaus München/MARTa Herford (ed.), "Andreas Hofer-Welt ohne Ende" , Cologne: Verlag Walther König, 2005 (exh. cat.)

* 2004
** Galerie Guido W. Baudach (ed.), "München – Bruckmühl und zurück", Berlin: Verlag Heckler und Koch, 2004 (artist book)

* 2002
** "Forever People", Berlin: Possible Press, 2002 (artist book)

External links

* [http://www.artfacts.net/index.php/pageType/artistInfo/artist/3844/ Artfacts]
* [http://www.hauserwirth.com/ Hauser & Wirth]
* [http://www.kunstaspekte.de/ Kunstaspekte]
* [http://www.artnet.com/ Artnet]
* [http://www.guidowbaudach.com/ Galerie Guido Baudach]
* [http://www.lenbachhaus.de/ Lenbachhaus]
* [http://www.galeriechristinemayer.de/ Galerie Christine Mayer]
* [http://www.metropicturesgallery.com/ Metropictures New York]