Jürgen Partenheimer is among the most renowned German artists of his generation. Since his participation at the Paris Biennial in 1980 and the Venice Biennial in 1986, his work has been widely shown internationally.

Work

The work of Jürgen Partenheimer, emerged in Germany in the early 1980s, reveals the artist’s profound experience in his artistic activities which include painting, drawing, sculpture and which also draw on theory, poetry and prose as his referential grammar of artistic expression. His work is distinguished by an abstract quality, which seems to express a state of uncertainty and inconsistency, calling in question the viewer's own preconceived certainties. Marked by a post-minimalist background and a poetic intensity, his art has been referred to as metaphysical realism. “Metaphysical Realism”, for Partenheimer, replaces abstraction and points beyond the facticity of the form. He approaches his subject matter at the very boundary of its corporeality, at the very point of transition between its materiality and its immateriality. Partenheimer's ability to combine his art with serious theoretical discourse testifies to his extraordinary qualities as an artist.

Biography

Jürgen Partenheimer spent his childhood in Munich. Since 1968 studies in philosophy and the history of art at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany. 1970 scholarship to Brandeis University, Massachusetts, chooses to study fine art and history of art at the University of Arizona, Tucson, USA. 1972 Artist in residence to the Museum of Spanish Abstract Art in Cuenca, Spain.1973 -graduates with MFA from UoA, Tucson, AZ. 1974 continues his studies at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Dissertation- and research scholarship from the State of Bavaria for Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France. PhD in art history with distinction at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, Germany.
Moves to Düsseldorf. 1979 first solo exhibition at the Richard Demarco Gallery in Edinburgh. 1980 -1981 participates at the XI Paris Biennial, France and XVI São Paulo Biennial, Nucleus I, Brazil. 1982 National Endowment for the Arts with exhibition of workbooks and drawings at Franklin Furnace, New York. 1983-85 visiting artist to San Francisco Art Institute, California and distinguished visiting professor at the University of California at Davis. 1986 participates at XLII Venice Biennial. 1987-90 visiting artist to Rijksakademie van Beeldenden Kunsten in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Artist in residence to Fine Arts Work Centre, Provincetown, Massachusetts. 1991 writes his poetic manifesto “De coloribus - Notes on colour”, which is co-published by Hine Editions, San Francisco and Art-Book, Amsterdam. 1994 Partenheimer was part of 'A century of Artists' Books' at MOMA, a show curated by Riva Castleman. 1995 receives art critic’s award of the year for best show of the season in Madrid, Spain. 1997-1998 comprehensive solo exhibitions at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the IVAM Valencia and Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. 1999 invited to develop an exhibition of sculpture, painting and work on paper for the space of the Contemporary Art Museum CGAC in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. 2000 first German contemporary artist to receive a retrospective at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Beijing and the Nanjing Museum in Nanjing, China.

Installs the sculpture „world axis“ in the „Forbidden City“ in Beijing. 2002 overview exhibition at the S.M.A.K. in Gent, Belgium, artist in residence to Ergo Pers, Gent; 2004-05 retrospective exhibitions at the Museum am Ostwall in Dortmund, Germany and the Pinacoteca Do Estado

Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo

The Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo is one of the most important art museums in Brazil. It is housed in a 1900 building in Jardim da Luz, Downtown São Paulo, projected by Ramos de Azevedo and Domiziano Rossi to be the headquarters of the Lyceum of Arts and Crafts...

 in São Paulo, Brazil. Awarded the Prize for Visual Arts by the Kulturstiftung Dortmund. Receives Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Guest of Honour at the German Academy-Villa Massimo in Rome, Italy and artist in residence to the Copan Building (Oscar Niemeyer), São Paulo, Brazil. 2006 Artist in residence to Nietzsche-House in Sils-Maria, Switzerland. 2007 exhibits “Copan- Drawings” and “São Paulo Diary” at Pinacoteca Do Estado in São Paulo, Brazil. Lives and works in Germany and Italy.

Selected Exhibitions 1980 - 2009

• 1980 Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
  Kunsthalle Düsseldorf
  -Building:The present art centre was built in 1967 in Brutalist architecture by the architects Konrad Beckmann and Brockes. They used commercially available precast concrete for the construction work.-History:...
  
  , Germany. „Was sind Sie denn von Beruf?“ (cat.)
• 1980 XI.Biennale de Paris, France. Musée d´Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (cat.)
• 1981 XVI.Biennial São Paulo,Brazil, Nukleus I (cat.)
• 1981 Galeria de Arte Moderna, Lisbon, „Arte International“ (cat.)
• 1981 Stichting De Appel, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 1982 Franklin Furnace, New York, „Drawings and Books“
• 1982 Artists Space, New York
• 1982 Articule Gallery, Montréal, Canada, „Monument Morale“
• 1983 Kunstraum München, Munich „Der Weg der Nashörner“ (cat.)
• 1984 Kunstverein Münster, Germany „Der Ort des Bogens“ (cat.)
• 1985 Nationalgalerie Berlin,“1945-1985 Kunst in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland“ (cat.)
• 1985 Kunstmuseum Bern, Switzerland „Das poetische ABC“ (cat.)
• 1986 XLII. Venice Biennial, Settore Arte Visivi, Venice, Italy (cat.)
• 1986 San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA (cat.)
• 1988 Nationalgalerie Berlin,Germany „Verwandlung-Heimkehr“ (cat.)
• 1988 Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst, Gent, Belgium (cat.)
• 1989 National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA „The 1980s“ (cat.)
• 1989 Fundació Juan Miró, Barcelona, Spain (cat.)
• 1989 Museum Schloß Morsbroich; Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf; Kunstmuseum St.Gallen (cat.)
• 1990 Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany „Vasts Apart“ (cat.)
• 1990 Kunsthalle Köln, Cologne, Germany (cat.)
• 1991 Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen (cat.)
• 1991 Museum of Fine Art, Houston, USA
• 1992 National Gallery of Art, Washington (cat.)
• 1992 Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
• 1993 Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Netherlands „Horos“ (solo, cat.)
• 1993 Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt, Germany „Narrow Gates“ (cat.)
• 1993 The Grolier Club, New York, USA (cat.)
• 1994 The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA (cat.)
• 1994 Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA (cat.)
• 1994 Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München; Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (cat.)
• 1995 MAC Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Madrid, Spain (cat.)
• 1996 Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, „Cantos“, The Netherlands (cat.)
• 1997 Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, „German Art“ (cat.)
• 1997 IVAM Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia, Spain (cat.)
• 1998 Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Germany (cat.)
• 1998 Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, USA (cat.)
• 1999 CGAC Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea, Santiago de Compostela (cat.)
• 2000 National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing; Nanjing Museum, Nanjing, China (cat.)
• 2000 Fundaçao Centro Cultural de Belem, Lisbon, Portugal (cat.)
• 2002 S.M.A.K. Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst, Gent, Belgium (cat.)
• 2003 Pinacoteca Do Estado, São Paulo, Brazil, „Suave Locoura“ (cat.)
• 2004 Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund, Germany, „Gentle Madness“ (cat.)
• 2004 Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland (cat.)
• 2004 CGAC Centro Galego de Arte Contemporanea, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (cat.)
• 2005 Villa Massimo, Rome, Italy, „Roman Diary“ (cat.)
• 2005 SLUB Dresden, Germany „Künstlerbücher / Artists books“ (cat.)
• 2006 Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Germany „Roma - São Paulo“ (cat.)
• 2007 Pinacoteca Do Estado, São Paulo, Brazil, „Copan-Diario Paulistano“ (cat.)
• 2007 Nietzsche-House, Sils-Maria, Switzerland, „Metaphysical landcsape“ (cat.)
• 2008 IKON Gallery Birmingham, „Discontinuity, Paradox & Precison“ (cat.)
• 2008 Kunstmuseum Bonn (cat.)
• 2009 Museum Chasa Jaura, Valchava „mimesis“ (cat.)
• 2009 Kunsthalle zu Kiel, „Xenia“

Literature

• Beatrice v. Bismarck, Franz Kaiser: Jürgen Partenheimer. Ausgewählte Texte, Frankfurt. Edition Cantz, 1993 ISBN 3-89322-539-0
• Christa Häusler: Partenheimer, Architektur und Skulptur, Hatje Cantz - Reihe Cantz, 1994 ISBN 3-89322-284-7
• Rudi Fuchs: Partenheimer. Cantos, Amsterdam, 1997 ISBN 90-5006-122-2
• Juan Manuel Bonet: Jürgen Partenheimer. Cantos y otras mentiras, Valencia. Richter Verlag, 1998 ISBN 84-482-1696-2
• Klaus Schrenk: Jürgen Partenheimer. Fragmente, Karlsruhe. Richter Verlag, 1998 ISBN 3-928762-86-9
• Miguel Fernandez Cid: Jürgen Partenheimer. Santiago de Compostela, 1999 ISBN 84-453-2589-2
• Franz Kaiser: Jürgen Partenheimer. Architecture-Sculpture, Den Haag. Richter Verlag, 2000 ISBN 9-933807-32-8
• Dieter Ronte: Partenheimer in China. Richter Verlag, 2000 ISBN 3-933807-56-5
• Jan Hoet: Jürgen Partenheimer. La robe des choses, Gent. Merz Verlag, 2002 ISBN 90-769-7908-1
• Heinz Althöfer, Bazon Brock: Jürgen Partenheimer. Der Schein der Dinge, Dortmund. Richter Verlag, 2004 ISBN 3-937572-10-4
• Marcelo M. Araujo: Jürgen Partenheimer. Suave Loucura, São Paulo. Editora Estação Liberdade, 2005 ISBN 85-7448-103-3
• Klaus Schrenk: Jürgen Partenheimer. Roma - São Paulo, Karlsruhe. Richter Verlag, 2006 ISBN 3-937572-53-8
• Jürgen Partenheimer: Copan. São Paulo Tagebuch, Karlsruhe, 2006 ISBN 3-925212-65-5
• Peter André Bloch: Jürgen Partenheimer. Metaphysische Landschaft, Basel, 2007 ISBN 978-3-7965-2401-1
• Nigel Prince: Jürgen Partenheimer. Discontinuity, Paradox & Precison, Birmingham, 2008, ISBN 978-1-904864-40-0
• Uwe Wieczoreck: Jürgen Partenheimer. Das Schlüsselloch im Museum Chasa Jaura Valchava, Valchava, 2009
• Jürgen Partenheimer: Die fünfte Himmelsrichtung ist die Mitte. Kiel, 2010 ISBN 978-3-9813781-1-5

External links

• Jürgen Partenheimer - Official Website
• Jürgen Partenheimer Artists' Books
• Jürgen Partenheimer | Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
• Works (artnet)
• Häusler contemporary, München
• Galerie Onrust, Amsterdam
• Das Römische Tagebuch (Villa Massimo)
• Portfolio
• Portrait of the artist by the Goethe-Institut