Kris Martin

°1972, Kortrijk, Belgium

Lives and works in Ghent, Belgium

Kris Martin occupies a singular and important position in contemporary art.
Kris Martin’s artistic work is characterized by an investigation into existential questions. His re ections on being materialize in works that convey intense experiences with the passage of time, with life and death, spirituality and religion. His installations, sculptures, photographs, videos, and drawings combine conceptual elements with a sensuous quality. The artist frequently employs found objects that hold a particular fascination for him; to his mind, these objets trouvés are carriers of a number of different ideas as well as of their own history. Using minimal interventions and reduced means, Martin alters these objects, creating gaps that provide room for interpretation which
the viewer can then ll with his or her own personal associations. Despite their melancholic and symbolic aspects, Kris Martin’s works never come across as pathos-ridden; instead, they touch the viewer with an existential urgency punctuated by a mischievous humor.

exhibitions

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 S.M.A.K., Gent: For Whom II
2017 Hof van Cleve, Kruishoutem
VNH Gallery, Paris: PROMETHEUS
2016 Santa Sabina, Roma: AUGURI
MOSTYN, Llandudno (Wales): T.Y.F.F.S.H. König Galerie, Berlin
VNH Gallery, Paris: MOVEABLE
2015 Fürstenberg Zeitgenössisch, Donaueschingen: FLOREAT KRIS MARTIN
2014 Kunstraum Innsbruck, Schloss Ambras, Innsbruck: INDEX Philara, Düsseldorf: NOUMENON (with Alicja Kwade)
2013 Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf: SOMEBODY White Cube, London
K21 Kunstsammlung NRW, Künstlerraum, Düsseldorf
2012 Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Köln: DO NOT CROSS THE RED LINE Theseustempel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien: FESTUM II Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg: MANDI
Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover: EVERY DAY OF THE WEAK Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau: EVERY DAY OF THE WEAK Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn: EVERY DAY OF THE WEAK
2011 Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf Marc Foxx, Los Angeles
CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco: The Magni cent Seven: HAMMARBY!
2010 White Cube, London: FESTUM
K20 Kunstsammlung NRW, Düsseldorf: T.Y.F.F.S.H. Almine Rech Gallery, Brussel

2009 Aspen Art Museum, Aspen Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
Johann König, Berlin
2008 CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco
Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle
Galleria d`Arte Moderna e Contemporanea GAMeC, Bergamo: INTER PARES Marc Foxx, Los Angeles
White Cube, London
2007 MoMA PS1, New York Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
Piazza San Marco, Venice: MY PRIVATE #5 Marc Foxx, Los Angeles
2006 Johann König, Berlin: DEUS EX MACHINA
2005 Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
2004 Hoet Bekaert Gallery, Wortegem-Petegem

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2018 Kunsthaus Graz, Graz: GLAUBE LIEBE HOFFNUNG. 800 JAHRE DIÖZESE GRAZ-SECKAU Aspen Art Museum, Aspen: RITUAL
Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen: GEGEN DIE STRÖMUNG. REISE INS UNGEWISSE
2017 Kunstraum Dreieich, Dreieich: PEACE LOVE AND LIGHT
Geukens & De Vil, Antwerp: ECCE HOMO
The Henry, Seattle: THE TIME. THE PLACE. CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE COLLECTION Johannes Vogt Gallery, New York: THE MIDDLE
The Warehouse, Dallas: DOUBLES, DOBROS, PLIEGUES, PARES, TWINS, MITADES
Kasteel van Gaasbeek, Lennik: THE ARTIST/KNIGHT
S.M.A.K., Gent: HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS AND HOW EASILY IT CAN BE BROKEN
Schloss Tüßling Projects, Tüssling: MEET ME IN HEAVEN

Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg: DYING WELL – FALSE DEATH2016
My Phantasies, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
This Is Your Replacement, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
2015
Bare Wunder: Sigmar Polke - 100 Years of Mediumistic and Phantasmagorical Photography, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
2013
Goldrausch - Gegenwartskunst aus, mit oder über Gold, Villa Merkel, Galerien der Stadt Esslingen, Esslingen

When Attitudes Became Form Become Attitudes, Museum of Contemporay Art Detroit, Detroit

A House of Leaves. Third Movement, The David Roberts Art Foundation, London

Pataphysics, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York

What Matters – Waar het op aan komt, Psychiatrisch Ziekenhuis Duffel, Duffel

Young Collectors, Maison Particulière, Brussels

GLASSTRESS: White Light / White Heat , Collateral Event of the 55th Venice Biennale, Venice

FOR MY EYES ONLY. VJP Collection of Contemporary Art and Design, Maribor Art Gallery, Maribor

Back to Earth. Die Wiederentdeckung der Keramik in der Kunst, Herbert Gehrisch Stiftung, Neumünster

Defining Space, Bastei, Cologne

Inner Journeys, Maison Particulière, Brussels

Dinard, Atomic Love, Palais des Arts et du Festival, Dinard

2012
WONDERFUL – Humboldt, Crocodile & Polke, The Olbricht Collection, me collectors room Stiftung Olbricht, Berlin

Private Kunstsammlung Münster – Director's Choice, Kunsthalle Münster, Münster

A House of Leaves – First Movement, David Roberts Art Foundation, London

Goldrausch: Gold in der Gegenwartskunst, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg

en désordre. Neuaquisitionen der Sammlung Philara, Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf

Sint-Jan, St.-Bavo-Kathedrale, Ghent

PUNKT-SYSTEME. Vom Pointillismus zum Pixel, Wilhelm-Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen

Im Schein des Unendlichen. Romantik und Gegenwart, Altana Kulturstiftung im Sinclairhaus, Bad Homburg

Cartographies, Fundación la Caixa, Barceolona, Madrid

An Incomplete History of Incomplete Works of Art, Galleria Francesca Minini, Milano, curated by Adam Carr

Particles, Messen De Clercq, Brussels

Tomorrow, Bastei, Cologne

THE END, Hoet Bekaert Gallery, Ghent

When Attitudes Became Form Become Attitudes, San Francisco

2011
Mémoires du Futur, la collection Olbricht, La Maison Rouge, Paris

The Silver Show – 25 Years of NAK, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen

Die Kunst der Entschleunigung, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg

Wunder, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg

29th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana

Untitled, 12th Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul

arkhaiologia. Archäologie in der zeitgenössischen Kunst, Kunsthaus CentrePasquArt, Biel

Life A User`s Manual, Meessen De Clercq, Brussels

Sleeping Beauties, Castle of Gaasbeek, Gaasbeek

Über die Dinge, Kunsthaus Mürz, Mürzzuschlag

Nod Nod Wink Wink: Conceptual Art in New Mexico and Its Influence, The Harwood Museum of Art, Taos

Commercial Break, 54th Venice Biennale, Venice

The Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture Part I, Saatchi Gallery, London

La Part Manquante, Galerie Michel Journiac, Paris

The Flemish Masters: That’s life, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, curated by Filiep Libeert

Under Destruction III SI Swiss Institute, New York City

2010
The Power of Drawing , Geukens & De Vil, Knokke-Heist

When will they finally see the power of drawing, Geukens & De Vil, Antwerp

Let's dance, Musée D`Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine

Exhibition, Exhibition, Castello di Rivoli, Museum of Contemporary Art, Rivoli, Turin

Before and after, Balice Hertling, Paris

Touched, 6th Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool

You can't get there from here but you can get here from there, Apexart, New York

Lebenslust und Totentanz – Lust for Life and Dance of Death. Olbricht Collection, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems

Unsichtbare Schatten - Bilder der Verunsicherung, MARTa Herford

Under Destruction, Museum Tinguely, Basel

Yesterday will be better, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aargau

Intensif-Station, Künstlerräume, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

*Kupferstichkabinett, White Cube, London

Signs of Life, Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles

Christmas in July, Yvonne Lambert, New York

Human Condition, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz

20th Century Fox, Vanmoerkerke Collection, Ostend

Contemplating the Void, Guggenheim Museum, New York

Triennale Fellbach

Silent Revolution, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Berlin – Paris, Johann König, Berlin; Galerie Philippe Jousse, Paris

Neugierig? Kunst des 21. Jahrhunderts aus privaten Sammlungen, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn

2009
Beg Borrow and Steal, Rubell Family Collection, Miami

A L'épreuve, Institute D'Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne

Earth: Art of a changing world, GSK Contemporary, Royal Academy of Arts, London

Silent, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima

Ename Actueel, Hoofdstuk IV, Proviniciaal Archeologisch Museum, Ename

Morality, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam

Das Gespinst. Die Sammlung Schürmann zu Gast im Museum Abteiberg, Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach

The Importance of the Zebra Fish, Pilar Parra & Romero, Madrid

Moby Dick, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, curated by Jens Hoffmann

cargo manifest, Bayrische Staatsoper, Munich

The Site of Silence – Der Ort der Stille, Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössische Kunst Münster, Münster

Heaven, 2nd Athens Biennale, Athens

Beginnings, Middles, And Ends, Galerie Georg Kargl, Vienna

Magritte et la Lumière, Almine Rech Galerie, Brussels

The Quick and the Dead, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

On second readings, Galeria Estrany-de la Mota, Barcelona

Born in the morning, dead by night, Leo König, New York

2008
Heavy Metal, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel

Political / Minimal, Kunstwerke – Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin

Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels

Ars in Cathedrali, Cathédrale Saints-Michel-et-Gudule, Brussels

Library, UOVO Open Office, Berlin, curated by Adam Carr

The Krautcho Club / In and Out of Place, Forgotten Bar Project, Berlin; Project Space 176, London

This is not a void, Galerie Luisa Strina, São Paulo, curated by Jens Hoffmann

When a clock is seen from the side it no longer tells the time, Johann König, Berlin

FADE IN / FADE OUT, Bloomberg Space, London

L’Argent, Frac Ile-de-France, Paris

Speicher fast voll – Sammeln und Ordnen in der Gegenwartskunst, Kunstmuseum Solothurn

The Eternal Flame, Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel

Boros Collection, Berlin

Past – Forward, Zabludowicz Collection 176, London, curated by Vincent Honoré

Traces du sacré, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris

You Dig the Tunnel – I`ll Hide the Soil, White Cube, London

God is design..., Galerie Fortes Vilça, São Paulo, curated by Neville Wakefield

Section des Miroirs, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago

Der eigene Weg/Perspektiven belgischer Kunst , Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg

Countdown, Center For Curatorial Studies, New York, curated by Vincenzo de Bellis

All-Inclusive. Die Welt des Tourismus, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt a.M.

2007
Gehen Bleiben, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, curated by Volker Adolphs

Passengers, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco

The Office, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York

The Long Goodbye, Vanmoerkerke collection, Oostende, curated by Patrick De Brock

The skeleton in art, Cheim & Read, New York

For Sale, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon, curated by Jens Hoffmann

Learn to Read, Tate Modern, London, curated by Vincent Honoré

Invisible, Max Wigram Gallery, London

Absent Without Leave, Victoria Miro Gallery, London

Some Time Waiting, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris, curated by Adam Carr

Ci vediamo a casa, Perarolo di Cadore, Belluno

Trobleyn/Laboratorium, Jan Fabre, Antwerp

2006
My private escaped from Italy, Centre international d’art et du paysage de l’île de Vassivière

Protections. Das ist keine Ausstellung, Kunsthaus Graz, Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz, curated by Adam Budak, Christine Peters

Faster! Bigger! Better! Signetwerke der Sammlungen, ZKM, Museum für neue Kunst, Karlsruhe

Nichts weiter als ein Rendezvous, Künstlerhaus Bremen, Bremen

Designing Truth, Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg

Of Mice and Men, 4th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art, curated by Ali Subotnick, Massimiliano Gioni and Maurizio Cattelan, Berlin

Message personnel, Yvon Lambert, Paris

2005
SEE history 2005 - Der private Blick, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel

Post Notes, Midway Contemporary Art, Minnesota

2003
Gelijk het leven is, SMAK Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent

The distance between Me and You, Lisson Gallery, London

2001
Verklärte Nacht, Sonsbeek 9, Arnhem

2000
Wahnsinn, Garden of Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle