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Ralf Ziervogel

born in 1975 in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
lives and works in Berlin

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Ralf Ziervogel has made a name for himself with his obsessively detailed drawings of human bodies exposed to apocalyptic cruelties. By committing himself to a monochromatic palette and by choosing to depict his drawings in extreme detail, the mapped out sceneries, spreading over several sheets of paper as ornamental patterns, function as caricatures and pseudo-realist fantasies of violence. In his words, it is a “game of systems” that acts as a continuous artistic test run. His so-called “declinations on the human body” have allowed Ziervogel to develop a technique to test certain systems in order to push them towards an unknown territory.
His recent work continues the systematic approach of declinations. However, the theme of brutalities executed on human bodies seems to be abandoned or exposed to a process of abstraction. Composed of reduced mathematical formulas or – in the case of his new work, “A+B+Z (infinite+infinite)” (2009), a simplified code of letters – the graphic systems gradually dissolve into legible constellations. Using non-hierarchical orders based on numbers, dice dots, letters and figures, Ziervogel’s art has some parallels with the conceptual art Sol LeWitt pioneered in the late 1960s, with its serial processes and formulae.
Solo shows were dedicated to him by the Watermill Center, New York City (2009), the Sammlung Südhausbau & PIN. Freunde der Pinakothek der Moderne e.V., Munich (2009), the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2008), and The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Texas (2007), among others. Besides further solo shows in galleries in Germany, Austria, Israel and the United States, he has participated in many national and international exhibitions including “Paul Thek. Werkschau im Kontext zeitgenössischer Kunst”, Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg (2008), “Traum und Trauma”, MUMOK–Kunsthalle Vienna, “Made in Germany”, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, the 52nd Venice Biennial (all three 2007), Deste Foundation for Contemporary Art, Athens (2006).

EXHIBITIONS:

10.12. 2010 - 12.02.2011
Ralf Ziervogel
Solo presentation at ARNDT Berlin

29.4. - 30.5.2010
“Changing The World”
Group exhibition with works by Erik Bulatov, Sophie Calle, William Cordova, Wim Delvoye, Anton Henning, Thomas Hirschhorn, Ilya und Emilia Kabakov, Jitish Kallat, Jon Kessler, Karsten Konrad, Julije Knifer, Enrique Martinez Celaya, Josephine Meckseper, Vik Muniz, Muntean Rosenblum, Julian Rosefeldt, Charles Sandison, Dennis Scholl, Nedko Solakov, Hiroshi Sugito, Ena Swansea, Mathilde Ter Heijne, Keith Tyson, Ralf Ziervogel, (ARNDT, Berlin)

02.05.–13.06.2009
Ralf Ziervogel
Young German Art
Solo exhibition at Arndt & Partner, Berlin

Ralf Ziervogel, 42_OT, from the series: Every Adidas Got Its Story, 2010, ink on paper+ envelope with back-side embossing (EVERY ADIDAS GOT ITS STORY) , 23,9 x 21,6 cm | 9.41 x 8.5 in