Thomas Schütte

Born in 1954 in Oldenburg, Federal Republic of Germany, Thomas Schütte is a German sculptor who lives and works in Düsseldorf. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf starting 1973 under the supervision of Gerhard Richter and Fritz Schweiger, and exhibited his work for the first time in 1979. He is one of today's most popular sculptors. However, his work is not limited to sculpture alone, as he also produces watercolours on different supports as well as drawings as diaries as well as ceramic pieces. His work addresses the issues of our contemporary societies with a touch of humour, cynicism and sensitivity.

Inspired by Pop Art and Minimalism, his pieces are architectural. He creates spaces, houses but also museums, artists' studios. He is a creative architect who seeks to make buildings that blend into their natural surroundings. In 2019, one of his creations was erected in Krefeld to celebrate the centenary of the Bauhaus, the renowned German school of architecture and applied arts. 

Monumental human figures and zoomorphic figures are his trademark, and they are often colourful, sometimes animated, with exaggerated, intimidating features. He creates elaborate settings, environments for them, and thus makes installations of painted flags, rings, black lemons or makes sculptures that spit out smoke. Oftentimes, he plays on the male figure and the stereotypes to which it is associated, and breaks the strong, powerful and arrogant man by imprisoning him: his manly bronze men have their feet "caught in clay; they can't get away," he says. His female representations are softer. The artist also likes to photograph the figurines that serve as models for his sculptures, as he did for Innocenti in 1994. He highlights certain subjects that recur repeatedly in his work, such as the Cold War, post-war reconstruction and terrorism.

To make his sculptures, he uses a wide range of materials, from clay, wood and bronze to more unusual materials such as plastic or iron and integrates light into his pieces. He attaches great importance to the choice of materials and the way he transforms them.

Thomas Schütte's work has been exhibited in museums and galleries around the world: the National Gallery in London, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York... During the 1990s, he created various large-scale public sculptures, such as Large Ghosts (1996). In 2019, an exhibition was dedicated to him at the Monnaie de Paris.