German painter (born 1961)
Katharina Grosse (born 2 October 1961) is a German visual artist. She is known for her large-scale, site-related installations to create immersive visual experiences.[1] Grosse's work employs a use of architecture, sculpture and painting. She has been using an industrial paint-sprayer to apply prismatic swaths of color to a variety of surfaces since the late 1990s, and often uses bright, unmixed sprayed-on acrylic paints to create both large-scale sculptural elements and smaller wall works.
Early life and education
Grosse was born in 1961 in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany.[2] Grosse studied at the Kunstakademie Münster [de] from 1982 to 1986, and Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 1986 to 1990.[3][2] In subsequent years, she completed artist-in-residence programs at the Villa Romana in Florence, Italy (1992); Chinati Foundation in Marfa, USA (1999);[4] Elam School of Fine Art in Auckland, New Zealand (2001); and Headlands Center for the Arts in San Francisco, USA (2002).
Work
Grosse maintains studios in Berlin's Moabit district (since 2008),[5] Auckland[6] and Groß Kreutz (since 2020).[7]
Commissions
Grosse has been commissioned with various site-specific installations, including for the Federal Labour Court in Erfurt (1999)[8] Gate 122 of Terminal 1 at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto (2003)[9] and the German Parliament in Berlin (2015).[10]
Other activities
Grosse taught at the Weißensee Academy of Art from 2000 to 2010. She was a professor of painting at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf from 2010 to 2018. She was a member of the juries that selected Hito Steyerl as recipient of the Käthe Kollwitz Prize (2019)[11] and Sheela Gowda of the Maria Lassnig Prize (2019).[12]
Since 2021, Grosse has been chairing the board of KW Institute for Contemporary Art.[13] In this capacity, she was part of the search committee that chose Emma Enderby as the KW's new director in 2023.[14]
Art market
Grosse is represented by Galerie Max Hetzler (since 2022)[15] and Gagosian Gallery (since 2017).[16] She previously worked with Johann König until 2022.[17]
Personal life
Grosse is in a relationship with artist Judy Millar.[18] She has been living and working in Berlin since 2000.[19] In 2005, she purchased a former supermarket in Berlin's Friedrichshain district and turned it into her primary residence.[20]
Collections
Grosse's work is held in several permanent collections, including the following:
