Thomas Hirschhorn (born 16 May 1957) is a Swiss artist who lives and works in Paris.
Trained in Zurich and inspired by Joseph Beuys and Andy Warhol, he began as a graphic designer and switched to art in the 1990s. He has become known for using everyday materials in the creation of complex sculptures executed often on a large scale. In addition, he has written extensively on his work and the theories that inform it. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums in Europe, in the United States, and in South America.
Biography and work
Early years
From 1978 to 1983, Hirschhorn attended the School of Applied Arts in Zurich, where he was inspired by Beuys and Warhol exhibitions. In 1983, Thomas Hirschhorn came to Paris to take part in the 'Grapus'-collective as a graphic designer.
Art in public space
In 1991, he left graphic design in favor of being an artist. He then started to create works in space that incorporate sculpted forms, words and phrases, free-standing or wall mounted collages, and video sequences. He uses common materials such as cardboard, foil, duct tape, magazines, plywood, and plastic wrap. He describes his choice to use everyday materials in his work as "political" and that he only uses materials that are “universal, economic, inclusive, and don't bear any plus-value”. All of his works are accompanied by written statements that include his observations, motivations and intentions.
Hirschhorn has followed his early commitment to always include the “Other” and address the “non-exclusive audience” in presenting his work in exhibition spaces such as museums and galleries, but also in “public space”: urban settings, sidewalks, vacant lots, and communal grounds of public housing projects.
He has said that he is interested in the “hard core of reality”, without illusions, and has displayed a strong commitment to his work and role as an artist. He described working and production as “necessary”, discounting anyone who encourages him to not work hard, and says “I want to be overgiving in my work”. Hirschhorn is also very adamant about not being a political artist, but creates “art in a political way.”
Aiming "to demonstrate the importance that art can have in transforming life", he created in 2004 the Musée précaire Albinet in Aubervilliers, France, where he presented for two months original artworks from the Musée national d'Art moderne and the Fonds national d'art contemporain. The artworks presented included modern art icons such as Bicycle Wheel by Marcel Duchamp, and works by Kazimir Malevich, Piet Mondrian, Salvador Dalí, Josef Beuys, Andy Warhol, Le Corbusier, and Fernand Léger. Located in the public space at the foot of a building bar, in a popular suburb of Paris, the project was an almost unprecedented attempt to bring museum art to underprivileged populations in their own space. The presentation of the works was complemented by numerous workshops, discussions and activities organised with the local population.
Through his experience of working in public space, Hirschhorn has developed his own guidelines of “Presence and Production” in being present and producing on location during the full course of a project in public space. “To be ‘present’ and to ‘produce’ means to make a physical statement, here and now. I believe that only through presence — my presence — and only through production — my production — can my work have an impact in public space or at a public location.” Other ‘Presence and Production’ projects besides the Musée Précaire Albinet include Bataille Monument (Kassel, 2002), The Bijlmer Spinoza Festival (Amsterdam, 2009), Gramsci Monument (New York, 2013), Flamme éternelle (Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2014), What I can learn from you. What you can learn from me (Critical Workshop) (Remai Modern, Saskatoon 2018), and the Robert Walser-Sculpture (Fondation Exposition Suisse de Sculpture, Biel, 2019).
Since early 1990s, Thomas Hirschhorn has created more than seventy works in public space.
Art and philosophy
Thomas Hirschhorn has dedicated works to writers, philosophers, artists he loves, in the form of altars, kiosks, maps, monuments or sculptures. In 1999 he initiated a series of “monuments” dedicated to major writers and thinkers: the Spinoza Monument (Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 1999), followed by Deleuze Monument (Avignon, France, 2000) and Bataille Monument. From the beginning, the monuments have been planned and constructed in housing projects occupied mostly by the poor and working class, with their agreement and help.