Thomas Wachholz
Rules and the reduction of variables dictate Thomas Wachholz’s practice; driven by a profound fascination for supposedly monotonous activities, and marked by the endless repetition of reiterative movements. Wachholz suggests an unromantic image of the artist by delegating activities to other people, machines, or scientific equations. If others associate creativity with what is new and ingenuous, and marked by the individual, he counters this with his concept of creativity in allegedly noncreative activities while magnifying such activities in order to shift perception. The notion of the singular, individuated artist is thus challenged and broken down. It is not the artist’s hand, but the activation of the work by participants that creates the work. The panels as a designed whole recede into the background when the specific creations by the individual visitors can take place. Wachholz is quite simply interested in the simple things that reveal their complexity when we take a closer look.
While the experimental setups for his works are marked by stoic precision, they ultimately still explore the realm of the poetic. The dimensions of everyday materials, events, and techniques are radically shifted and redirected, shedding light on the perceived notion of freedom we share in devising and …
Rules and the reduction of variables dictate Thomas Wachholz’s practice; driven by a profound fascination for supposedly monotonous activities, and marked by the endless repetition of reiterative movements. Wachholz suggests an unromantic image of the artist by delegating activities to other people, machines, or scientific equations. If others associate creativity with what is new and ingenuous, and marked by the individual, he counters this with his concept of creativity in allegedly noncreative activities while magnifying such activities in order to shift perception. The notion of the singular, individuated artist is thus challenged and broken down. It is not the artist’s hand, but the activation of the work by participants that creates the work. The panels as a designed whole recede into the background when the specific creations by the individual visitors can take place. Wachholz is quite simply interested in the simple things that reveal their complexity when we take a closer look.
While the experimental setups for his works are marked by stoic precision, they ultimately still explore the realm of the poetic. The dimensions of everyday materials, events, and techniques are radically shifted and redirected, shedding light on the perceived notion of freedom we share in devising and executing everyday activities.
Born in Germany in 1984, Wachholz studied under Katharina Grosse and Marcel Odenbach at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany. He has had solo exhibitions at Nymphius Projekte in Berlin (2015); Roberts & Tilton in Los Angeles (2014); Raebervon Stenglin in Zurich (2014); and An der Shanz 1A in Cologne (2013). In 2014 his work was featured in the group exhibitions: "Not Abstraction" at the Yves Klein Archive in Paris; "Backward/Forward" at New Galerie in Paris; "daseinsamegenie…," at Baustelle Schaustelle in Essen; "On & On & On" at kunstgruppe in Cologne; "Shortcuts, Videos in Art," at Chu Galerie in Cologne; and Rundgang der Staatlichen Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf. He lives and works in Cologne.
Courtesy of MIER Gallery