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David Ostrowski

David Ostrowski (born 1981 in Cologne, Germany) is a German painter. Ostrowski studied at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Albert Oehlen. He is a Professor of Painting at the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe since 2022. He is the grandson of Krystyna Żywulska. He lives and works in Cologne, Germany.

Work

In his paintings, Ostrowski uses a restricted range of materials from his studio, including canvas, primer, emulsion, spray paint, and found objects like paper, cardboard, and tape. The works are casual, often monochrome, and characterized by a process that combines intuitive gestures with elements of chance and error. Ostrowski’s approach avoids traditional pictorial conventions and his paintings are often left open to interpretation, with titles such as F suggesting ambiguity. Ostrowski’s work has been described to focus on the exploration of emptiness within the context of painting.

Awards

Solo Exhibitions

  • 2025: Let me put it this way, Aranya Art Center, Beidaihe, China
  • 2024: Parliament, Sprüth Magers, New York
  • 2023: Leeres Wasser (Anti Drawings), Fig., Tokyo
  • 2024: Concerned with things as their own composition, Ramiken, New York
  • 2021: So kalt kann es nicht sein / It can't be that cold, Sprüth Magers, Berlin
  • 2020: Lady Helen, Lady Helen, London (with Angharad Williams)
  • 2020: POGŁOS / OVERTONE, Avant-Garde Institute, Warsaw (with Tobias Spichtig)
  • 2020: Lieber Nackt als Gefühlsleben, Jir Sandel, Copenhagen
  • 2020: Menschen, Bilder, Emotionen / 사람, 그림, 감정, Leeahn Gallery, Seoul
  • 2019: Political Paintings, Sundogs, Paris
  • 2019: Political Correction, Piece Unique, Cologne
  • 2018: The Thin Red Line, Sprüth Magers, London
  • 2018: The Warsaw Pavilion, Wschód, Warsaw
  • 2017: DONT, Halle 9 Kirowwerk, Leipzig
  • 2017: Bei mir geht es in den Keller hoch, , Barcelona
  • 2016: To Lose, , Düren (with Michail Pirgelis)
  • 2015: The F Word, Arken Museum, Copenhagen
  • 2015: I want to die Forever, Kunstraum Innsbruck
  • 2014: How To Do Things Left, Rubell Museum, Miami
  • 2014: Just do it, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin
  • 2013: F, , Cologne

Group Exhibitions

  • 2023: The Sky is Thin. Drawings, Standard Oslo
  • 2023: Watercolours, Chapter III, XYZcollective, Tokyo
  • 2022: Tiere, Catherine Zeta, Cologne
  • 2021: NOTHINGTOSEENESS, Akademie der Künste, Berlin
  • 2021: architektura, Fuhrwerkswaage, Cologne
  • 2020: One Moment Please, Triest, New York
  • 2020: Who am I - VOL I, Mélange, Cologne
  • 2020: Il Ghirigoro, Pio Pico, Los Angeles
  • 2019: Dicke Luft, Galerie Bernhard, Zurich
  • 2019: Bad Actors, KARST, Plymouth
  • 2019: RAW, DuMont Kunsthalle, Cologne
  • 2019: 3 Zimmer, Küche, Bad, Braunsfelder, Cologne
  • 2018: TRANCE, Aïshti Foundation, Beirut
  • 2017: Bild des Tages, plət, Amsterdam
  • 2017: THE ART SHOW – Art of the New Millennium, Museum of Modern Art, Gunma
  • 2016: Fasi Lunari, Fondazione Carriero, Milan
  • 2015: Full of Peril and Weirdness: Painting as a Universalism, M Woods Museum, Beijing
  • 2014: Ordinary Freaks, Halle für Kunst & Medien, Graz
  • 2014: Beware Wet Paint, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London

Public collections

The works of David Ostrowski are held, among others, in the following public collections:

  • Aïshti Collection, Beirut
  • Arken Museum Collection, Copenhagen
  • Braunsfelder Family Collection, Cologne
  • Colección Jumex, Mexico City
  • Danjuma Collection, London
  • De la Cruz Collection, Miami
  • Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles
  • Louis Vuitton Collection, Paris
  • Marciano Art Foundation, Los Angeles
  • Moderna Museet, Stockholm
  • Museum of Old and New Art, Berriedale
  • Olbricht Collection, Berlin
  • Rubell Museum, Miami
  • Sammlung Goetz, Munich
  • Sammlung Scharpff, Bonn
  • Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf
  • Syz Collection, Switzerland
  • Taguchi Art Collection, Tokyo
  • Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv
  • Zabludowicz Collection, London

Bibliography

  • Leeres Wasser (Anti Drawings), Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne, 2023.
  • Concerned with things as their own composition, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne, 2023.
  • Chuzpe, Weinspach, Cologne, 2021
  • So kalt kann es nicht sein / It can’t be that cold, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne, 2021.
  • Poglos / Overtone (with Tobias Spichtig), Avant-Garde Institute, Warsaw, 2021
  • Time & Life (with Magnus Frederik Clausen), Jir Sandel, Copenhagen, 2021.
  • Menschen, Bilder, Emotionen, Leeahn Gallery / Sprüth Magers, Seoul, 2020.
  • 3 Zimmer, Küche, Bad (with Andreas Schulze, Sophie von Hellermann), Braunsfelder, Cologne, 2019.
  • I strongly object, Weinspach, Cologne, 2019.
  • The thin red line, Mousse Publishing, London, 2018.
  • DON’T/Conscious Decadence (with Nan Goldin & Galileo Chini), Halle 9 Kirowwerk, Leipzig, 2018
  • Nothing Happened / To Lose (with Michail Pirgelis), Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne, 2018.
  • I want to die Forever, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne, 2018.
  • The F Word, ARKEN Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, 2015.
  • How to do things left, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, 2014.
  • Even the most beautiful woman ends at her feet, Meurer Verlag, Cologne, 2013.
  • F Paintings, Peres Projects, Berlin, 2013.
  • Dann lieber nein, Figge von Rosen Galerie, Cologne, 2012
  • Ostrowski, David / Randt, Leif: Shake Your Tree, Nr. 4, Berlin, 2012
  • Die Lügnerin (with Philip Seibel), FORMAT:C, Düsseldorf, 2011
  • Hulk vs. Hulk (with David Fintrop), Acapulco, Düsseldorf, 2007

See also

References