Mark Lammert (born 30 September 1960 in Berlin), is a German painter, illustrator, graphic artist and stage designer. He lives and works in Berlin.
Biography
Lammert studied painting at Kunsthochschule Berlin from 1979 to 1986 and from 1989 to 1992 he was master scholar at Akademie der Künste zu Berlin. In 1993 he created his first stage design for Heiner MüllerâÂÂs production of âÂÂDuell-Traktor- Fatzerâ at Berliner Ensemble. In the following years he received scholarships for painting from Senatsverwaltung für Kulturelle Angelegenheiten, Berlin (1994) and the Kunstfond Bonn e.V. (1996) In 1997 he was affiliated to the latter as a curator. In 1997 he lived and worked in Lisbon and in 1998 he was awarded the Grafikpreis of Kunstmesse Dresden. In 1999 Akademie der Künste awarded him their Käthe Kollwitz Prize and in 2000/2001 Academie Experimentale des Theatres invited him to Paris. The PreuÃÂische Seehandlung presented him with their Eberhard Roters scholarship for painting in 2002. He spent most of 2002 in France, where he was artist in residence des âÂÂLes RecolletsâÂÂ, Paris. In 2011 Lammert was appointed professor of painting at the Universität der Künste, Berlin.
Work
Lammert appeared before the public both with paintings and drawings from very early on and was represented in many exhibitions of German art (e.g. âÂÂDeutschlandbilderâÂÂ, Bern 1997 and âÂÂArt of Two GermanysâÂÂ, County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 2009). His work is driven by a conceptual approach that questions the limits of what is pictorially representable. This applies to the early portraits (Stephan Hermlin, 1987) which were described as painted protest against a society unaware of its history and to the subsequent series of paintings, drawings and graphic art: beginning with the early group paintings âÂÂPeople Waitingâ (1983 â 88) via the frozen white nudes and butchery paintings up to the graphic sequence âÂÂKinneâ that invalidates the cliche Heiner Müller.
His large-sized series of paintings âÂÂalliedâ (1994âÂÂ1995), he palimpsestically applied shades of red paint to the backside of maps increasingly illustrate his principle of reduction: he reduces fragments of human figures in the context of the cartographical pattern. He starts experimenting with various work bases, works on book caskets and puts fine line networks as quadrature onto drawings on crude paper. Since 1998 he has chosen to work on smaller pictures which he has expanded to tableaus. The scarceness that leaves only the elementary keeps the balance between the carnal and the skeleton, framework and matter, line and colour and also between image and polyvalent characters. The reduction not only captures the figurative traces of the physical, but also the colours of the backgrounds as the blots of paints appear on them like injuries. âÂÂArmbrusrâ (1997âÂÂ1999), âÂÂHüllenâ (1998âÂÂ1999), âÂÂBrust-korbâ (1998âÂÂ2000) and âÂÂWeiÃÂâ (2001âÂÂ2003) are placed onto white backgrounds, âÂÂPassionâ (2001âÂÂ2002) and âÂÂSchwarzâ (2002âÂÂ2004) are placed onto shaded dark backgrounds. Increasingly the colour sentiment begins to change (âÂÂFloatersâÂÂ, 2005âÂÂ2009), whereas the relations between base and pictorial feature, as shown by the writing pieces, are changed and in their configuration turn towards the ornamental.
A comprehensive body of work consisting of print graphic pieces has been created alongside. In some cases all lithographic templates were embraced by the image-finding process to yield a collage-like result. Furthermore, since the 1980s, Lammert has been collecting his material in work books that serve as a parallel work space and by reflecting the media illustrate the political context his work emerges from. Apart from collages, photos and drawings which often disclose techniques of representing the brutal these books are filled with written notations and excerpts from various theoretical texts. The visual and the verbal are crossed. When creating the pieces entitled âÂÂRisseâ (2004), the technique of handwritten copying is used for the first time to bring into being pictures that are both text and drawing. By leaving openings within the body of text they reveal shapes and figures. Increasingly these notations become more fragmented and mapped. In âÂÂKnochenâ (2006/07) coloured, free-floating fields in linear contours that mark the growing stages from the animal collection of the Musée Fragonard in Paris in terms of colour are confronted with written extracts.
By means of his collaboration with Heiner Müller since 1991 (âÂÂAus dem TotenhausâÂÂ, 1990; âÂÂBlockadeâÂÂ, 1991; Totenzeichnungen 1995) Lammert created stage designs that convert the materiality of his painting into the spatial. The spaces that were sometimes merely divided by falling pieces of fabric (Germania 3, 1996) or by a revolving door (Perser, 2006) become fellow actors and have been referred to as dramaturgy engines.
Work (selection)
Retrospectives
- 1991 und 1993, Galerie Rotunde, Altes Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin (catalogue);
- 1995 Kunsthalle Rostock (catalogue);
- 1996 Kunstmuseum Kloster Unser Lieben Frauen, Magdeburg (catalogue);
- 1998 galerie refugium, Berlin;
- 1999 Käthe Kollwitz Preis, Akademie der Künste, Berlin (catalogue);
- 2000 Kunstkabinett am Goetheplatz, Stadtmuseum Weimar;
- 2001 âÂÂArbeitsbücher und SerienâÂÂ, Kunstsammlung Neubrandenburg;
- 2002 Kunstraum Les Subsistances, Lyon;
- 2004 âÂÂRisseâÂÂ, fruehsorge - Galerie für Zeichnung, Berlin;
- 2005 âÂÂFragment dâÂÂespaceâÂÂ, Centro de Arte Moderna, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon (catalogue);
- 2006 âÂÂAusgewählte ZeichnungenâÂÂ, Berlinische Galerie, Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst, Fotografie und Architektur, Berlin (catalogue);
- 2007 âÂÂOne Stepp beyondâ (mit Greg Stone), fruehsorge â Galerie für Zeichnung, Berlin;
- 2010 âÂÂbeauty is booty", fruehsorge â Galerie für Zeichnung, Berlin;
- 2010 âÂÂMalerei 1997-2010", Guardini Gallerie, Berlin
Group exhibitions
- 1989 âÂÂ1. Quadrinale â Zeichnungen der DDRâÂÂ, Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig;
- 1991 âÂÂVice VersaâÂÂ, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem;
- 1992 âÂÂTurning Points â East German Art in RevolutionâÂÂ, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art, Sunderland u.a.;
- 1993 âÂÂAkademie 93âÂÂ, Berlin;
- 1995 âÂÂScharfer Blick â Der Deutsche Künstlerbund in BonnâÂÂ, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn;
- 1996 âÂÂZeichnenâÂÂ, Der Deutsche Künstlerbund, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nürnberg;
- 1996 âÂÂDas szenische AugeâÂÂ, Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, Berlin, Neu-Dehli u.a.;
- 1997 âÂÂrespondemâÂÂ, Exhibition Centre, Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon;
- 1997 âÂÂdeutschlandbilderâÂÂ, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin;
- 2000 âÂÂKabinett der ZeichnungâÂÂ, Kunstverein Düsseldorf u.a.;
- 2002 âÂÂWahnzimmer â Kunst und Kultur der achtziger Jahre in DeutschlandâÂÂ, Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig, and Museum Folkwang, Essen;
- 2003 âÂÂWarum!, Bilder diesseits und jenseits des MenschenâÂÂ, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin;
- 2003 âÂÂKunst in der DDRâÂÂ, Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin;
- 2008/2009 âÂÂNotation. Kalkül und Form in den KünstenâÂÂ, Akademie der Künste, Berlin and ZKM, Karlsruhe;
- 2009 âÂÂArt of Two GermanysâÂÂ, County Museum of Art, Los Angeles;
- 2009 âÂÂZeigen", Temporäre Kunsthalle, Berlin;
- 2010 âÂÂJe mehr ich zeichne/Zeichnung als Weltentwurf", Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen;
- 2012/2013 âÂÂAbschied von Ikarus", Neues Museum, Weimar;
- 2015 âÂÂMeisterspiel", Strawalde + Mark Lammert, GALERIE BORN, Berlin
Stage designs
- 1993 for Heiner Müller, âÂÂDuell-Traktor-Fatzerâ (Müller/Brecht), Berliner Ensemble, Berlin;
- 1995 for Heiner Müller, âÂÂGermania 3â (Müller), Berliner Ensemble, Berlin;
- 1995 for Josef Szeiler, âÂÂPhiloktetâ (Müller), Berliner Ensemble, Berlin;
- 1997 for Jean Jourdheuil, âÂÂGermania 3â (Müller), Lisbon;
- 2003 for Jean Jourdheuil, âÂÂLa Finta giardinieraâ (Mozart), Staatsoper Stuttgart;
- 2004 for Jean Jourdheuil, âÂÂMichel Foucault, chose dites, choses vuesâÂÂ, Festival dâÂÂAutomne, Paris;
- 2005 for Jean Jourdheuil âÂÂIdemeneoâ (Mozart), Staatsoper Stuttgart;
- 2006 for Dimiter Gotscheff, âÂÂDie Perserâ (Aischylos/Müller), Deutsches Theater Berlin;
- 2007 for Dimiter Gotscheff, âÂÂDie Hamletmaschineâ (Müller), Deutsches Theater, Berlin;
- 2009 for Dimiter Gotscheff, âÂÂDie Perserâ (Aischylos), Epidauros/Greece;
- 2009 for Dimiter Gotscheff, âÂÂPrometheusâ (Aischylos/Müller), Volksbühne, Berlin;
- 2009 for Volker Schlöndorff, âÂÂUnd das Licht scheint in der Finsternisâ (Tolstoi), Berlin/Moskau;
- 2009 for Jean Jourdheuil, âÂÂPhiloktetâ (Sophokles/Müller), Théâtre de la Ville, Paris;
- 2009 for Dimiter Gotscheff, âÂÂOedipus Tyrannâ (Sophokles/Hölderlin/Müller), Thalia Theater, Hamburg;
- 2010 for Dimiter Gotscheff, âÂÂDie Chinesin" (Godard), Volksbühne, Berlin;
- 2011 for Reinhild Hoffmann, âÂÂExercices du silence", Staatsoper, Berlin;
- 2011 for Dimiter Gotscheff, âÂÂMedeamaterial" (Müller), Deutsches Theater, Berlin
Public collections
- Stiftung PreuÃÂischer Kulturbesitz, Kupferstichkabinett, Sammlung der Zeichnung, Berlin
- Berlinische Galerie, Landesmuseum für moderne Kunst, Fotografie und Architektur, Berlin
- Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig
- Staatliches Lindenau Museum, Altenburg
- Staatliche Kunstsammlung, Dresden
- Staatliches Museum, Schwerin
- Sammlung Ann und Werner Kramarsky, New York
- Kunstsammlung der Akademie der Künste, Berlin
- Sammlung Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt a.M.
Awards
- 1996 Wilhelm-Höpfner-Preis der Winckelmann-Gesellschaft, Stendal
- 1998 Grafik-Preis der Kunstmesse Dresden
- 1999 Käthe Kollwitz Preis der Akademie der Künste
- 2002 Eberhard Roters Stipendium der PreuÃÂischen Seehandlung, Berlin
- 2003 Artist in residence, Centre International âÂÂLes RecolletsâÂÂ, Paris
Literature
- Michael Freitag: âÂÂKalte Anschauung. Der Maler Mark LammertâÂÂ, in: Kunst in der DDR. Editors: Eckhardt Gillen/Rainer Haarmann, Köln, 1990.
- Heiner Müller: âÂÂAus dem TotenhausâÂÂ, Edition Pariser Platz 4, Berlin, 1991.
- Jannis Kounellis, Mark Lammert und Heiner Müller: BLOCKADE/ICH HAB ZUR NACHT GESESSEN MIT GESPENSTERN, Berlin, 1993.
- Durs Grünbein: Müllers Kinn, Berlin, 1994.
- Anni Bradon: Schwebe-Zustand, Rostock, 1995.
- Heiner Müller und Mark Lammert: Drucksache Nr. 20, Berliner Ensemble, Arbeitsbuch zu âÂÂGermania 3/Gespenster am Toten MannâÂÂ, 1996.
- Uwe Gellner: âÂÂKörperräumeâÂÂ, in: Mark Lammert. Malerei, Berlin/Magdeburg, 1996.
- Antje von Graevenitz: âÂÂRekonstruktion einer SzeneâÂÂ, in: IfA, Stuttgart, 1997.
- Jean Jourdheuil; Der Raum des Theaters und der Raum im Theater, Dresden/Berlin 1998.
- Matthias Flügge: âÂÂLaudatio für Mark LammertâÂÂ, in: Sinn und Form, Berlin, 1999.
- Michael Freitag: âÂÂDie Uneigentlichkeit des ScheinsâÂÂ, in: Warum, Ostfildern, 2003.
- Roland März: âÂÂDiptychon imaginiaireâÂÂ, in: Humboldt, Heft 86, Bonn, 2003.
- Mirjam Schaub âÂÂScriptoriaâÂÂ, in: SCHRIFT BILDER DENKEN, Walter Benjamin und die Künstler der Gegenwart, Frankfurt am Main, 2004.
- Knut Ebeling, Carolin Meister: Arbeitsbücher/Workbooks (engl.), Düsseldorf, Richter-Verlag, 2005.
- Jorge Molder: âÂÂFragment dâÂÂespaceâÂÂ, in: CMA, Lisbon, 2005.
- Ulrike HaÃÂ: âÂÂDramaturgiemaschinen. Zu den Bühnen Mark LammertsâÂÂ, in: Theater der Zeit, 2008.
- Amy Eshoo 560 Broadway. A New Drawing Collecktion at Work, 1991âÂÂ2006, 2008.
- Reinhard Ermen: âÂÂMark LammertâÂÂ, in: Kunstforum international, Bd. 196, Zeichnen zur Zeit, 2009.
- Eckhart Gillen: âÂÂSzenes from the theatre of the cold war of the artsâÂÂ, in: Art of Two Germanys, County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 2009.
- Matthias Flügge, Bruno Duarte: Mark Lammert, Malerei 1997âÂÂ2010 (engl.), Richter Verlag, Düsseldorf, 2011.
- Juriaan Benschop: Mark Lammert, in: Artforum, New York March 2011.
- Judith Elisabeth Weiss: Mark Lammerts Kinne und Haare. Zeichnerische Fragmente von Heiner Müller und Dimiter Gotscheff, in: Kunstforum international, Bd. 216, 2012.
External links