Veit Laurent Kurz (born 1985 in Erbach, Germany) is a German visual artist based in Berlin. He creates installations consisting primarily of paintings, drawings, and sculptures, and later incorporated film and writing as well. His work is associated with post-technological approaches and explores constructed environments, combining organic motifs with synthetic materials and industrial surfaces.
He has exhibited internationally, including at Miguel Abreu Gallery, Kunstverein Nürnberg, and , and was included in Produktion. Made in Germany Drei (2017), a large-scale survey exhibition of contemporary art in Germany organized by Kestner Gesellschaft, Kunstverein Hannover, and Sprengel Museum.
His work has been reviewed in publications including Artforum, Frieze, and Kunstkritikk, and has been featured in coverage of Gallery Weekend Berlin in Die Zeit.
Kurz studied at the Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach am Main from 2005 to 2009. He then attended the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main from 2009 to 2012, where he studied fine arts under Michael Krebber.
Kurz began exhibiting in the early 2010s. His installations frequently combine constructed environments with found or natural materials, a practice he has described as the assembly of hybrid systems reflecting relationships between bodies and environments.
In 2016, he participated in a puppet show in Brooklyn alongside artists such as Rochelle Goldberg, Jacky Connolly, Ficus Interfaith, Martine Fougeron, and Daniela Lalita and curated by Shelby Jackson and Paul Gondry.
Two ongoing projects, Herba-4 (2014âÂÂ) and Corium (2021), address themes related to environmental precarity and cross-border biopolitics. In an interview with The Blank, Kurz described his work as concerned with the interaction of ecological and psychological systems.
Kurz has developed a recurring fictional character, Der Dilldapp, adapted from a figure by German Romantic writer Clemens Brentano. The character appears in several works, including The Dilldapp Memorial (2020).
His solo exhibitions include Sequence 7: One Work, One Week at Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York (2020).
In 2019, ' listed Kurz's solo exhibition Nutrition and Drama at Isabella Bortolozzi Galerie among the highlights of Gallery Weekend Berlin.
Kurz has collaborated with Stefan Tcherepnin at institutions including Kunsthalle Zürich, Reading International, and MoMA PS1, and with Anne Imhof at Portikus. He co-initiated the group exhibition Soapy (Servants Order of Ancient Psychic Youth), which later developed into the collaborative project Vetjylien N'gyrz with Julien Nguyen.
In 2017, Kurz participated with his installation "RElife" in Made in Germany Drei at Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover. Kurz combined sculptural elements with spatial and narrative structures, creating an environment that integrates references to architecture, design, and organic forms. Writing in Kunstkritikk, Stian Gabrielsen described Kurz as "one of the few artists in the show whose work seems genuinely unhinged, and therefore capable of pointing to something beyond the framework of the exhibition."
In 2020, Kurz received the 42nd Matteo Olivero Award, and the 4th Battaglia Foundry Sculpture Prize.
Kurz has exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions in Europe and the United States.
Herba-4 is a fictional healing elixir conceptualized in 2014 that appears in sculptural dispensaries, mock advertising campaigns, and immersive installations. The project has been interpreted as a critique of greenwashing and corporate wellness culture. It has been exhibited at Le Magasin CNAC Grenoble (2017), Städtische Galerie Delmenhorst (2020), Kunsthalle GieÃÂen (2021), and Kunstverein Dortmund (2022).
In 2020, Kurz presented a solo exhibition titled Thyroxin at Weiss Falk in Basel. An exhibition text notes references to the Chernobyl disaster and describes imagery related to radiation, poisoning, and psychological experiences such as anxiety and trauma.
Corium (2021) is a project presented at the Into Nature â New Energy biennial, and exhibited at Kunsthalle Lingen, where it was shown in the context of artistic responses to energy production and ecological transformation. The work includes an installation and a video component and takes its title from the lava-like material formed during a nuclear reactor meltdown.
cycle is a recurring mythology in Kurz's work that adapts Clemens Brentano's romantic character into a contemporary fictional figure. It appears across sculptural, narrative, and performative formats, including The Dilldapp Memorial (2020).
Lava Trilogie is a publication released in 2019 by Kunstverein Nürnberg â Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft in conjunction with the exhibition Metaphors & Mutations. The project explores symbolic associations between volcanic terrain and nuclear energy.
Kurz's work has been discussed in several contemporary art publications. In Artforum, his projects have been interpreted as drawing on mythological and narrative structures within contemporary contexts. Writing in Frieze, critics have highlighted the hybrid character of his installations, combining artificial materials with organic imagery and spatial staging. In Kunstkritikk, his work has been described as extending beyond conventional exhibition formats, while other reviews have emphasized its use of complex narrative systems and immersive environments.