The restless world of Thomas Grünfeld expresses itself through mixed media which include sculpture, collages and installations: the art of Thomas Grünfeld raises mixed feelings in the viewer about what seems familiar and what seems completely artificial and among what appears to be natural and simultaneously extremely unnatural: this induces in the spectator a yes/no reaction when looking at his works.
The Eye Paintings, reflective surfaces in resin from which glass eyes crop up, all different one to the others, also play on the same theme as above leaving the spectator with the uncertain feeling that he is being scrutinized by the artwork.
The juxtaposition of hybrid elements also nurtures his famous series of Misfit, an assembly of different species of taxidermied animals assembled together according to criteria such as proportion and likelihood, where the main nonconforming element is the natural pose of an unnatural creature.
Thomas Grünfeld (born in 1956 in Leverkusen, Germany) lives and works in Cologne.
Since 2004 Thomas Grünfeld holds a professorship for sculpture at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf.
Notable solo exhibitions include: Château de la Borie, Solignac, FR (2020) | Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf, DE (2017) | Massimo de Carlo Gallery, London, UK (2016) | Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, DE (2015) | Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, US (2015) | Museo d'Arte Contemporanea Villa Croce, Genoa, IT (2014) | Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, DE (2013).
Grünfelds' works were presented internationally in institutional group exhibition in venues including Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf, DE (2022) | Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, AT (2021/22) | Oulu Museum of Art, FL (2021) | Kunsthalle Tübingen, DE (2020) | Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, DE (2019) | Museum 21c, Louisville, US (2015) | Turner Contemporary, Margate, UK (2013) | K20 Museum, Düsseldorf, DE (2013) | Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, US (2000) | P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, US (1998) | Art Gallery, Auckland, AU (1998) | Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (1997)| ICA Institute of Contemporary Art, London UK (1994) |Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, AT (1992) and many more.
His works are in numerous public collections such as Museum Morsbroich Leverkusen, DE | Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, DE | Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, DE | Nationalgalerie, Berlin, DE | Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg, DE | Sammlung LBBW, Stuttgart, DE | Sprengel Museum, Hanover, DE | Staatsgalerie, Stuttgart, DE | Museu Coleccao Berardo, Lissabon, PT | Museum Boijmans van Breuningen, Rotterdam, NL | Museum 21Century, Louisville, US.
