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Dirk Skreber - Artists - Petzel Gallery

Dirk Skreber (b. 1961, Lübeck, Germany)

Dirk Skreber currently lives and works in Berlin. He received a degree in fine arts from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in Germany. Skreber works in various mediums including painting, sculpture, and installation. He uses images of natural disasters and accidents involving deconstructed parts of buildings, trains and cars. These paintings and sculptures often depict an accident that appears to have just taken place.

The artist had a solo show at Petzel Gallery in 2018 and has had numerous other solo exhibitions including: Dirimart Gallery, Istanbul (2015); Milwaukee Art Museum, WI (2013); Leopold-Hoesch-Museum & Papiermuseum, Düren, Germany (2012); Frans Halsmuseum, Haarlem, Netherlands (2009); Museum Dhont-Dhaenens, Gent, Belgium (2009); National Arts Center, Baden-Baden; Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf, Switzerland (2008); Museum fur Modern Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany (2007); The Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO (2004); Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE and group exhibitions at: Malborough Contemporary, New York (2017) The Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2011); Trienniale der Kleinplastik Fellbach, Germany (2010); Musee d’Art Contemporain de Nimes, France (2005); Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland (2001), and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2001), among others. In 2000, Dirk Skreber received the “Preis der Freunde der Nationalgalerie für junge Kunst” at the Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin. He has works in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and Museum fur Modern Kunst, Frankfurt. His work is included in The Saatchi Collection; The Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles); The Collection of the Museum Frieder Burda (Baden-Baden) and many more.

Dirk Skreber, Crystella 2, 2006, Oil on canvas, 74.8 x 129.9 inches

Dirk Skreber, Crystella 2, 2006, Oil on canvas, 74.8 x 129.9 inches

Skreber's work is unsettling, filled with contradictions that tug us in opposing directions: the violence and beauty, the velocity and stillness, the hyper-realism and sketchy abstraction, the mangled objects and a pervasive slickness, the intense action and desolate emptiness.

Mary Louise Schumacher on Dirk Skreber

Career Highlights

Dirk Skreber - Artists - Petzel Gallery

Dirk Skreber, Untitled (Train), 1997, Isolation tape and oil on canvas, 27.6 x 35.4 inches.

1961 Born in Lübeck, Germany

1982-88 Studies at the Düsseldorf Art Academy

1987 First solo exhibition in Cologne

1988 Solo exhibition in Düsseldorf and participates in group show at Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf

1994-95 Guest Professor at the Art Academy Karlsruhe

1997 Solo presentation at Leopold-Hoesch-Museum in Düren

2000 Preis der Freunde der Nationalgalerie für junge Kunst, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin

Dirk Skreber - Artists - Petzel Gallery

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Killer Wheels, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands, 2009

2002 Solo exhibition at Kunstverein Freiburg

2004 First solo show at Petzel, New York

Presentation titled Na(h)tanz at Aspen Art Museum

2005 Solo exhibition travels from The Aspen Art Museum to Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha

2006 Second solo show at Petzel, New York followed by an exhibition at The Frans Hals Museum in the Netherlands

2008 Presentation at Museum Franz Gertsch in Burgdorf

2009 Third solo show at Petzel, New York

Museum exhibitions at Frans Hals Musueum in Haarlem and Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens in Belgium

2010 Fourth exhibition at Petzel, New York

Dirk Skreber - Artists - Petzel Gallery

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Currents 36, Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013

2012 First solo exhibition in Tokyo with Nanzuka

Presentation at Leopold-Hoesch-Museum & Papiermuseum Düren, Germany

2013 Institutional exhibition at the Milwaukee Art Museum

Fifth solo show at Petzel, New York

2014 Participates in exhibition of Titze Collection in Vienna

2015 Group show at Petzel

2016 First exhibition with Capitain Petzel

2017 Group show at Petzel in New York and Tokyo

2018 Sixth solo exhibition at Petzel's location on the Upper East Side

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, days before, Petzel, New York, 2018

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, days before, Petzel, New York, 2018

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, days before, Petzel, New York, 2018

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, days before, Petzel, New York, 2018

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, days before, Petzel, New York, 2018

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, days before, Petzel, New York, 2018

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Currents 36, Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Currents 36, Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Currents 36, Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Currents 36, Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Currents 36, Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Currents 36, Milwaukee Art Museum, 2013

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Killer Wheels, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands, 2009

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Killer Wheels, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands, 2009

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Killer Wheels, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands, 2009

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Killer Wheels, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands, 2009

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Killer Wheels, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands, 2009

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Killer Wheels, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands, 2009

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Gent, Belgium

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Gent, Belgium

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Gent, Belgium

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Gent, Belgium

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Gent, Belgium

Installation view, Dirk Skreber, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Gent, Belgium