Jutta Koether (born 1958) is a German artist, musician and critic based in New York City and Berlin

Dundee Contemporary Arts Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) is an art centre in Dundee, Scotland, with two contemporary art galleries, a two-screen cinema, a print studio, a learning and public engagement programme, a shop and a café bar. The director of DCA is Beth Bate ...

, Dundee. since the early 1990s.

Early life and education

Koether was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

and studied art and philosophy at the

University of Cologne The University of Cologne (german: Universität zu Köln) is a university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in the year 1388 and is one of the most prestigious and research intensive universities in Germany. It was the sixth university to ...

. She relocated to New York City in 1991.

Roberta Smith Roberta Smith (born 1948) is co-chief art critic of ''The New York Times'' and a lecturer on contemporary art. She is the first woman to hold that position. Early life Born in 1948 in New York City and raised in Lawrence, Kansas. Smith studied a ...

(June 4, 1993)
Art Review: Jutta Koether
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''.

Career

Koether's paintings are exercises in color, line, form and pattern and often feature text. Her style has precedent in the work of

Sigmar Polke Sigmar Polke (13 February 1941 – 10 June 2010) was a German painter and photographer. Polke experimented with a wide range of styles, subject matters and materials. In the 1970s, he concentrated on photography, returning to paint in the 1980s ...

and

Kenny Scharf Kenny Scharf (born November 23, 1958) is an American painter known for his participation in New York City's interdisciplinary East Village art scene during the 1980s, alongside Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Scharf's do-it-yourself pract ...

. She is also inspired by artists and intellectuals who have created an alternative to mainstream culture, including underground filmmaker

Kenneth Anger Kenneth Anger (born Kenneth Wilbur Anglemyer, February 3, 1927) is an American underground experimental filmmaker, actor, and author. Working exclusively in short films, he has produced almost 40 works since 1937, nine of which have been grouped ...

and musician

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

. She has collaborated with Sonic Youth’s

Kim Gordon Kim Althea Gordon (born April 28, 1953) is an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the bassist, guitarist, and vocalist of alternative rock band Sonic Youth. Born in Rochester, New York, she was raised in Los Angeles, Califor ...

on a number of projects, for example ''Her Noise'' at

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...

in 2005. Koether's work is also affiliated with

Martin Kippenberger Martin Kippenberger (25 February 1953 – 7 March 1997) was a German artist known for his extremely prolific output in a wide range of styles and media, superfiction as well as his provocative, jocular and hard-drinking public persona. Kippenb ...

. Their relationship began in Cologne when she interviewed him for Spex magazine. Although her work is not as grandiose as Kippenberger, both their works engage with the dense history of European, and more specifically, German painting. For much of the 1990s, she mixed graffiti-inspired brushwork, fluorescent colors (especially bright pink), fragmented images and assorted quotations on surfaces that had a vibrant, all-over undergrowth. Her solo show at Pat Hearn Gallery, New York, in 1997 featured a soundtrack by the artist, accompanied by

Tom Verlaine Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the frontman of the New York City rock band Television. Biography Verlaine was born Thomas Miller in Denville, New Jersey and ...

. Her visionary work, according to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' art critic

, sees painting as multipurpose. Koether’s 2009 show entitled ''Lux Exterior'' at

Reena Spaulings Reena Spaulings is a collective project in the medium of a novel, artist persona, and institutional art gallery active from 2005 to present in New York City. The Gallery's Co-founders and Co-Directors include Carissa Rodriguez, John Kelsey and Emi ...

further explored a common thematic in her work, the relation of painting with other aspects of theoretical and counter culture. Koether’s 2009 show was discussed in David Joselit’s essay entitled ''Painting Beside Itself''. The exhibition, which included a painting entitled ''Hot Rod (after Poussin) (2009)'' along with sculptural found objects and a series of three performances, was noted by Joselit as a “sophisticated response to the question which I began his essay How does a painting belong to a network?” In spring 2012, Koether took part in the three-month exposition of

Whitney Biennial The Whitney Biennial is a biennial exhibition of contemporary American art, typically by young and lesser known artists, on display at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, United States. The event began as an annual exhibition ...

. Around that time, she conceived two large series of works that respond directly to the French artist Nicolas Poussin, a reinterpretation of his '' The Seven Sacraments'' reimagined as a series of installations, and ''Seasons'' (2012), a response to Poussin’s '' The Four Seasons''.Jutta Koether: Seasons and Sacraments, 4 May 2013 to 7 July 2013

Arnolfini Arnolfini is an international arts centre and gallery in Bristol, England. It has a programme of contemporary art exhibitions, artist's performance, music and dance events, poetry and book readings, talks, lectures and cinema. There is also a ...

, Bristol. Since 1985, Koether has also worked as a reviewer and editor for many magazines and journals such as ''Spex'', ''

Texte zur Kunst ''Texte zur Kunst'' is a German contemporary art magazine. History ''Texte zur Kunst'' was founded in 1990 in Cologne by art historian Stefan Germer and art critic Isabelle Graw. It has been published in Berlin since 2000. Since the death of ...

'', ''

Flash Art ''Flash Art'' is a contemporary art magazine, and an Italian and international publishing house. Originally published bilingually, both in Italian and in English, since 1978 is published in two separate editions, Flash Art Italia (Italian) and Fl ...

'' and ''

Artscribe ''Artscribe'' (1976–92), titled ''Artscribe International'' from 1985, is a defunct British contemporary art magazine. It was notable for its commitment in the late 1970s and early 1980s to abstract art, and for giving popular art critic Ma ...

''. Koether has taught at many institutions, including

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin,

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, and

Bard College Bard College is a private liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic District—a National Historic Landmark. Founded in 1860, ...

. Currently, she is a professor at the

Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg The ''Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (HFBK Hamburg)'' is the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg. It dates to 1767, when it was called the ''Hamburger Gewerbeschule''; later it became known as ''Landeskunstschule Hamburg''. The main build ...

Selected exhibitions

2014 * ''Maquis,'' Galerie Francesca Pia, Zürich * ''A Moveable Feast - Part XV,'
Campoli Presti
Paris * ''Champrovement,'' Reena Spaulings, New York 2013 * ''Un établissement aux Folies-Koethère'', Établissement d'en face projects, Brussels * ''Cycle 1. Jutta Koether. Viktoria, Luise, Isabelle'', Praxes, Berlin * ''The Double Session'', Campoli Presti, London * ''Seasons and Sacraments'',

, Bristol, United Kingdom * ''Seasons and Sacraments'',

, Dundee, United Kingdom 2012 * ''The Fifth Season'', Bortolami Gallery, New York 2011 * ''Mad Garland'', Campoli Presti, Paris * ''The Thirst'',

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö i ...

, Stockholm * ''Berliner Schlussel'', Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin 2009 *

Van Abbemuseum The Van Abbemuseum () is a museum of modern and contemporary art in central Eindhoven, Netherlands, on the east bank of the Dommel River. Established in 1936, the museum is named after its founder, Henri van Abbe, who loved modern art and wante ...

, Eindhoven * ''Lux Interior'',

Reena Spaulings Fine Art Reena Spaulings is a collective project in the medium of a novel, artist persona, and institutional art gallery active from 2005 to present in New York City. The Gallery's Co-founders and Co-Directors include Carissa Rodriguez, John Kelsey and E ...

, New York * ''Sovereign Women in Painting'', Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Los Angeles 2008 * ''New Yorker Fenster'', Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Köln * ''No.5'', Kunsthall Landmark, Bergen * ''JXXXA LEIBHAFTIGE MALEREI'', Sutton Lane, Paris * ''Touch and Resist'', Song Song, Wien * Galerie Francesca Pia, Zürich 2007 * ''Anderungen aller Art'', Kunsthalle Bern, Bern 2006 * ''Love In a Void'',

Akademie der Bildenden Künste The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

* ''Metalist Moment'', Performance, Herald St,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

2005 * ''Very Lost Highway'', Simultanhalle, Köln * ''extreme harsh'', Ausstellungsraum Ursula Werz, Tübingen * ''I Is Had Gone'', Thomas Erben Gallery, New York * ''Her Noise'',

South London Gallery The South London Gallery, founded 1891, is a public-funded gallery of contemporary art in Camberwell, London. Until 1992, it was known as the South London Art Gallery, and nowadays the acronym SLG is often used. Margot Heller became its direc ...

, London * ''Blankness is not a Void'', Standard Oslo, Oslo * ''Kim Gordon and Jutta Koether'', Talk and Performance at

, London 2004 * ''Curious Crystals of Unusual Purity'', P.S.1 Institute for Contemporary Art,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

* ''Fresh Aufhebung - Künstlerisches Interesse am philosophische verneinten Wunderglauben'',

Kölnischer Kunstverein The Kölnischer Kunstverein is an art museum in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia state, Germany. It is named after the historical art society of the same name. The ''Kölnischer Kunstverein'' was a " Kunstverein" established in Cologne in 1839. ...

, Köln * Galerie Meerrettich, Berlin * ''Fresh Aufhebung'', 271 Grand Street, New York 2003 * ''Desire Is War'', Galerie Meerrettich,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

* ''The Club in the Shadow'', in collaboration with

, Kenny Schachter conTEMPorary, New York 2002 * ''Black Bonds'', Jutta Koether and Steven Parrino, Swiss Institute, New York * Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Köln 2000 * Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Köln * ''zur grünen schenke-fünf uhr nachmittags. die geheimen Bilder'', Galerie Freund, Wien 1999 1998 ''Brushholder Value'', Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster 1994 ''Dysfunction USA'', Arthur Rogers Gallery, New Orleans 1993 ''Parralax View: Cologne-New York'', P.S. 1 Institute for Contemporary Art, New York 1987 ''Werkschau Jutta Koether'', Kunstraum Stuttgart, Stuttgart

References

External links

*Jutta Koether o
ArtFacts.Net
*Images, biography and texts from th

Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects; Jutta Koether Biographie, Pressemitteilungen und Arbeiten
General information on Jutta Koether *Martin Pesch
Jutta Koether at Galerie Daniel Bucholz
(Review)
Jutta Koether at Campoli Presti
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koether, Jutta Living people 1958 births Artists from Cologne Women in electronic music German contemporary artists University of Cologne alumni Academic staff of the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg