Mark Divo (born 1966) is a Swiss-Luxembourgish
conceptual artist and
curator
A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
who organizes large-scale
interactive art
Interactive art is a form of art that involves the spectator in a way that allows the art to achieve its purpose. Some interactive art installations achieve this by letting the observer walk through, over or around them; others ask the artist ...
projects incorporating the work of underground artists. His work involves painting, performance, photography, sculpture, and installation.
Career
Between 1988 and 1989 Divo worked in West Berlin. After the fall of the
Berlin wall
The Berlin Wall (german: Berliner Mauer, ) was a guarded concrete barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and East Germany (GDR). Construction of the Berlin Wall was commenced by the governm ...
in 1989, he moved to East Berlin, where he organized exhibitions at the
Kunst Haus Tacheles. Between 1990 – 1994 he organized exhibitions, performances, and murals with the Duncker group.
In 1994 he moved back to Zurich where he created a number of murals and organised a group of travelling mural painters. There he organised a number of underground art projects funded by the Swiss government, including exhibitions / events in the subways of
Escherwyssplatz. In 1995, he organised a festival of underground art. Amongst the artists who exhibited were Swiss artist
Ingo Giezendanner
Ingo Giezendanner (born 1975) is a painter and installation artist and member of the Kroesos Foundation. He lives and works in Zürich, Switzerland.
Since 1998, Ingo Giezendanner, alias GRRRR, has been documenting the urban
spaces in which h ...
, German artist
Leumund Cult and British artist
Lennie Lee
Lennie Lee (born 4 March 1958) is a South African conceptual artist who lives and works in London.
Life and career
Lennie Lee is a British artist born in Johannesburg, South Africa. He moved to the UK in 1960. He was educated at Dulwich colleg ...
.
In the winter of 2002, he
occupied
' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...
the
Cabaret Voltaire with different artists including
Dan Jones. Together they succeeded in preventing the location's closure. The building has now been turned into a museum dedicated to Dada (Cabaret Voltaire). In 2003 he organised another Dada festival at the
Sihlpapierfabrik.
Beginning in 2003, Divo organised an annual Dada festival. In 2004, he was awarded a one year art residency at the
Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York in West Broadway, New York where he invited artists to exhibit alongside him. In the summer of 2008 he established the
Divo Institute, a new multi-disciplinary arts centre in the city of Kolín, near Prague. In August 2009 Divo was one of thirty artist-curators who presented work by artists from the Divo Institute at the Subvision Art Festival, Hamburg.
Since becoming an artist, Divo has exhibited in museums throughout Europe including the
Helmhaus, Zurich, the
Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, the
Kunsthaus Zurich and the
Kinsky Palace, Prague. He has created three public sculptures for the city of Zurich.
Since 2002, working in collaboration with artists, performers and photographers, Divo has produced a series of large format conceptual photographs in which he satirises politics and mocks art history.
External links
*
DADATA.CH , archive of events organized by Mark Divo*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060814133953/http://www.artfairsinternational.com/articles/prague2_article.html The Real Biennale, inhabited sculpture at the Kinsky palace, Praguebr>
Prague Biennaleat the
Cabaret Voltaire (Zurich)
Cabaret Voltaire was the name of a short-lived artistic nightclub in Zürich, Switzerland in 1916 (revived in the 21st century). It was founded by Hugo Ball, with his companion Emmy Hennings, in the back room of Holländische Meierei, Spiegelga ...
List of important Swiss artists
{{DEFAULTSORT:Divo, Mark
1966 births
Living people
Luxembourgian artists
Luxembourgian curators