Noted concept artist Maria Eichhorn will represent Garmany at the 2022 Venice Biennale in Italy.
The Berlin-based artist is renowned in Europe for her conceptual artworks that are themed on the intersection of money, politics, and art. Director of Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Yilmaz Dziewior, will curate the national pavilion where Eichhorn will exhibit her work. Speaking about Eichhorn’s selection, Dziewior said she was always the artist he wanted to see representing Germany at the Venice Biennale. He added that in his opinion, Eichhorn is one of the few artists who truly understand German art history and its modern multi-faceted impact.
Maria Eichhorn first rose to the limelight with her 2002 work Maria Eichhorn Aktiengesellschaft. For this, she established a company by diverting funds from the German quinquennial and became its sole owner and stakeholder. The concept art was intended to convey the true meaning behind owning a company. The work was displayed in Documenta 11.
In 2016, Eichhorn created another work called 5 Weeks, 25 Days, 175 hours. This time, the artist closed down the Chisenhale Gallery in London for the aforementioned period. The objective of the work to talk about what happens when an art institution is closed. Next year, Eichhorn created the Rosa Valand Institute, named after the art historian who chronicled the loot of art by the Nazis during the Second World War. The institute focused on the art lost by Jewish families during the war. The project aimed to highlight the loss of property during the war and start a conversation about it.
