Matthias Weischer

Matthias Weischer (born 1973) is a German painter living in Leipzig. He is considered to be part of the New Leipzig School.

Life Born in Elte, North Rhine-Westphalia, Weischer studied painting from 1995 to 2001 and received his MA in 2003 from Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst (HGB) in Leipzig. He was a student in the master class of Professor Sighard Gille. In 2002, he was a co-founder of the artist-initiated gallery LIGA in Berlin that was run by eleven former HGB students, among them Christoph Ruckhäberle, Tim Eitel, David Schnell and Tilo Baumgärtel. LIGA was closed after two years in 2004. After cooperating with Galerie Kleindienst (Leipzig), Anthony Wilkinson (London) and EIGEN + Art (Leipzig/Berlin) Weischer is currently represented by König Gallery (Berlin) and Grimm Gallery (Amsterdam). His studio is located at the Leipzig Cotton Mill.

Work Weischers works oscillate between abstract and figurative painting. Until 2006, his paintings depicted deserted interiors like stage settings that are infused with abstract elements. Furniture, everyday objects, and large-scale ornaments stylistically refer to the 1950s and 1960s. In their collage-like appearance, they establish a complex and ambiguous relationship.

During his residency in Rome in 2007, Weischer concentrated on drawing and studies on nature and landscape. Since then, he predominantly works on and with paper, in smaller formats and with a lighter range of colors. He also explores different printing techniques and, recently, three-dimensional sculptural arrangements.

Since 2001, his work has been exhibited worldwide, e.g. in London (2003), Miami (2004), at the Venice Biennale, the Cleveland Museum of Art, in Chungnam, Korea (2005), The Hague, Málaga (2008), Ponce, Puerto Rico (2011), Hong Kong (2015) and Amsterdam (2017).

Among the public and private collections holding works by Matthias Weischer are the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, Arken Museum of Modern Art, Denmark, Arario Collection, Corea, Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Rubel Family Collection, Miami and Susan and Michael Hort, New York.

Solo exhibitions 2001: Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig 2002: Räumen, Kunsthaus Essen 2003: Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, London 2003: 3 Zimmer, Diele, Bad, LIGA, Berlin 2004: simultan, Künstlerhaus Bremen 2005: Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (Art award of the Leipziger Volkszeitung) 2006: Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen 2006: Galerie EIGEN + ART, Berlin 2006: Arbeiten auf Papier, Kunstverein Konstanz; Kunstverein Ulm 2007: Der Garten – Arbeiten auf Papier, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein 2007: Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen; Kunsthalle Mannheim 2008: Gemeentemuseum Den Haag 2008: Der Garten – Arbeiten auf Papier, Kloster Bentlage, Rheine 2008: Room with a view, CAC Málaga - Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga 2009: Room with a view, Kunsthalle Mainz 2010: In Monte Carlo, Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig 2011: Alice, Armin und all die anderen. Auf Papier, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig; Kunstverein Bremerhaven 2011: Obra nueva/New works, Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico 2013: Thicket, GRIMM Gallery, Amsterdam 2014: The Vincent Award Room: Matthias Weischer., Gemeentemuseum Den Haag 2014: Matthias Weischer, TAJAN, Paris 2015: Matthias Weischer: Das druckgraphische Werk, Akademie Franz-Hitz-Haus, Münster 2015: traces to nowhere, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, Hong Kong 2015: Matthias Weischer, König Gallery, Berlin 2016: Matthias Weischer - Grafik von 2005-2016, Thaler Originalgrafik, Leipzig 2016: In und auf Papier, Kloster Bentlage, Rheine 2017: Bankett, Grimm Gallery, Amsterdam 2019: Matthias Weischer, König Gallery, Berlin 2020: Stage, Grimm Gallery, New York 2020: Matthias Weischer, König Tokio Gallery, Tokyo 2020: Bühne, Drents Museum, Assen, Netherlands

Selected group exhibitions 2000: "LIGA", Steibs Hof, Leipzig 2000: "lokal", Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig 2001: "Szenenwechsel XX", Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main 2001: Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig 2002: Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig 2002: "6 aus 11", LIGA, Berlin 2003: "sieben mal malerei", Neuer Leipziger Kunstverein im Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig 2004: "Northern Light", Rubell Family Collection, Miami 2004: "Life After Death. New Leipzig Paintings from the Rubell Family Collection", Rubell Family Collection, Miami; MASS MoCA, North Adams; SITE Santa Fe, New Mexico; Katzen Arts Center Museum, Washington D.C.; Frye Art Museum, Seattle; Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City (bis 2008) 2005: "David, Matthes und ich", Kunstverein Nürnberg; Kunstverein Bielefeld 2005: "Cold Hearts. Artists from Leipzig", Arario Gallery, Cheonan, Korea 2005: "51. Biennale di Venezia. The Experience of Art", Venice 2005: "The Triumph of Painting. Part 3", Saatchi Gallery, London 2006: "Deutsche Wandstücke. Sette scene di nuova pittura germanica", Museion Bozen 2006: "Netherlands v. Germany - Painting/Malerei", GEM Museum voor actuele kunst, The Hague 2006: "Artists from Leipzig", Arario Beijing 2006: "Imagination Becomes Reality. Part V: Fantasy and Fiction", Sammlung Goetz, Munich 2007: "Rockers Island. Werke aus der Sammlung Olbricht", Museum Folkwang Essen 2007: "Weischer meets Beckmann", Kunsthalle Mannheim 2008: "Germania contemporanea. Dipingere è narrare", MART - Museo d'arte moderna e contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto 2008: "The Leipzig Phenomenon", Műcsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest 2008: "New Leipzig School", Cobra Museum, Amstelveen 2008: "Interieur/Exterieur. Wohnen in der Kunst", Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg 2010: "Parallels: Young contemporary painting from Norway/Leipzig", Kistefos Museum, Jevnaker 2010: "'Die Bilder tun was mit mir ...'. Einblicke in die Sammlung Frieder Burda", Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden 2012: "Sidetracks – Painting in the paramodern continuum", Stavanger Art Museum 2012: "Atelier + Küche – Labore der Sinne", Marta Herford 2013: Nightfall, Rudolfinum, Prag* 2012: "Paintings/Pinturas. The Rubell Family Collection", Sala de Arte Santander, Madrid 2013: The inevitable figuration, Centro per l'arte contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato 2013: Schöne Landschaft - Bedrohte Natur: Alte Meister im Dialog mit zeitgenössischer Kunst, Kunsthalle Osnabrück 2013: Ortsbestimmung - Zeitgenössische Kunst aus Sachsen, Kulturhistorisches Museum Görlitz 2013: Donation Florence et Daniel Guerlain, Centre Pompidou, Paris 2014: This side of Paradise, S|2 Sotheby's, London 2015: All the worlds a stage - works from the Goetz Collection; Fundacion Banco Santander, Madrid 2015: Offen auf AEG: Druckgrafische Arbeiten Auf AEG, Nürnberg 2015: Camera Obscura - Malerei von David Schnell, Matthias Weischer und Christoph Ruckhäberle, Neuer Pfaffenhofener Kunstverein, Pfaffenhofen 2015: Made in Germany, Highpoint Printmaking Center, Minneapolis 2016: "Maroc", ASPN Gallery, Leipzig 2016: Aufschlussreiche Räume - Interieur als Portrait, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen 2017: Künstlerräume II, Gallery Karsten Greve, Cologne 2017: Three Positions. Six Directions, König Gallery, Berlin 2017: Germany 8: Next Generation - Young German Art, White Box Art Center, Peking 2019: Away in the Hill, Grimm Gallery, New York

Awards 2001: Scholarship Junge Kunst, Kunsthaus Essen 2003: Scholarship Stiftung Kunstfonds zur Förderung der zeitgenössischen bildenden Kunst, Bonn 2004: Protégé of Mentor David Hockney - Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative 2005: August Macke Prize 2005: Art award of the Leipziger Volkszeitung 2007: Scholarship of the Deutsche Akademie Rom Villa Massimo, Rome 2012: Scholarship Civitella Ranieri Foundation 2017: Eduard Arnhold Scholarship

Publications Michael Hametner: Auf der Bühne. 15 Gespräche – ein Porträt des Malers Matthias Weischer. Mitteldeutscher Verlag 2016. (German/Englisch) . Matthias Weischer. Obra nueva/New work, exh. cat. Museo de Arte de Ponce, Puerto Rico 2011. (Spanish/English) Kunstwerkstatt Matthias Weischer, Prestel Verlag, Munich 2011. (German) Matthias Weischer. Room with a view, exh. cat. Kunsthalle Mainz, Sparkasse Essen 2009. (German/English) Matthias Weischer. In the Space Between, exh. cat. CAC Málaga 2008. (Spanish) Matthias Weischer. Der Garten. Arbeiten auf Papier/The Garden. Works on Paper, exh. cat. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein; Kloster Bentlage, Rheine 2007. (German/English) Matthias Weischer. Malerei/Painting, exh. cat. Museum zu Allerheiligen Schaffhausen, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag 2007. (German/English) The triumph of painting. Matthias Weischer, Eberhard Havekost, Dexter Dalwood, Dana Schutz, Michael Raedecker, Inka Essenhigh, London 2005. Matthias Weischer. Simultan, exh. cat. Künstlerhaus Bremen 2004. (German/English)