Stefan Rinck

Stefan Rinck (born 1973) is a German visual artist working in the field of sculpture. He lives and works in Berlin.

Early life and education Stefan Rinck comes from an artist family in Zweibrücken. His father was the educator and draughtsman Norbert Rinck (1933–2016), his mother the painter and art teacher Ute Rinck, his sister is the writer Monika Rinck. Before his studies Rinck learned stone sculpting as an apprentice to a stonemason. Subsequently, he studied art history and philosophy at Saarland University in Saarbrücken and sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe with Stephan Balkenhol from 1996 until 2000.

Work For his figurative stone sculptures Rinck uses traditional tools and techniques of direct carving. He works with sandstone, limestone, marble and diabase. He finds his sources of inspiration in various epochs in particular the French Romanesque period as well as popular culture such as video games and comics. Rinck's stone figures build a community of characters, animals, monsters and hybrid creatures endowed with symbols and cultural attributes. He uses examples from history, myths, religion and folklore as reference material and places them in a contemporary context. He often deals with the issues of collective unconscious. The art theorist Bazon Brock states, Rinck adopts the figurative forms of expression of culturally collective fantasies remaining his independent language. One of the key elements of his language is the humorous expression whose lightness stands in contrast to the materiality of the stone. The humor has a liberating effect and helps the viewer to experience the unconscious. The cross-cultural and trans-historical communication qualities allow Rinck's sculptures to achieve universalizing ends, claims curator Daniel S. Palmer. In 2019, Stefan Rinck was featured in the Thames & Hudson publication 100 Sculptors of Tomorrow. The documentary Heart of Stone by Sonja Baeger which pictures the production of Rinck's three monumental-in-size sculptures was premiered in 2021 in Berlin.

Public sculptures Rinck has been realizing public sculptures since 2008. During his participation at the Busan Biennale in 2008 in South Korea, the granite sculpture The Division of Woman and Man was commissioned. In 2018, the work The Mongooses of Beauvais was permanently installed in the city of Paris at 53-57 rue de Grennelle (Beaupassage). Another monumental limestone sculptures were realized at Vent des Fôret (One of those who were too long in the woods, 2010) and La Forêt d'Art Contemporain (Saint Georges et son dragon de compagnie, 2020) in France. In November 2021, the sandstone sculpture Why I bear / Grosser Lastenbär was inaugurated at Zionskirchplatz in Berlin-Mitte.

The Mangooses of Beauvais (2017), Beaupassage, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris. Franklin Azzi Architecture et B&B Architectes, Emerige © Photograph by Charlotte Donker

Exhibitions Selected solo exhibitions 2025: The Return of the Alpine Clan, Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich 2025: Parade, Domaine de Chamarande, Chamarande 2024: The Bilss of Ignorance, CCA Andratx, Andratx, Mallorca 2023: Early Birds and Late Night Lizards, Nino Mier Gallery, New York 2022: Semigods of the Jockey Club, Skarstedt, East Hampton 2021: In this Garden he Reads the Diary of the World, Sorry We're Closed, Brussels 2020: I feel Air from other Planets, Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles 2019: Carnival, CAC Chapelle du Genéteil, Château-Gontier 2017: Metaphysical Casino, Semiose, Paris 2011: Die Geister die ich rief, Kunstverein Zweibrücken, Zweibrücken 2007: Vicerunt Viderunt Venerunt (with Uwe Henneken), The Breeder, Athens 2006: Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle, Munich

Selected group exhibitions 2025: Amsterdam Sculpture Biennale ArtZuid, Amsterdam 2024: The Atomic Age, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Paris 2024: Des exploits, des chefs d'œuvre, MAC Musée d'Art Contemporain Marseille, Marseille 2023: Un Été au Havre, Le Havre 2022: Nothing Is Permanent – Parcours de sculptures, curated by Alex Reding, on the occasion of European Capital of Culture, Esch-sur-Alzette 2021: Supernature, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Yverdon-les-Bains 2020: Biennale Gherdëina 7 - a breath? a name? – the ways of worldmaking, Ortisei / St. Ulrich 2020: Restons Unis, Galerie Perrotin, Paris 2019: Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain Hors les Murs, Jardin des Tuileries, Paris 2008: Busan Biennale, Busan 2007: The Present Order Is the disorder of the future, Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem / Hal & Hof

Public collections

Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München, Munich, DE Fonds régional d'art contemporain Normandie, Caen & Sotteville-lès-Rouen, FR Fonds régional d'art contemporain Corse, Corte, FR Centrum Beeldende Kunst Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL Musée de la Loterie, Brussels, BE Sammlung Krohne, Duisburg, DE