Thomas Hirschhorn

The artist’s works – designed to be a habitable space, as well as a lab, a storage facility and a stage – are forever becoming; a document of an endless and moving thought

'Il morso delle termiti' undertakes a re-reading of art history through the lens of graffiti. It poses graffiti as an experience, attitude and mode of nonconformity, rather than an aesthetic. 

Group exhibition ‘Why can't we live together’ explores migration and cultural identity
alongside the consequences of colonialism and environmental destruction. The presentation features ‘Arch (Growing Assertiveness)’, 2006 by Thomas Hirschhorn, 'a triumphal arch of journalism, topicality, opinions, comments and information'.

Thomas Hirschhorn and Jim Hodges are included in an informal group of international contemporary artists who have come together to support ’Artists at Risk’, a non-profit organisation who since 2013 have collaborated with arts non-profits and government funders to assist artists who are at risk politically and fleeing oppression and war.

'Crazy: Madness in Contemporary Art' is a group exhibition comprising 11 new site-specific installations across the historic, interior and exterior spaces of Chiostro del Bramante, Rome. Curated by Danilo Eccher and featuring over 21 international artists, the presentation explores divergent portrayals and perceptions of reality in contemporary art.

Group presentation ‘Résister, encore’ explores forms of resistance developed by artists. The exhibition includes ‘A Ruin is a Ruin (A Ruin is a Ruin)’, 2016 by Thomas Hirschhorn, a series of mixed-media works that combine imagery of ruins to investigate the charged meanings ascribed to these complex and politically charged sites.

Group exhibition 'Les grands Ensembles' brings together twenty artists as a collective whose works involve an exploration of public space, architecture and related societal themes. 

In collaboration with Bombas Gens Centre d’Art and curator Sandra Guimarães, Thomas Hirschhorn presents 'Energy = Yes! Quality = No! (Critical Workshop)'. Attendees are required to contribute a single work or input such as a text, an original painting, a drawing, a song, a collage, a sculpture, a video, etc. and participate in ‘common work’ such as discussions, exchange, thinking or judging. All are welcome to attend and entry to the workshop is free.

In response to the isolating effects of the pandemic, ‘Art as Connection’ is designed as an experimental, socially focussed and accessible exhibition. Confronted with questions about isolation and exclusion, distrust, illness and death, the curatorial team at Aargauer Kunsthaus developed the exhibition in a consciously collective discourse with the invited artists.

Curated by Hou Hanru and Luigia Lonardelli, ‘The Purple Line’ is an exhibition of works including Hirschhorn’s ‘Pixel-Collage’, an expansive series of works created between 2015 and 2017. For the first time, the collages are grouped together and displayed on a long purple wall following a layout designed by the artist. The project seeks to disrupt the standard exhibition format whilst making the viewer hyper-aware of their surroundings.

The 54th edition of Steirischer Herbst features newly commissioned artworks that directly engage with public space, creating opportunities for audiences to reengage with their locality through chance encounters, local workshops and public gatherings. This year’s discursive program probes the common impasses of a post-pandemic reality and looks for ways of getting beyond them.

‘Swiss Sculpture since 1945’ is a comprehensive exhibition that offers an overview of an exciting chapter in Swiss art history. 

Thomas Hirschhorn joins curator Sophie Lauwers, and philanthropist Vera Michalski-Hoffmann to discuss the challenges of keeping public art public. Moderated by Antony Hudek, the conversation will address the questions: "How to maintain the collaborative spirit of works conceived in and for public space?" and "What role do private art foundations play in ensuring their long-term agency?”

'Community of Fragments' is an extensive site-specific presentation by Thomas Hirschhorn, which transforms the galleries of GL Strand, Copenhagen in March 2021.

"For me, in all of my community projects, the aim is to assert, support and work to ensure that the material aspects be exceeded by the intensity, experience and moments of grace that typify my vision of precariousness art in the public arena. This is what makes celebrating the 20th anniversary of the ‘Deleuze Monument’ a meaningful breakthrough and corresponds fully to this assertion." – Thomas Hirschhorn

‘Sharity – Teilen, Tauschen, Verzichten’ is a group exhibition at Kunst(Zeug)Haus, Rapperswil-Jona, Switzerland. The presentation explores how sharing and swapping can contribute to social transformation and a post-materialistic lifestyle, whilst questioning the reasons why we share in an increasingly digital society. 

Thomas Hirschhorn’s ‘Spinoza-Car’, 2012 is featured at BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium.

New Museum Of Contemporary Art Helga De Alvear opens in Spain with an inaugural exhibition featuring a selection of important works from the collection of Helga De Alvear, comprising 145 pieces from over 100 leading contemporary artists. Curated by José María Viñuela, it is the first time the majority of these artworks are exhibited at a museum institution.

This illustrated catalogue was published in celebration of the gallery's 25th anniversary in conjunction with the group exhibition '25 Years' at Stephen Friedman Gallery, London (25 September – 7 November 2020). 

"With this lecture on 'Robert Walser-Sculpture', a work in a public space that I/we completed last year with residents of the city of Biel/Bienne, I want to explain in my own words what I gained from this complex and difficult, yet incredibly beautiful experience." – Thomas Hirschhorn 

'00s. Cranford Collection: the 2000s' is a group exhibition at MO.CO, Montpellier that brings together over one hundred works from the Cranford Collection. Spanning a wide range of media, themes and geography, the exhibition reveals how global culture, geopolitics, economy and ecology transformed during the 2000s. 

'The Exhausted Man' brings together over 200 objects from cultural and art history to explore how ideals of masculinity have changed over the centuries. Included in the exhibition is Thomas Hirschhorn's collaborative work with. German philosopher Marcus Steinweg, 'Map of Headlessness', 2011. 

In this episode of 'In the Foreground', Starr Director Caroline Fowler discusses Swiss artist Thomas Hirschhorn with Lisa Lee, (Florence Gould Foundation Fellow, spring 2020). This conversation explores Lee’s interest in artworks that highlight the power of art to effect socio-political change.

'Portrait of a Young Planet' is a new presentation of Mudam's permanent Collection that explores the relationship between the individual and the community through a diverse array of social and political themes. Included in the exhibition is Thomas Hirschhorn’s 'Flugplatz Welt/World Airport', which was created in 1999 for the Venice Biennale and now forms part of the Mudam Collection. 

In celebration of its tenth anniversary, MAXXI, Rome hosts a programme of events, including 'A story for the future', a ten-hour social digital marathon. The event is a partnership with Vanity Fair Italia and takes place on the museum's social media channels on Thursday 18 June (11am–9pm). 

The 13th edition of the Swiss Sculpture Exhibition in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland presented 'Robert Walser-Sculpture' by Thomas Hirschhorn. Constructed as a venue for the discovery and exploration of the celebrated Swiss writer Robert Walser (1878–1956), the sculpture was a constantly evolving site of active encounter and exchange.