Michel Majerus, 1996. © Albrecht Fuchs, Cologne. Courtesy Michel Majerus Estate and neugerriemschneider, Berlin
Michel Majerus

Michel Majerus, 1996. © Albrecht Fuchs, Cologne. Courtesy Michel Majerus Estate and neugerriemschneider, Berlin

Michel Majerus

1967 - 2002, born in Luxembourg (Luxembourg) and died in Niederanven (Luxembourg)

 

Michel Majerus’ career was brief but prolific; he was part of the burgeoning German artistic scene after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

It came to an abrupt end when he was killed in a plane crash in 2002. Referencing artists such as de Kooning, Warhol and Stella, his strong pop-centred work references graffiti, advertising, comic strips and video games. Often fluorescent and large, his paintings draw on the aesthetic of assemblage. The critic John Kelsey described the artist in these terms: “Ironically, his destiny was to sample and appropriate the entire history of art […] before himself becoming a legitimate historical reference. But, alive, he was undoubtedly more like a Super Mario moving through history like the levels of a video game, flattening content on the screen of his work, even ‘collaborating’ with deceased artists.”

Selected Bibliography

Birnbaum, Daniel. Michel Majerus : [exhibition, Matthew Marks Gallery, New York, February 8 to April 19, 2014]. New York NY : Matthew Marks Gallery, 2014. 

Laubard, Charlotte ; Gross, UIrike ; Bourriaud, Nicolas ... [et al.]. Michel Majerus : [Exposition, Kunstmuseum de Stuttgart, 26 novembre 2011 - 9 avril 2012 ; CAPC, Musée d'Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, 31 mai - 23 septembre 2012]. Berlin : Distanz, 2012. 

Kittelmann, Udo. Michel Majerus : if we are dead, so it is. Berlin : JRP Ringier, 2007.

Pakesch, Peter ; Tuyl, Gijs van ; Fleck, Robert... [et al.]. Michel Majerus. Installationen 92-02 = Installations 92-02 [Ausstellungen, Kunsthaus Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum, "Michel Majerus. Installationen 92-02", 12.02. - 16.05.2005 ; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, "Michel Majerus", 25.6. - 16.10.2005 ; Deichtorhallen Hamburg, "Michel Majerus - demand the best", 25.11.2005 - 5.2.2006 ... [et al.]. Köln : Walther König, 2005. 

Jäger, Joachim. Michel Majerus : Los Angeles : exposition. [Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, 2003 - Tate Liverpool, 04.09.30 September 2004]. Köln : Walther König, 2004. 

***   All materials available at the Documentation Centre of the Fondation  ***

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