David Lieske

B. 1979, Hamburg.
Lives and works in London.

Emerging onto the German art scene with his inclusion in the exhibition “Formalismus. Moderne Kunst, heute” curated by Yilmaz Dziewior at Hamburg Kunstverein in 2004, David Lieske made his institutional debut at the tender age of twenty-four. Since then his work has explored connections between social and historical circumstances with power, personal desire and identity through image-making, sculpture and conceptual photo-based works.

Throughout, he has initiated of a wide variety of projects that have allowed him to live other lives and wear other hats as a DJ, musician, gallerist, editor and designer: co-founding Hamburg based DIAL records in 1999 and Berlin/New York based Mathew Gallery from 2012-2018. Other collaborations include visual art and music made with Rob Kulisek presented under the name Kulisek/Lieske, the fashion magazine 299 792 458 M/S (also with Kulisek), published by Westreich Wagner, and the tennis fashion label DL Courtwear.

In 2015, a solo exhibition at MUMOK Vienna centered around Lieske’s biography addressed the fluid borders between life and work that has been so relevant to, and embedded within his practice over time.

Born in Hamburg in 1979, the artist now lives and works in London.

Solo exhibitions include: Platoon (RL-X), Mumok, Vienna; Platitude Normale, CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux; Style and Subversion 1979-2012, Corvi-Mora, London; A Greater Administration of Lower Interests, Tobias Naehring, Leipzig; Imperium in Imperio, Alex Zachary, New York; New Work, Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis; Atlantis, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne; Everything that doesn’t happen today doesn’t happen, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin.

Notable group exhibitions include: Magazine, Kunstverein in Hamburg; No Dandy, No Fun, Kunsthalle Bern; The Secret Life of Objects, Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis; More Carpets, Bortolozzi, Berlin; Quodlibet II, Daniel Buchholz, Cologne; Whole Lotta Love, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin; This is Not a Void, Galeria Luisa Strina, Sao Paulo; Teil 2, Quodlibet, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne; Formalismus. Moderne Kunst, heute, Kunstverein in Hamburg.

David Lieske’s works are in the public collections of the MCA Chicago, Haubrok Collection, Berlin, the Boros Collection, Berlin and Mumok, Vienna.

Curriculum Vitae

Solo Exhibitions

2024

  • Armed Interpretation, VI, VII, Oslo

2022

  • Dritte Ausstellung Für Photographische Arbeiten, Galerie Karin Guenther, Hamburg

2019

  • La Collectionneuse, Corvi-Mora, London

2018

  • Direction Artiste II, VI, VII, Oslo
  • Direction Artiste I, Lovaas Projects, Munich

2015

  • Fantôme Mains Sur, VI, VII, Oslo
  • Platoon (RL-X), mumok, Vienna (CAT)

2013

  • Deformation Professionelle, VI, VII, Oslo
  • Platitude Normale, CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain de Bordeaux, Bordeaux

2012

  • Style and Subversion 1979-2012, Corvi-Mora, London

2011

  • A Greater Administration of Lower Interests, Tobias Naehring, Leipzig
  • Adequate, Sommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv (with Nick Mauss & Michaela Eichwald)

2010

  • Imperium in Imperio, Alex Zachary, New York

2009

  • Der afrikanische Stuhl von Marcel Breuer und Gunta Stoelz aus der Anfangszeit des Bauhauses 80 Jahre verschollen geglaubt nun aufgefunden und erstmals praesentiert, Corvi-Mora, London
  • A Means to an End – To Make Ends Meet, Rowley Kennerk Gallery, Chicago

2008

  • New Work, Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis
  • Everything that doesn’t happen today doesn’t happen, Daniel Buchholz, Berlin

2007

  • il mio solo idolo é la realtá, Rowley Kennerk Gallery, Chicago

2006

  • Atlantis, Galerie Daniel Buchhollz, Köln
  • Standard Gallery, Oslo

2004

  • Case Arse, Rheinschau, Köln (for Galerie Daniel Buchholz)

Group Exhibitions

2023

  • Jahresgaben, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg

2021

  • Magazine, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg

2020

  • No Dandy, No Fun, Kunsthalle Bern, Bern
  • Jacques de Bascher, Treize, Paris
  • Hooks & Claws, Galerie Gregor Staiger, Zurich

2018

  • And Justice for All, VI, VII, Oslo
  • Coded Encounters, Galeria Graça Brandão, Lisbon

2017

  • Publishing as an Artistic Toolbox: 1989–2017, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna

2016

  • Group Show, Corvi-Mora, London

2012

  • Crystal Flowers, Mathew, Berlin

2011

  • No Colour In Your Cheeks Unless The Wind Lashes Your Face, An Online Exhibition curated by Timothée Chaillou
  • V€RSUS; David Lieske vs Carsten Jost, Deo Records, Frankfurt
  • Another Kind of Vapor, White Flag Projects, Saint Louis

2010

  • This and That II, Corvi-Mora, London
  • Blood of a Poet, Thierry Goldberg Projects, New York
  • More Carpets, Bortolozzi, Berlin
  • This and That, Corvi-Mora, London

2009

  • The Secret Life of Objects, Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis
  • Quodlibet II, Daniel Buchholz, Köln
  • Point Vierge, A Summer Exhibition, Rowley Kennerk Gallery, Chicago 2nd Herzliya Biennial, Tel Aviv

2008

  • Whole Lotta Love, Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin
  • This is Not a Void, Galeria Luisa Strina, Sao Paulo
  • Less, Haubrokshows, Berlin
  • Quién esta?, Rowley Kennerk Gallery, Chicago
  • Art Berlin Contemporary, Berlin
  • It’s About Sculpture, Naubrokshows, Berlin

2007

  • Verwendungsnachweis, Stipendiaten der Jüngen Ponto-Stiftung 2003-2006, MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/Main

2006

  • The Subtlety of and the Fortitude of…, Rowley Kennerk Gallery, Chicago
  • Dice Thrown (Will Never Annul Chance), Bellwether, New York
  • Spiralen der Erinnerung, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg
  • Nichts weiter als ein Rendezvous, Künstlerhaus Bremen
  • Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Köln at Metropictures, Metropictures, New York
  • Don Quijote, Witte de With, Rotterdam
  • Mafia/One Unopened Package of Cigarettes, Standard Gallery, Oslo

2005

  • Lichtkunst aus Kunstlicht, Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe
  • No Competitive Offers, Artis, Den Bosch
  • Suspended Narratives, Lora Reynolds Gallery, Austin, Texas
  • Grey Flags, Fredrich Petzel Gallery, New York
  • It Takes Some Time to Open an Oyster, Centre Cultural Andratx, Mallorca
  • The Berlin School of the Art School, Mark Foxx Gallery, Los Angeles

2004

  • Galerie Meerettich, Berlin
  • Teil 2, Quodlibet, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Köln
  • Formalismus. Moderne Kunst, heute, Kunstverein in Hamburg
  • blau in der kugel, Der Blauen Kugel, Hamburg

2003

  • Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg

Curatorial Projects

2011-2016

  • Mathew Gallery, Berlin - New York

2012

  • During the Second World War…, Peep-Hole, Milan

2011

  • Films & Filming, Bischoff Projects, Frankfurt

2010

  • Ne Vivre Jamais, Elgarafi, Berlin

2005

  • No Competitive Offers, Artis, Den Bosch

Awards

2005

  • Jürgen Ponto-Stiftung Award, Frankfurt

Publications

2018

  • David Lieske, Robert Kulisek, 299 792 458 m/s , The Overworked Body Issue #2, Westreich Wagner, New York

2016

  • David Lieske, Robert Kulisek, 299 792 458 m/s, The American Issue #1, Westreich Wagner, New York

2015

  • David Lieske, Platoon (RL-X), Mumok, Vienna

2011

  • David Lieske, Case Arse II -Appendix- (Sao Paulo)
  • White Flag Projects, Saint Louis

2010

  • The Art of Tomorrow, Distanz, Berlin, pp.206-209

2009

  • Massimiliano Gioni (ed.), Younger Than Jesus- Artist Directory, New Museum/Phaidon Press, London

2008

  • This Is Not A Void, Galeria Luisa Strina, Sao Paulo

2007

  • The Violence of Participation, Sternberg Press, Berlin, pp.118-11
  • No Competitive Offers, Ik ben Artis, Artis Den Bosch
  • David Lieske Interview, Rowley Kennerk Gallery, Chicago, March 2007

2006

  • David Lieske, ZK III. Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe, Signetwerke der Sammlungen, p.198

2004

  • Morgan Fisher, David Lieske, Formalismus. Moderne Kunst, Heute, Kunsteverein in Hamburg, Hamburg, pp.94-103

Bibliography

2021

  • Yilmaz Dziewior und David Lieske über "Eurotrash", Yilmaz Dziewior
  • Wenn sich plötzlich ein Raum öffnet, Monopol, May 6
  • David Lieske and Bakri Bakhit in conversation, Buy to Let, Viscose, Issue 1
  • Graeme Campbell, The Campaign To Make Tennis Sexy Again Starts Right Now, Highsnobiety, 15 November

2019

  • Daniel Culpan, Guarding the Avant-Garde: David Lieske on the Hypocrisy of Collecting, Frieze, July 29, 2019
  • Elise by Olsen, My Favourite Fashion Publications, AnOthermag.com, July 25, 2019

2018

  • Timo Feldhaus, Fashion at the Speed of Light with Rob Kulisek and David Lieske, Ssense, September 2018

2015

  • Exposure and Chromaticity, Camera Austria International 131, October 2015, pp.50- 51
  • Sabrina Moller, David Lieske. Platoon (RL-X) I Interview mit Barbara Rudiger, ArtandSignature.com, February 16, 2015

2013

  • Arve Rod, The artist as passepartout, Kunstkritikk, November 8, 2013
  • Jean Kay, Frieze London 2013 reviewed, atractivoquenobello, October 25, 2013
  • David Lieske Platitude Normale at CAPC Bordeaux, Mousse, July 30, 2013
  • Christophe Loubes, Identités brouillées, SudOuest, May 17, 2013
  • David Lieske: Platitude normale, art limited, June 2, 2013
  • David Lieske, New York Report, May 2013, Issue 4, pp.154-165

2011

  • Open Files, Elephant, Issue 9, Winter 2011, p.25

2010

  • Michael Sanchez, David Lieske, ArtForum, November 2010, pp.266-267
  • Dan Fox, David Lieske, Frieze, November/December 2010, pp.141-142
  • Alexis Vaillant, Emerging Artists, Frieze, January/February 2010, pp.90-91
  • David Reisman, Life At Work; David Lieske at Alex Zachary, New York, Texte Zur Kunst, December 2010
  • Aimee Walleston, David Lieske, Alex Zachary, New York, The Last
  • Magazine

2009

  • Joern Ebner, Ueber David Lieske bei Corvi-Mora, London, Texte Zur Kunst, November 23, 2009

2007

  • Isabelle Graw, David Lieske, The Unseeen, Nichts Weiter als ein Rendezvous, Künstlerhaus Bremen, pp.30-34
  • Walter Wacht, Texte zur Kunst-Neues Heft, David Lieske-Edition, Äesthetik der Administration, Spex
  • Michelle Grabner, David Lieske, Artforum, Summer 2007, pp.503-504,
  • No Competitive Offers, Ik ben Artis, Artis Den Bosch

2006

  • David Lieske, ZK III. Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe, Signetwerke der Sammlungen, p.198
  • Was Fehlt ihnen Herr Lowtzow?, DieZeit, September 28, 2006
  • Florian Pumhösl, Kontrollierte Zerstörung, Texte zur Kunst, No.62, June
  • Anne Doran, Dice Thrown, Time Out New York, November 2-8, 2006
  • Dice Thrown (Will Never Annul Chance), The New Yorker, November 6, 2006
  • Frank Frangenberg, Das Schöne Liegt Lange Hinter Uns, Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, No: 52, March 2, 2006
  • Catrin Lorch, David Lieske bei Daniel Buchholz, Kunst-Bulletin, No.3, p.56

2005

  • Kathrin Luz, Am Schwarzweissen Faden. Ein Portrait des Kölner Sammlers Thorsten Koch, Spike Art Quarterly, No.4, Summer 2005, pp.86-89
  • Lisa Zeitz, Werdet Niemals Erwachsen. Gebrauchsanleitung für Einen Spaziergang Durch Chelseas Galerin, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, No.175, July 30, 2005, p.56
  • Holland Cotter, Fanciful to Figurative to Wryly Inscrutable, The New York Times, July 8, 2005 pp.E29,E31
  • Matt Wolf, Summer Group Shows Roundup, New York, Flash Art Online, August Ursula Panhans-Bühler, Don’t Move?, Texte zur Kunst, No.57, March 2005, pp.186-188

2004

  • Catrin Lorch, Würfeldämmerung, Frankfurter Allgemeine, December 20, 2004, No.304, p.35
  • Formalism: Modern Art Today, Artforum, September 2004, p.128
  • David Lieske: Case Arse, Texte zur Kunst, No.53