Dennis Oppenheim

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Dennis Oppenheim: Device to Root Out Evil. Steel, aluminum, red glass, height 7.6 m, in Vancouver (Canada).

Dennis Oppenheim (born September 6, 1938 in Electric City , Washington , † January 21, 2011 in New York City ) was an American pioneer of land , body art and installation artists .

life and work

Oppenheim was born in a small community in northern Grant County , Washington state, to David Oppenheim and Katharina Belknap. He studied at the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC) in Oakland . Between 1958 and 1962 he lived in Honolulu , Hawaii , where, in addition to his art production, he worked as a construction worker and in the public relations sector. At Stanford University he made his master's degree in 1965. In 1966 he moved to New York , where he initially taught art at various schools. In 1968 he had his first solo exhibition in New York at the John Gibson Gallery. He carried out his first Earth Work project in 1967 together with artist friends Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer .

Then he turned more and more to body art. In his entitled Aspen Projects carried out performances , he examined the relationship between body and object. "In these performances, Dennis Oppenheim used his own body as an artistic medium, explored interactions with natural elements, reflected biological processes and established the limits of the video medium early on." Since the early 1970s, Oppenheim has combined building materials, stone, wood and metal systems into large-scale sculptures and room-filling installations.

In 1982 he married the American sculptor Alice Aycock , with whom he built ghost towns and tree houses. Most recently, Oppenheim lived and worked in New York.

Exhibitions (selection)

"Tree (From Alternative Landscape Components)" by Dennis Oppenheim at "blickachsen 7", 2009, Bad Homburg castle courtyard.

literature

Web links

Commons : Dennis Oppenheim  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Swantje Karich: On the death of Dennis Oppenheim . Who turns things upside down . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , January 25, 2011 (Internet report from January 24, 2011)
  2. ↑ Suzaan Boettger: Earthworks: Art and the Landscape of the Sixties. University of California Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-520-24116-9 , p. 119.
  3. ^ Dennis Oppenheim at the ZKM
personal data
SURNAME Oppenheim, Dennis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American country and body art artist
DATE OF BIRTH September 6, 1938
PLACE OF BIRTH Electric City (Washington)
DATE OF DEATH January 21, 2011
Place of death New York City