Klaus Berends

Klaus Berends (born August 20, 1958 in Papenburg / Ems) is a German painter , sculptor and conceptual artist .

Life

Berends lived with his parents on a barge until he was five. After school and a craft apprenticeship, he studied at the University of the Arts in Bremen . In 1986 he created a stage design for Samuel Beckett's Der Verwaiser as a thesis . He lives and works on Fuerteventura and in Berlin.

Artistic work

In his non-representational, two-dimensional works, Berends uses the colors of the earth, sand and the most varied of materials, including found materials. The motif of geomagnetism plays a recurring role in his painting as well as in his sculptures made of wire, optical glasses and alienated materials. Berends is increasingly concerned with current issues such as environmental degradation, the north-south divide and the problem of migration. Berends became famous for his major project You are the salt of the earth in the art gallery Dominikanerkirche Osnabrück (2004) and for his installations Air Reserves on the occasion of his participation in the 3rd Biennale at the End of the World in Ushuaia (2011).

Exhibitions (selection)

Solo exhibitions

• 1985: VOOS Art, Bremen
• 1985: Bid Klamphauer house, Papenburg
• 1991: Sala de Expositiones, Puerto des Rosario
• 1994: Canoa, Rendsburg Cultural Center
• 1998: Renewal Part, SSAmerica, Maritime Museum Bremerhaven
• 2001: You are the salt of the earth , intervention in a desalination plant, Tarajalejo, Fuerteventura
• 2004: You are the salt of the earth , Dominican Church, Osnabrück
• 2006: Campos - Felder - Fields , Centro de Arte Juan Ismael, Pto. del Rosario
• 2013: Galerie Clasing-Etage, Münster

Group exhibitions

• 1984: Villa Ichon, Bremen sponsorship award
• 1990: Homage G.Altenbourg, Leipzig
• 1991: Le citta invisibili , Neuer Sächsischer Kunstverein, Dresden
• 1993: Before Blue , Lichthaus, Bremen
• 1997: Ligna, Hanover
• 1999: Cert. de Pintura, Las Palmas, GC
• 2003: Europ. Producer gallery, Göttingen
• 2004: Museo del Agua, Lisbon
• 2010: Ruhrbiennale, Liebfrauenkirche Duisburg
• 2011: Galerie Michaela Helfrich, Berlin
• 2011: 3rd Bienal del Fin del Mundo, Ushuaia
• 2014: Oscilaciones , Museo del Caribe, Barranquilla

Projects and TV documentaries (selection)

• 1999: Light ship, Barco de Luz , Manfred Preckel for NDR 3
• 2001: You are the salt of the earth , Ilona Grundmann for ZDF

Working in collections (selection)

• Collection of the Deutsche Bank, Berlin
• Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden

literature

• You are the salt of the earth. Osnabrück 2004 (catalog)
• 3ra Bienal del Fin del Mundo. 2011, Ushuaia (catalog)

Web links

• Klaus Berends at Behance
• Klaus Berends in the Michaela Helfrich Gallery
• Work films on Vimeo
• Article in the Osnabrück newspaper about Berends' Ushuaia project