Julian Schnabel

Biography

Julian Schnabel (b. 1951, Brooklyn, NY) is one of the most important and virtuosic artists working today. His multidisciplinary practice extends beyond painting to include sculpture and film. His use of preexisting materials not traditionally used in art making, along with his varied painting surfaces and modes of construction, were pivotal in the reemergence of painting in the United States—the rest of the world followed suit. In 1979, he began his series of Plate Paintings, imagic works with sculptural surfaces produced by layering shards of found pottery with thick applications of pigment. His unorthodox, highly experimental approach to the use of materials, gestures, and form, explored audaciously scaled and shaped paintings that oscillated between abstraction and figuration. Throughout his practice, he sustained the use of objet trouvé and chance-based processes, transforming painting and opening the door for new generations of young painters.

Since his first solo exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston in 1976 his paintings, sculptures, and works on paper have been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions including the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, CA, 2018; Musée d’Orsay, Paris, France (2018); ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, Denmark (2018); Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO (2016); NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL (2015); Museu de Arte de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil (2014); Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, TX (2014); Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, CT (2013); Museo Correr, Venice, Italy (2011); Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada (2010); Museo di Capodimonte, Naples, Italy (2009); Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany (2004); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (2004); Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, Italy (1996); Fundació Joan Miró, Barcelona, Spain (1995); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey, Mexico (1994); Staatliche Graphische Sammlung München, Munich, Germany (1990); Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium (1990); Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, UK (1990); Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL (1990); Carré d’Art - Musée d’art contemporain de Nîmes, France (1989); Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, Switzerland (1989); San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA (1988); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX (1988); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (1987); Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Dusseldorf, Germany (1987); Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (1987); Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (1986); the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands (1982); Tate Gallery, London, UK (1982); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (1982).  

His work is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY and Bilbao, Spain; Tate Gallery, London, UK; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA; Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; Kunstmuseum, Basel, Switzerland; and Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France, among others.

Julian Schnabel currently lives and works in New York City and Montauk, Long Island.

Selected Works

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