Skip to content
Christian Jankowski - Artists - Petzel Gallery

Christian Jankowski (b. 1968, Göttingen, Germany)

Throughout his career, Christian Jankowski has developed a conceptual art practice that ranges from mass-media to fine arts production. This has lead Jankowski to collaborate with several media outlets, such as Columbia Tristar in Germany (Rosa, 2001), Taijin Media in South Korea (The Day We Met, 2003) and Televisa in Mexico (Crying for the March of Humanity, 2011). The resulting artworks synthesize performative elements into videos, sculptures, photographs and site-specific installations that challenge old parameters and suggest new ways of image production through questioning the images which circulate in mass-media and reflecting upon the current role of art in society.

His videos, films, and installations have been exhibited nationally and internationally in places such as Fluentum, Berlin (2020); Fondazione del Monte, Bologna, IT (2018); Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama, JP (2017); HAL, Berlin (2016); the K21, Stiftung Kunstsammlung, Düsseldorf (2015); The Progetti per l’arte, Florence, IT (2015), The Proyectos Monclova, Mexico City (2014); The Pavilion Downtown Dubai (2013); Sala de Arte Publico Siqueiros, Mexico City (2012); MACRO, Rome (2012); Nassauischer Kunstverein Wiesbaden, DE (2009); Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, DE (2008); Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL (2007); and MIT List Visual Art Center, Cambridge, MA (2005).

He has participated in numerous Biennials, including the 48th Venice Biennial in 1999, the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York in 2002 and the Taipei and Sydney Biennials in 2010. In addition, Jankowski curated Manifesta 11, Zurich, CH (2016).

Christian Jankowski is a recipient of the Heitland Foundation Award (2013) and the Finkenwerder Art Prize (2015). Jankowski studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg and lives and works in Berlin.

Jankowski allows us to catch up on extant culture, and own it, with wonder and hope, before we hurry towards our next narcissistic invention. His contented take on professional passivity– standing still while the world moves around you, and loving it, like the silly performers he has now immortalized–is a tonic and a blessing.

- Bones, Village Voice, 2009

Career Highlights

Christian Jankowski - Artists - Petzel Gallery

Installation view, Living Sculptures, Public Art Found, Central Park, New York

1968 Born in Göttingen, Germany

1992 Exhibits Die Jagd at Supermärkte Friedensallee 12, Hamburg, DE

1995 Participates in Ebbe in der Freiheit: Club Berlin at the Biennale di Venezia, Venice, IT

1997-8 Solo Exhibition Let’s Get Physical/Digital at Art Node, Stockholm, SE and at Klosterfelde, Berlin, De

1999 Participates in dapertutto, 48. Biennale di Venezia, Venice, IT

2002 Solo exhibitions The Holy Artwork at the Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO

Participates in the 2002 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

2003  Solo exhibition Christian Jankowski at Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Basel, CH and This I Played Tomorrow at MACRO, Rome, IT

2004  Participates in group exhibition Spam Art and Advertising at Museion, Bolzano, IT
Exhibits Oops!...I did it again at the Videonnale im Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, DE

2005  Solo exhibition Christian Jankowski at Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA

2007  Solo exhibition Living Sculptures: The Real Fiction II at Centre d’Art Santa Monica, Barcelona, ES

2008  Solo exhibition Living Sculptures at Public Art Found Central Park, New York, NY, USA

Christian Jankowski - Artists - Petzel Gallery

Installation view, 2017, Petzel Gallery, New York

2009  Solo exhibition Now For Something Completely Different at BAWAG

Foundation, Vienna, AT
Participates in The Beauty of Distance, the 17th Biennal of Sydney, AUS

2010  Debuts Strip The Auctioneer at Petzel Gallery, New York, NY

2011  Participates in group exhibition Berlin 2000-2009 at the Museum of Contemporary art Tokyo, Tokyo, JP

2012  Exhibits Casting Jesus at Museum of Contemporary art Rome, IT and Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Salt Lake City, UT
Exhibits Discourse News at Petzel Gallery, New York, NY

2013  Receives Heitland Foundation Award Exhibits The Eye of Dubai at the Pavillion Downtown, Dubai, UAE Participates in the 1st Montevideo Biennial, Montevidio, UR

2015  Solo exhibition Uberbelieferte Kunstgeschichte at Kunsthaus Hamburg, DE
Awarded Finkenwerder Art Prize

2016  Exhibits Retrospective Exhibition at Contemporary Fine Arts, Berlin, DE

2017  Participates in the 2017 Yokohama Triennial at Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, JP

2018  Solo exhibition 2017 at Petzel Gallery, New York, NY

2020 Exhibits Sender and Receiver at the Bangkok Art Biennial, Bangkok, TH

2022 Participates in group exhibition Power! Light! at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, DE

Installation view, 2017, Petzel Gallery, New York

Installation view, 2017, Petzel Gallery, New York

Installation view, Living Sculptures, Public Art Found, Central Park, New York

Installation view, Living Sculptures, Public Art Found, Central Park, New York

Installation view, Yokohama Triennial, Yokohama Museum of Art, JP, 2017

Installation view, Yokohama Triennial, Yokohama Museum of Art, JP, 2017

Installation view, 2017, Petzel Gallery, New York

Installation view, 2017, Petzel Gallery, New York