Wolfgang Prinz (*Leutkirch, Germany, 1969) and Michel Gholam (*Beirut, Lebanon, 1963) have been working together since since 2001. As visual artists they have developed a multidisciplinary practice that is based on performative and collaborative processes which lead to live performances, videos, photographs, drawings, and objects. The work often revolves around the iconic imagery of art history, negotiating and reviving this often static visual legacy. Their work is a continuous attempt to place and negotiate the ego and the body between their cultural construct and the world in which we live. They focus on the expression of situation, character, relationship, and intimacy.
In 2001 the first analogue photographs were taken with a self-timer. The performance is outdoor, witnessed by the camera. The images are calibrated body constellations. A concept of giving away a historical visual construction to contemporary conditions, letting the immediate experience rule the outcome of the work. The live performances come soon and time lengthens. Even in the static there is the potential of movement and the decisive notion of time passing. Prinz Gholam’s performances are built on choreographic sequences, in which they deal with a wide range of images and behaviors coming from painting , sculpture, film and media.
Prinz Gholam are Villa Serpentara Fellows of the AdK Fine Arts Section (2009) and winners of the Art Prize of the Academy of Arts AdK (2019) as well as the Rome Prize of the Villa Massimo (2020/21).
Recent exhibitions and performances took place at Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Musée d’art contemporain Rochechouart, Aranya Plein Air Art Festival in Jinshanling China, Mattatoio Rome, and Palazzo Altemps in Rome. They participated at documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel in 2017. From 2006 until 2010 they were part of the itinerant exhibition project “La Monnaie Vivante“ with performances at Studio Micadanses Paris, STUK Leuven, Tate Modern, and HAU1 Berlin.
Exhibitions
Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2024 (solo)
Mythic Origins, Setareh Berlin, 2024
Never Cross the Same River Twice, Troy House Art Foundation, London, 2023
There are Eyes, Abraham & Wolff, Paris, 2023 (solo)
Der neue Mensch, der Ansager… El Lissitzky, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover, 2023
Aranya Plein Air Art Project, Aranya Art Center Jinshanling, China, 2023
More Than Human, Dossier/EUNIC, Blanc Art Space and other venues, Beijing, 2023
Per-Form, BROWNIE Project/Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Shanghai, China, 2023
Scenes from Behind, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris/Romainville, 2023 (solo)
Fais que ton rêve soit plus long que la nuit, Musée d’art contemporain Chateau Rochechouart, 2023
Aichi Triennale, Nagoya, Japan, 2022
Mon cœur est un luth suspendu, Musée d’art contemporain Chateau Rochechouart, France, 2022 (solo)
Eppur si muove, Japanisches Palais Dresden (SKD), 2022
Space-Activate, NOVA Art Space/Kunsthaus Erfurt, Germany, 2022
While Being Other, Mattatoio, Rome, 2021 (solo)
Dial F for Father, MEWO Kunsthalle Memmingen, 2020 (solo)
Syncopation, Pola Museum of Art, Sengokuhara/Hakone, Japan, 2019
Lignes de Vies, MAC VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine, 2019
The Video is the Message, the media collection, Hamburger Kunsthalle, 2018/2019
Speaking of Pictures, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris, 2018 (solo)
documenta 14, Athens and Kassel, 2017
l’Oeil du collectionneur, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain Strasbourg, 2016
Corps Narratifs, Centre d’art contemporain Chamarande, 2016
Generosity – On the Art of Giving, National Gallery Prague, 2016
Chercher le garçon, MAC/VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine, 2015
Altrimenti che essere, GalleriaPiù, Bologna, 2015
Soleil politique, Museion Bozen/Bolzano, 2014/2015
Blue Times, Kunsthalle Wien, 2014/2015
Le Mouvement, Performing the City, Swiss Sculpture Exhibition, Biel/Bienne, 2014
Die Tätigkeit des Zeichnens, Galerie 5020, Salzburg, 2014
Happy Birthday Franz!, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris, 2014
Temple Bar Gallery and Studios are Dead, Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Dublin, 2013
Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris, 2013 (solo)
Die Irregulären, NGBK, Berlin, 2013
OZEAN, Berlin, 2012
Made in Germany zwei, Sprengel Museum Hannover, 2012
Art Cologne, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, solo performance project and installation, 2012
Villa Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 2011
A Retrospective of Remixed Dreams, Éspace Moinsun, Paris, 2011
10×10/European Culture Congress, Wrocław, Poland, 2011
Momentum Biennial, Norway, 2011
Palace Party, Kunsthal Charlottenburg, Copenhagen, 2011
Solo performance project, Centre Pompidou Metz, 2010
Villa Reykjavik, Iceland, 2010
urban memories, Altes Museum Neukölln, Berlin, 2010
Junge Akademie 2009/2010, Akademie der Künste Berlin, 2010
The Living Currency/Die Lebende Münze, 6th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art/Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin, 2010
Emporte moi, MAC/VAL, Vitry-sur-Seine, 2010
The Living Currency/Zywa Waluta, Teatr Dramatyczny/Museum of Modern Art Warsaw, 2010
solo für licht (film festival), Museum der bildenden Künste, Leipzig, 2010
shifting positions, Prinz Gholam & Franz Erhard Walther, Museum Goch, 2009
SEQUENCES Real Time Art Festival, Reykjavik, Iceland, 2009
Le Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse, 2009
L.A.09, Les Ateliers des Arques, Les Arques, 2009
Selected Artists, Exhibiton of Berlin Senat scholars, NGBK, Berlin, 2009
Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris, 2008 (solo)
You are living in a space like mine, Kunstfabrik am Flutgraben, Berlin, 2008
Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, 2008
Camera Austria, Kunsthaus Graz (with Aneta Grzeszykowska), 2008 (solo)
The Living Currency, Tate Modern, London, 2008
The Living Currency, Stuk Kunstencentrum, Leuven, 2007
Art Premiere, Art Basel, with Guillaume Leblon, 2007
Projet Phalanstère, CAC Brétigny, 2007 (solo)
Willa Warszawa, International Art Festival, Warsaw, 2006
Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris, 2006
La Monnaie Vivante/The Living Currency, Studio Micadanses, Paris/CAC Brétigny, 2006
Filiale Basel, 2005
Liste Basel, 2005
Galerie Jocelyn Wolff, Paris, 2004
Collection Hoffmann, Berlin, 2004-2005
future7/sammlung, Berlin, 2003
Levels #7, Galerie im Parkhaus, Berlin, 2001
Public performances
Performance with 4 Entrances, Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, September 7, 2024
sculptocultural, Sculpture Garden Galerie Jocelyn Wolff/Manoir d’Alvémont, June 29, 2024
Chiedi ai monti ai sassi, Akademie der Künste Berlin, June 20, 2024
Appearances, Kestner Gesellschaft Hannover, July 6 & 7, October 1, 2023
Chiedi ai monti ai sassi, Villa Serpentara Olevano Romano, Italy/Akademie der Künste Berlin, Sept. 23, 2023
Speaking of Pictures (Jinshanling), aranya plain air art project, Aranya Art Center Jinshanling, China, July 8, 2023
The Survivor and the Dreamer, Residenzschloss Dresden/SKD, September 25, 2022
People in the Sun (with chairs and masks), Musée d’art contemporain Chateau Rochechouart, July 1, 2022
The Survivor and the Dreamer, Residenzschloss Dresden/SKD, June 22, 2022
People in the Sun (with masks), Bundeskunsthalle Bonn, October 27 & 28, 2021
While Being Other, Piramide Cestia/Mattatoio, September 2 & 4, 2021
While Being Other, Mattatoio, Rome, July 13 & 17, 2021
My heart is a poised cithara, Palazzo Altemps, Rome (Hidden Histories), October 28 & 31, 2020
Two Portraits and One More Thing, Sammlung Hoffmann, Berlin, November 7, 2019
Dial F for Father, Hofkirche Innsbruck (art in public space Tyrol), Austria, September 17-20, 2019
People in the Sun, Pola Museum of Art, Sengokuhara/Hakone, Japan, August 9, 2019
Similitude, Punta della Dogana (Palazzo Grassi/Pinault Collection), Venice, October 13 – 14, 2018
Fire or Revolution by Night, Kupferstichkabinett Dresden (SKD), September 2, 2018
1 foot 7 inches, Galeria Stereo, Dom Słowa Polskiego/House of the Polish Words, Warsaw, December 18, 2017
Speaking of Pictures, documenta 14, Lutherplatz, Kassel, June 7 – 11, 2017 (documenta 14)
My Sweet Country, documenta 14, Ancient Agora and Tempel of the Olympian Zeus, Athens, April/May/July 2017 (documenta 14)
people in the sun/EKOGPMCFAeD, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain Strasbourg, November 6, 2016
performance extracts, documenta14 at Polytechnion, Athens, March 30, 2016
ymages et personnages, National Gallery Prague/Trade Show Palace, February 5, 2016
Ein Ding mehr, Per4m/Artissima, Turin, November 7, 2014
faces, shapes, gestures, tones, acts, places, Museion Bozen, September 26, 2014
Nastagio’s Itinerary, Le Mouvement/Robert-Walser-Platz, Biel, August 26 – 31, 2014
“Vue prise dans un atelier quelques jours après l’ouverture de l’exposition” refusé, refusé, refusé!!!, Galerie5020, Salzburg, July 19, 2014
Air, Frac des Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, September 14, 2013
Baluch and Turkmen, OZEAN, Berlin, August 26, 2012
Fire or Revolution by Night Part 3, Sprengel Museum Hannover/Made in Germany zwei, July 1, 2012
Fire or Revolution by Night, Galerie Jocelyn Wolff/Art Cologne, April 17 – 21, 2012
Ein Ding mehr, Villa Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, November 11, 2011
Fire or Revolution by Night, A Retrospective of Remixed Dreams, Bcc/Éspace Moinsun, Paris, October 21, 2011
EKOGPMCFAeD, 10×10/European Culture Congress, Four Domes Pavilion, Wrocław, Poland, September 8, 2011
postures, figures, episodes, sessions, Momentum Kunsthall, Moss, Norway, June 18-19, 2011
ymages et personnages, Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, March 5, 2011
faces, shapes, gestures, tones, acts, places, Centre Pompidou Metz, November 3 – 7, 2010
Untitled, Villa Reykjavik/House of Ideas, Reykjavik, July 14, 2010
EKOGPMCFAeD, Altes Museum Neukölln, Berlin, June 25, 2010
Air, Akademie der Künste Berlin, June 18, 2010
Ein Ding mehr, HAU1 (Hebbel am Ufer), Berlin, June 17-19, 2010
EKOGPMCFAeD, Chapelle St Quirin, Frac Alsace, Sélestat, May 23, 2010
EKOGPMCFAeD, Museum of Modern Art Warsaw/Teatr Dramatyczny, Warsaw, April 28-30, 2010
Air, Trondheim Art Museum, Norway, February 27, 2010
Air, Museum Goch, November 28, 2009
Air, SEQUENCES Art Festival, Reykjavik, October 31 & November 2, 2009
Air, Nuit des Tableaux Vivants, Printemps de Septembre, Musée des Augustins, Toulouse, October 10, 2009
OKAY, with a42.org “Master of Architecture Academy of Fine Arts in Nürnberg”, Klarissenplatz, Museum für Neue Kunst, Nürnberg, July 14, 2009
Shadows, Esplanade du Musée Zadkine Les Arques/Les Ateliers des Arques, July 4, 2009
Choreography for Junko Shimada fashion show, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris Fashion Week, March 10, 2009
EKOGPMCFAeD, Kunstfabrik am Flutgraben, Berlin, November 1, 2008
EKOGPMCFAeD, Radialsystem V, Berlin, October 31, 2008
Studio, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna, May 7, 2008
Ein Ding mehr, Camera Austria, Kunsthaus Graz, March 13, 2008
Ein Ding mehr, Tate Modern, London, January 26-27, 2008
Ein Ding mehr, Stuk Kunstencentrum, Leuven, November 7-9, 2007
Von einer Höhle aus, Pavillon Volksbühne, Berlin, August 25, 2007
Wanderer, CAC, Brétigny-sur-Orge, April 1, 2007
La Montagne, la Rue, l’Été, Galerie Nord, Berlin, October 28, 2006
La Montagne, la Rue, l’Été, Willa Warszawa, Warsaw, August 26, 2006
Ein Ding mehr, Studio Micadanses, Paris, January 20-22, 2006
Diese Pflanzen, diese Stämme, plein air, Berlin, July 11, 2004