Artist

Tino Sehgal

Born in London, 1976 and lives in Berlin

Born in London in 1976, the Berlin-based artist Tino Sehgal constructs situations that challenge conventional art-and-spectator relationships, focusing on the fleeting gestures and social subtleties of lived experience rather than on material objects. In Sehgal’s works, “players” enact all manner of conversational or choreographic activities: Kiss (2002), for instance, involves two dancers in a gallery whose movements allude to various amorous scenes from throughout art history; while This Situation (2007) takes the form of a salon in which six players enact a conversation game in which each point begins with a statement from the history of political and social thought. Visitors are engaged to participate in the discussion that follows, and thereby help construct the endlessly renewable philosophical practice that the work generates. Sehgal’s practice has been shaped by his formative studies in dance and economics, and uses the museum and related institutions—galleries, art fairs, and private collections—as its arena. He considers visual art to be a microcosm of our economic reality, as both center on the production of goods and their subsequent circulation. Sehgal seeks to reconfigure these conditions by producing meaning and value through a transformation of actions rather than solid materials. Along similar lines, he refuses documentation of his work through photographs, film, or video—mediums that would reify his work’s ephemeral situations and result in ancillary material products that could potentially be bought and sold. On the other hand, Sehgal does not subscribe to an ascetic, unrealistic ideal of a world without financial exchange: His situations may be bought and sold, and are infinitely repeatable. Through this delicate balancing act, Sehgal draws out difficult conversations about the function of art and possible new ways of understanding value, both aesthetic and economic. Sehgal has had solo shows at the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Netherlands (2004); Fundao Serralves, Porto, Portugal (2005); Kunstverein Hamburg, Germany; Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria; and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (all 2006); Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (2006–07); MMK Frankfurt (2007); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2007); CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco (ongoing since 2007); Trussardi Foundation, Villa Reale, Milan; and Magasin 3, Stockholm Konsthall (both 2008); and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (2010).

Exhibitions
Exhibitions
Une seconde d’éternité
Artists are displayed throughout the Bourse de Commerce spaces, composing a landscape that enters into...
27 Jun 2022 - 09 Jan 2023
Bourse de Commerce – Pinault Collection
Paris
Exhibitions
Tino Sehgal
For the Special Project 2022 of ART CITY Bologna, Tino Sehgal, one of the most radical artists to have emerged in recent years, has been invited.
13 May 2022 - 15 May 2022
Bologna
Exhibitions
Accrochage
Punta della Dogana presents “Accrochage”, a collective exhibition curated by Caroline Bourgeois. “Accrochage”...
17 Apr 2016 - 20 Nov 2016
Pinault Collection – Punta della Dogana
Venice
Exhibitions
Tino Sehgal in Marrakech
From May 13 through June 5, 2016, a new and unique exhibition by Tino Sehgal will be presented in Marrakech....
13 May 2016 - 05 Jun 2016
BAM
Marrakech
Exhibitions
Tino Sehgal
On October 12, Palais de Tokyo presents an exhibition conceived by Tino Sehgal (born in Great Britain...
12 Oct 2016 - 18 Dec 2016
Palais de Tokyo
Paris
Exhibitions
Proposals to Surrender
The group exhibition “Proposals to Surrender”at McaM explores the concept of performativity...
23 Dec 2016 - 12 Feb 2017
Shanghai
Exhibitions
Tino Sehgal at Fondation Beyeler
Anglo-German artist Tino Sehgal (*1976) a series of six presentations that will be shown either in the...
22 May 2017 - 12 Nov 2017
Fondation Beyeler
Basel
Exhibitions
Tino Sehgal
Ten years after his only solo show in an Italian institution, Tino Sehgal returns to Italy with a solo...
02 Feb 2018 - 17 Mar 2018
OGR Torino
Turin
Art Spaces
Esther Schipper
Galleries in Berlin
Related Content
Articles
trust & confusion continues with Tino Sehgal – Read
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