Thomas Schütte

Thomas Schütte (*1954, Oldenburg, Germany) works across mediums––sculpture, printmaking, drawing, architecture, installation and watercolor––to explore cultural memory and the human desire for shelter. Most well-known are his human and human-like figures, that range from tender portraits to fantastical beasts, towering abstractions of humanoid form to substantial busts of individuals that register variously as renown, forgotten, and anonymous. His humorous and at the same time deeply human motifs find their form in expressive physiognomies and typologies. He continuously modulates these, testing a wide variety of materials, scales and dimensions. The results are extensive series of works that breathe new life into figurative sculpture and update its classical themes in the context of contemporary issues.

The works by Thomas Schütte are part of the most important collections worldwide, such as ARCO Foundation Collection, Barcelona; Bundeskunstsammlung, Berlin; Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; De Pont Museum, Tilburg; HISCOX, London; Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg; K20/K21 – Kunstsammlung Nordrhein Westfalen, Dusseldorf; Kunsthalle Bern; Middelheim Museum, Antwerp; MOMA, New York City; Musée de Strasbourg; Pinault Collection Paris/Venice; Pinakotheken, Munich; Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Ghent; Städel Museum, Frankfurt; Skulpturenpark Köln, Cologne; Tate, London; Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis.