Daniel Spoerri

Fluxus, Conceptual, Sculpture

Daniel Spoerri, born in 1930 in Galati/Romania, fled with his mother and five siblings 1942 to Switzerland. From 1949-52, he studied dance at the Zurich theater-dance-school, received a scholarship to Paris in 1952 and was 1st dancer at the Stadttheater Bern then (in 1954). During this time, he composed the choreography for a color Ballet and wrote concrete poetry. From 1957 to 1959 he worked as assistant director for G.R. Sellner at the Darmstadt Landestheater and wrote his first texts on experimental theater.

In 1959, he returned to Paris and lived in room 13 at the hotel Carcassonne, rue Muffetard. He met Marcel Duchamp, Ray, Eva Aeppli, Jean Tinguely, Robert Filliou, and other artists, established the edition of "MAT" in 1960 and was cosignatory of the manifesto of "Nouveaux réalisme".

On July 11th 1961, he showed the "Spoerri case" and for the trap pictures at the Gallery of Lauhus in the Buttermarkt in Cologne. First contacts with (pre-)Fluxus in Cologne and NY.

In 1968, he opened his "eat art" restaurant in Düsseldorf.

From 1978 to 1982 he taught at the University of art and design in Cologne, then became a professor at the Art Academy in Munich. Since 1960 he had numerous solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries. Daniel Spoerri lives in Vienna and Seggiano/Italy.

A tremendous wealth of enigmatic wit, whimsical imagination and ambiguity characterizes the work of Daniel Spoerri. As "henchmen of the coincidence" - as he calls himself - he makes this (the coincidence) to the principle in his versatile work. Also the "trivia", object boxes with assemblages of found objects of whatsoever, don’t miss anything of the provocative exhilaration of his large works. It is a separate work group, but also a refreshing mind and finger exercise for the much travelling artist.