carsten nicolai
curriculum vitae
In his work Carsten Nicolai, born 1965 in Karl-Marx-Stadt, seeks to overcome a separation of art forms and genres for an integrated artistic approach. Influenced by scientific reference systems, Nicolai often engages mathematic patterns such as grids and codes, as well as error, random and self-organising structures.
After his participation in important international exhibitions like "documenta X" and the "49th and 50th Venice Biennial", Nicolai's works were shown in two comprehensive solo exhibitions at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt, Germany (anti reflex), at Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Germany (syn chron) in 2005, at Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich (static fades) in 2007 and at CAC, Vilnius (pionier) in 2011. He is represented by Galerie EIGEN + ART in Leipzig/Berlin, The Pace Gallery and Galleria Lorcan O'Neill in Rome.
Under the pseudonym noto Carsten Nicolai experiments with sound to create his own code of signs, acoustic and visual symbols. As alva noto he leads those experiments into the field of electronic music. Besides performing in club and concert halls, Nicolai presented his audio-visual pieces at museums like Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Kunsthaus Graz or Tate Modern in London. Additionally he pursues projects with diverse artists such as Ryuichi Sakamoto, Ryoji Ikeda (cyclo.), Blixa Bargeld (anbb), Michael Nyman, Mika Vainio or Thomas Knak (opto). His latest musical project with Olaf Bender (byetone) is called diamond version and is released on mute records.
biography
| lives and works in Berlin and Chemnitz, Germany |
| 1965 | born in Karl-Marx-Stadt, GDR |
| 1984 | worked as a gardener |
| 1985-90 | studies of Landscape Design, Dresden, Germany |
| 1992 | co-founded Voxxx.Kultur und Kommunikationszentrum, Chemnitz, Germany |
| 1994 | founded noton.archiv für ton und nichtton |
| 1999 | label unit raster-noton |
Prizes / Scholarships
| 2012 | Giga-Hertz-Award, ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany (cyclo. id publication with ryoji ikeda) |
| 2007 | Villa Massimo, Rome, Italy |
| Zurich Prize, Zurich, Switzerland | |
| 2003 | Villa Aurora, Los Angeles, USA |
| 2001 | prize ars electronica, golden nica, Linz, Austria (polar-installation with marko peljhan) |
| 2000 | f6-philip morris, graphic prize, Dresden, Germany |
| prize ars electronica, golden nica, Linz, Austria (20' to 2000-project) | |
| 1990 | Jürgen Ponto prize, Frankfurt/Main, Germany |
Artworks in Public Space
| 2011 | lfo spectrum, Olympic Park, London, UK |
| 2010 | monitor, Siobhan Davies Studios, London, UK |
| autor, Temporäre Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany (temporary) | |
| 2009 | poly stella, Kasumigaseki Building Plaza, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, Japan |
| pionier ll, Piazza Plebiscito, Naples, Italy (temporary) | |
| 2006 | polylit, Kleiner Schlossplatz, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany |
Solo Exhibitions (selection)
| 2013 | crt mgn, Galerie EIGEN + ART Berlin, germany |
| observatory, ibid projects, london, uk | |
| unidisplay/uni(psycho)acoustic, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt/Main, Germany | |
| 2012 | unidisplay, Musée d'Art Contemporain, Montréal, Canada / HangarBicocca, Milan, Italy |
| schatten loop, cos store, berlin (in collaboration with cos) | |
| 2011 | pionier, CAC, vilnius, lithuania / Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig, Germany / The Pace Gallery, New York, USA |
| filter, house of art, budweis, czech republic | |
| unitxt mirrored, galleria lorcan o'neill, rome, italy | |
| 2010 | polar m [mirrored] with marko peljhan, YCAM, yamaguchi, japan |
| scaler, hendrik christian andersen museum, rome, italy | |
| MAGA, museo arte gallarate, italy | |
| autor, Temporäre Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany | |
| moiré, The Pace Gallery, New York, USA | |
| anti reflex, La Casa Encendida, Madrid, Spain | |
| rota, Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig, Germany | |
| 2009 | aoyama space, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Austria |
| rota, Schering Stiftung, Berlin, Germany | |
| unitxt, SKETCH, London, UK | |
| 2008 | anti reflex, Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany |
| tired light, Galerie EIGEN + ART, Berlin, Germany | |
| 2007 | static fades, Haus Konstruktiv, Zurich, Switzerland / PaceWildenstein, New York, USA |
| 2006 | inver, Frieze Art Fair, London, UK |
| inver, Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig, Germany | |
| 2005 | audio visual spaces, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (SMAK), Gent, Belgium |
| anti reflex, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt/Main, Germany | |
| syn chron, Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany / Bern, Schwitzerland / Yamaguchi, Japan | |
| 2003 | funken, Galerie EIGEN + ART, Berlin, Germany |
| modular re.struct, Poalo Curti/Annamaria Gambuzzi & Co, Milan, Italy | |
| 2002 | parallel lines cross at infinity, WATARI-UM, Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2001 | Milch, London, UK |
| 2000 | ystad kunsthalle, Ystad, Sweden |
| polar, canon artlab 10 (with Marko Peljan), Tokyo, Japan | |
| 1999 | 1% space, Copenhagen, Denmark |
| 1998 | polyfoto, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig, Germany |
| 1996 | Leonhardi-Museum, Dresden, Germany |
| The New York Kunsthalle, New York, USA | |
| 1995 | Galerie Margrit Gass, Basel, Switzerland |
| Kunstverein Konstanz, Germany | |
| 1994 | Espace des Arts, Chalon-Sur-Saône, France |
| Kunstverein Ulm, Germany | |
| Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany | |
| 1993 | Städtische Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, Chemnitz, Germany |
| 1992 | Galerie Springer, Berlin, Germany |
| 1991 | "Magica ll", Lichtinstallation, Kunst-Werke, Berlin, Germany |
| 1986 | "Der Keller", Galerie EIGEN + ART, Leipzig, Germany |
Group Exhibitions (selection)
| 2013 | "System und Sinnlichkeit", Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, Germany |
| 2012 | "a house full of music", Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt, Germany |
| "Rasterfahndung", Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany | |
| "Sound Art. Sound as a Medium of Art", ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany | |
| "Echigo Tsumari Triennial 2012", echigo-tsumari art center, tokamachi, japan | |
| "Art & Music. Search for a new synestesia", mot, toyko, japan | |
| 2011 | "our magic hour", Yokohama Triennale, Yokohama, Japan |
| 2010 | "seconde nature", Fondation Vasarely, Aix en Provence, France |
| "Rudolf Steiner und die Kunst der Gegenwart", Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany | |
| "Biennale für Internationale Lichtkunst", Unna, Germany | |
| 2009 | "barock", Madre, Naples, Italy |
| "see this sound", Kunstmuseum Linz, Austria | |
| "4th digital art festival taipei", Digital Arts Centre, Taipei, Taiwan | |
| "the kaleidoscopic eye", MORI Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 2008 | "leben", Kunsthaus Graz, Austria |
| "open space", NTT Intercommunication Center [ICC], Tokyo, Japan | |
| "art on air", Weserburg - Museum für Moderne Kunst, Bremen, Germany | |
| 2007 | 2nd Moskow Biennale, Moskow, Russia |
| "Konstellationen ll", Städel Museum, Frankfurt/Main, Germany | |
| "MARTa schweigt", MARTa Herford, Germany | |
| "Space for your future", Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan | |
| 2006 | Singapore Biennal, Singapore |
| "Still Points of the Turning World", 6th Int. Biennale Santa Fe/New Mexico, USA | |
| "sonambiente 2006", TESLA, Berlin, Germany | |
| 2005 | "Künstler.Archiv", Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany |
| 2004 | "Densité ±0", École nationale des beaux arts, Paris, France / Fribourg, Switzerland |
| 2003 | La Biennale di Venezia 50, Venice, Italy |
| "Berlin-Moskau / Moskau-Berlin 1950-2000", Martin Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany / Moscow, Russia | |
| "echigo tsumari triennial 2003", echigo tsumari region niigata prefecture, Japan | |
| The 10th New York Digital Saloon, New York, USA | |
| 2002 | "frequenzen (hz)", Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt/Main, Germany |
| 2001 | "Wild Zone", Witte de With, Rotterdam, Netherlands |
| "Perspectives", MICAMOCA, Milan, Italy | |
| La Biennale di Venezia 49, Venice, Italy | |
| "Quobo, Art in Berlin 89-99", Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, Germany | |
| Istanbul Biennial, Istanbul, Turkey | |
| "Audible Images", The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, USA | |
| 2000 | "Sound Art", NTT InterCommunication Center, Gallery A, Tokyo, Japan |
| "Volume", PS 1, New York, USA | |
| Taktlos, Bern, Switzerland | |
| 1999 | "Examining Pictures: exhibiting paintings", Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, UK / Museum Of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA |
| "Empty Garden", WATARI-UM, Watari Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan | |
| Liverpool Biennial, UK | |
| 1997 | documenta X, Kassel, Germany |
| P.S.1 reopening, New York, USA | |
| 1996 | "Projektor"(with Olaf Nicolai), Städtisches Kunstmuseum Reutlingen, Germany |
| "all+tag" (with Mika Vainio), Industriemuseum Chemnitz, Germany / u.a | |
| 1994 | "Welt-Moral", Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland |
| "Metropole und Peripherie", Museum de Arte Moderna MAM, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | |
| 1993 | "Ein Jahrhundert des Holzschnitts", Kunsthalle Hamburg, Germany |
| "Cadavre Exquis", Drawing Center, New York, USA |