Thomas Eggerer, Hiking Trail, 2002

Central to Thomas Eggerer’s latest show at Capitain Petzel, ‘Galeria’, is a monumental new painting depicting the interior of a large gym in which figures stretch, jog, box and lift weights. The characters in Fitness (2024) are dispersed across the flat, wide-angled scene in such a way as to give compositional punctuation; limbs, extended at diagonals, direct the eye around the picture plane. Two joggers near the base of the work exercise together; the rest attend to their regimes alone. The viewer observes from above, at a vantage point higher than the neon strip lights that hang from the ceiling. The stillness of the scene contrasts starkly with the muscular activities on display.

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Born 1963 in Munich, Germany

Lives and works in Munich, Germany

Thomas Eggerer has contributed significantly to the discourse on identity and community through paintings, drawings, and collages that examine the intricacies of human connection. Set against backdrops that blend elements of architecture and landscape, Eggerer's work combines a precise, almost graphic clarity with fluid, expressive brushwork, creating a tension between order and chaos. This allows the artist to depict complex social dynamics with a unique sensitivity. Eggerer also probes the political potential of interaction within social space, taking particular interest in hierarchical structures, conformism, and resistance.

Eggerer's use of color and form serves to both reveal and obscure, adding a non-logic aspect to his purely figurative paintings. His compositions play with perspective, layering, and the juxtaposition of different scales. Almost diagrammatic elements coexist with more painterly, atmospheric ones. His figures bear an uncanny presence. Their faces are often obscured, enhancing themes of isolation and depersonalization. This approach not only adds to the visual complexity of his paintings but also reflects his interest in the fragmented nature of contemporary social experiences.

Thomas Eggerer's work has been exhibited internationally at Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Castello di Rivoli, Turin; Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin; Brandhorst Museum, Munich; Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien; White Columns, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; Vancouver Art Gallery; CCA Wattis Institute, San Francisco, and Frankfurter Kunstverein, among many others.

His work is held in many prominent public collections, including The Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam; Museum Brandhorst, Munich; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Boros Collection, Berlin; Zentrum für Kunst und Medien, Karlsruhe, and many more. Eggerer was also a member of Group Material, a renowned movement of conceptual artists active between 1979 and 1996. As of 2024, Eggerer has been appointed Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.