Biographie
Grosse went to school in Bochum and then trained as an artist from 1982 to 1990 under Johannes Brus, Norbert Tadeusz and Gotthard Graubner at the art academies in Münster and Düsseldorf. Her initial figurative painting can be assigned to the neo-expressionism of the so-called Young Wild Ones. While her pictures were still characterized by a pigment spot technique, in the early 1990s they became color compositions as a glaze application with broad brush strokes. After that, her artistic characteristic is the acrylic paint, which she applies to the canvas with a compressor spray gun. She made her international debut with this technique in 1998 in Australia with wall depictions at the 11th Biennale of Sidney or in Switzerland, there in the Kunsthalle Bern. Katharina Grosse then developed her paintings not only in size: she moved them to larger areas and also installed them outdoors.
In addition, she also made the arrangements of her works more complex. From this time on, not only walls were painted, but also floors and ceilings - their works took on spatial dimensions. She uses additional materials and uses parts of furniture, rubble and earthenware, textiles and other objects. Many of the artist's art objects are tied to architectural objects, say goodbye to the classic painting medium and can be found on various structures, buildings and parts of buildings in urban environments - such as museums, residential buildings, training facilities, stairwells or billboards. From the turn of the millennium onwards, her depictions are often characterized by bright colors as well as horizontal and vertical structures. In addition to paintings and installations, Grosse also produces works on paper that are characterized by a dynamic and abstract style, as well as canvas works with earthy crusts, sculptures, prints and editions.
In public spaces, Grosse's architecture-related spray works act as a contrast and irritation to the usual perception of the environment. They also convey illusions that are to be understood as a distorted experience of perceived reality. Katharina Grosse settled in Berlin and received and won numerous international prizes, competitions and scholarships for her work and works, including the 1992 Villa Romana Prize, Florence, Stiftung Kunstfonds Bonn, and 2001 New Zealand residency at the Elam School of Fine Art Program (Auckland) and the 2014 Oskar Schlemmer Prize. Her works are exhibited by internationally renowned museums, including the Lenbachhaus in Munich, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Musée National d''Art Moderne in Paris. In 2016, the Museum Frieder Burda, Baden-Baden, dedicated a large solo exhibition to her.
