Christian Falsnaes
Born in Copenhagen, lives and works in Berlin

Education

2005 - 2011    Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna

Selected solo exhibitions

2023
COLLABORATION, Andersen's, Copenhagen, DK
VIELE, Spaced Out, Kerkow, DE
2021
FEAST, PSM, Berlin, DE
2020
LOOK AT ME, Copenhagen Contemporary, DK
2018
FORCE, Kunstmuseen Krefeld - Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld, DE
Video Artist, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, DE
SELF, PSM, Berlin, DE
ICON, Andersen's, Copenhagen, DK
2017
RISE, Berlinische Galerie - Museum of Modern Art, Berlin, DE
STAGE, U-Turn, arteBA, Buenos Aires, AR
Portraits, viennacontemporary, Vienna, AT
2016
FRONT, Yarat Contemporary Art Space, Baku, AZ
Thousand Faces, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, DK
FIRST, 1646, The Hague, NL
FIRST, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, UK
2015    
MANY, Juan & Patricia Vergez Collection, Buenos Aires, AR
AVAILABLE, Kunstverein Braunschweig, DE
Front (Kareth Schaffer), KIOSK, Ghent, BE
The title is your name, Bielefelder Kunstverein, DE
2014    
Performance Works, PSM, Berlin, DE
Justified Beliefs, Art Basel Statements, Basel, CH
2013    
OPENING, KW Institute of Contemporary Art, Berlin, DE
ONE, DREI, Cologne, DE
2011    
ELIXIR, PSM, Berlin, DE
2010    
There and Back, Skånes Konstförening, Malmö, Sweden, SE
2008    
Rational Animal, Kunstraum Niederösterreich, Vienna, AT

Selected group exhibitions, screenings and performances

2023
Kill the light, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, DE
Moviment, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
Skulpurtriennale Bingen, Bingen, DE
2022
Battle Cry, Kunstverein Tiergarten, Berlin, DE
Clown’s kingdom, Le Bicolore, Paris, FR
Art & Audience, Heartland Festival, Egeskov, DK
2021
Sustainable Societies for the Future, Malmö Konstmuseum, SE
Von Erde schöner, Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, Siegen, DE
Home #2, The Royal Theater, Copenhagen
Home #2, Roskilde Festival, DK
CPH:DOX, Copenhagen, DK
Die ganze Wahrheit, Petra Martinetz, Cologne, DE
2020
Me, Family, MUDAM - Musée d’Art Contemporain, Luxembourg, LU
State of the arts, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, DE
Danish Art Now, National Gallery of Denmark, Copenhagen, DK
Highlights der Sammlung 21. Jahrhundert, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, Krefeld, DE
Close encounters, Den Frie Centre of Contemporary Art, Copenhagen, DK
2019
Stance & Fall - A Wavering World, Marta Herford, Herford, DE
The Stage is Yours, Kiasma Museum for Contemporary Art, Helsinki, FI
Protests, Proclamations and Celebrations, UCONN Contemporary Art Galleries, Connecticut, US
Body in Progress, Österreichisches Kulturforum, Berlin, DE
Whiteout, NRW-Forum, Düsseldorf, DE
OpenART Biennale, Örebro, SE
2018
Prospectif Cinéma, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
Resistance, Centrale for Contemporary Art, Brussels, BE
I follow you to the sun, Galerie Lisa Kandlhofer, Vienna, AT
Perfuch, UVeStudios, Buenos Aires, AR
Fall, The Royal Theater, Copenhagen, DK
Fake it Till You Make it, MeetFactory, Praque, CZ
Dislexia, El Gran Vidrio, Córdoba, AR
Doing Things with Words, Kunstverein Braunschweig, DE
2017
Future Generation Art Prize, Pinchuk Art Centre, Kyiv, UA
Future Generation Art Prize, 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, IT
Bienal de Performance BP.17, Buenos Aires, AR
Cool, Calm and collected, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum, Aarhus, DK
Portfolio Berlin 03, Kunsthalle Rostock, Rostock, DE
Conditions of Political Choreography,  n.b.k. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, DE
Sæt pris på kunsten, Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde, DK
Instructions for happiness, Belvedere 21 - Museum of Contemporary Art, Vienna, AT
Duet with artist, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, DE
Dejima - concepts of in- and exclusion, GAK, Bremen, DE
Fun and Fury, Cabaret Voltaire, Zurich, CH
News at last, Andersen's Contemporary, Copenhagen, DK
2016    
Conditions of Political Choreography, CCA, Tel Aviv, ISR
20 Years, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, CH
The gestural, Belvedere 21 - Museum of Contemporary Art, Vienna, AT
Head to Head, Castlefield Gallery, Manchester, UK
Today's Art Festival, The Hague, NL
Take Up Your Space, KAI10 / Arthena Foundation, Düsseldorf, DE
Manifesta 11, Zurich, CH
Im Raum mit, BNKR, Munich, DE
Stellung nehmen, Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, DE
2015    
Preis der Nationalgalerie 2015, Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, DE
Political Populism, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, AT
Expanding the field of play, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
The city is the star, ZKM | Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie, Karlsruhe, DE
Reset I - Galerie Priska Pasquer, Cologne, DE
History is a warm gun, n.b.k. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin, DE
Life in a Castle, Musée d’art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne, Rochechouart, FR
Per4m, Artissima, Torino, IT
European Media Art Festival, Kunsthalle Osnabrück, DE
Destination Vienna, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, AT
More Konzeption conception now, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, DE
The Lulennial - a slight gestuary, Lulu, Mexico City, MEX
30 + 30 retro/ perspektiv, Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg, DE
2014    
Reykjavik Dance Festival, Reykjavik Art Museum, Reykjavik, ISL
Public, Art Basel Miami Beach, US
Performance proletarians, MAGASIN - Centre National d’art Contemporain, Grenoble, FR
Vertigo of reality, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, DE
Vor Ort, Bielefelder Kunstverein, Bielefeld, DE
Is it Y(ours)?, Museum Bärengasse, Zurich, CH
Now and again – Performance for video, Fotografisk Center, Copenhagen, DK
2013    
Ihre Geschichte(n), Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, DE
Gelatin - Stop - Anna Ly Sing - Stop, Schinkel Pavillion, Berlin, DE
Grundfrage (Question Fondamentale), Crac Alsace, Altkirch, FR
Regionalismus, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, AT
Enten/Eller, Nikolaj Contemporary Art Centre, Copenhagen, DK
Entweder/oder, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, DE
2012    
Immer Bunter – Aktuelle Malerei aus Österreich, Galerie im Taxis Palais, Innsbruck, AT
Realness Respect, Kunstverein Medienturn, Graz, AT
Catch a glimpse of me, W139, Amsterdam, NL
Regionale12, Festival for contemporary art, Austria, AT
2011    
REGRESS-PROGRESS, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, PL
ACTS, Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde, DK
Performance as lecture, Kunsthalle Wien project space, Vienna, AT
Sequences Real time Art Festival, Reykjavik, ISL
2010    
Speak & Spell - curated by Spike Art Quarterly, COCO, Vienna, AT
2008    
International Prize for Performance, Galleria Civica di Arte Contemporanea, Trento, IT

Awards and grants

2022
Arbeitstipendium, Stiftung Kunstfonds, DE
2017  
Future Generation Art Prize (shortlist), UKR
Working grant, Danish Arts Foundation, DK
2016
ISCP residency, New York, US
2015  
Preis der Nationalgalerie (shortlist), DE   
Prix K-Way Per4m, IT
2012  
BmuKK Startstipendium für Bildende Kunst, AT  
2008  
H13 Prize for Performance, AT
International Prize for Performance (shortlist), IT

Public collections

Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki, FI
Malmö Konstmuseum, Malmö, SE
Danish National Gallery, Copenhagen, DK
Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Krefeld, DE
n.b.k. Video-Forum, Berlin, DE
Fluentum, Berlin, DE
Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim,DE
Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, Siegen, DE
Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
Musée d’art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne, Rochechouart, FR
Belvedere 21 - Museum of Contemporary Art, Vienna, AT
Juan & Patricia Vergez Collection, Buenos Aires, AR

About

"Unsuspecting exhibition visitors become part of Christian Falsnaes’ performances. In his work, he deals with the notions of ritual and group mentality, including himself and the role of the artist. What happens when people – especially those who are used to the rituals and dynamics of highly codified social fields such as the art world – have to give up control? Falsnaes employs directives to underscore the significance of individual will, turning the reactions of his audiences into material for their own self-reflection.”

- Arielle Bier, 2016

”Christian Falsnaes has developed various approaches to performance, which are based on immediate active interaction with the audience. Visitors, whether intentional or not, become participants and co-authors of his art. Nevertheless, he guides the process, sometimes as a seducer, sometimes as an entertainer, provocateur, or disciplinarian. With clear instructions, he leads his co-actors to do things that push them into new experiential spaces between obedience and refusal. Falsnaes is thus one of the protagonists of participatory art, which simultaneously questions and makes tangible its models of action. It often revolves around making power relations visible, exploring energy, latent violence, and coercion, and thus refining individual participation in or against authoritarian forms of community.”

- Sabine Maria Schmidt, 2018