Thomas Kilpper
Fire Station Residency
1997-2000
Thomas Kilpper is a German artist. He lives and works in Berlin, where he has run the exhibition space ‘after the butcher’ since 2006. Thomas’s work engages with history and politics in a manner that recalls the 1960s in terms of his committed engagement. Typically, Thomas takes over a building and investigates its history, carving into the floor to make woodcuts which he then prints large scale onto fabric. In The Ring, a project he made in London in 2000 (and of which the Tate bought a substantial part) he investigated the history of the area in which the building of the Tate was situated — making images connected with boxing (the site had previously housed a boxing ring), the Ministry of Defense (which had a secret printing press in the building) and the new Tate Modern. His strategy is to work with buildings condemned for demolition and to use only materials he finds on site to make art. In that respect his work engages with the art of Gordon Matta-Clark but by inscribing himself into the building, rather than simply cutting it up, he puts forward a different point of view.
Solo projects include: Drowning Hercules, London (2001); He, who has the money, has the power!, Frankfurter Sparkasse (2002); Ulrike Meinhof, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin (2004); PIGISBACK, Pump House Gallery, London (2006); State of Control, Stasimuseum Berlin (2009); Anemonevej Surprises, Tumult Festival, Nakskov (2010); SPEECH MATTERS, Pavilion for Revolutionary Free Speech, Danish Pavilion, 54th Venice Biennale (2011) and Venetian Prints, dispari&dispari project (2012). Group shows include Independence, the South London gallery (2003); Nordic Biennial of Contemporary Art, Moss (2006); iABr – the 4th international Architecture Biennial, Rotterdam (2009); Philagrafika – The Graphic Unconscious, Temple University, Philadelphia and Encuentro de Medellín MDE11 (2011).
Fire Station Residency 1997-2001
Acme's residency at the Fire Station is one of the most directly supportive schemes for artists in the United Kingdom, providing combined studio and living space at low rents, as well as a half rent residency for a deaf or disabled artist. This fixed-term residency scheme is intended to allow artists more time to concentrate on the development of their work and professional careers, and less time working to survive. 1997-2001 residents were selected by artists Tracy McKenna, Cornelia Parker, Adam Reynolds, and Acme co-founder Jonathan Harvey.