Wolfgang LAIB

Wolfgang Laib was born on March 25, 1950 in Metzingen, Germany. He began to study medicine in 1968 at the university of Tubingen and became doctor in1974.Since then he has worked exclusively as an artist. In 1975 he made his first milk stones; in 1977 he collected the first pollen; in 1983 he began the first works with rice, in 1987 with beeswax etc. He has spent time in the Far East and in New York. He lives in a small village in southern Germany. He works in Germany and in southern India.

Selected exhibitions :

1982 Biennale, Venice, German pavilion
1982 Documenta 7, Kassel
2000-2001 Retrospective exhibitions in U.S.A (Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, etc)
2003 Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Toyota, Japan
2003 The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
2003 Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art, Marugame, Japan
2005 Museum of Contemporary Art, MACRO, Rome
2005 Fondation Beyeler, Basel
2010 MMK Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt

Somewhere else – la chambre des certitudes, 1996

Biography

1950: Born in Metzingen, Germany.
1968: Began studying medicine at the University of Tübingen.
1974: Received his doctorate from the university and subsequently dedicated himself entirely to artistic practice.
1975: Created his first Milkstone.
1977: Began creating works using collected pollen.
1983: Began creating works using rice.
1987: Began creating works using beeswax.

Lives in a small village in southern Germany.
Works in Germany and India.

1982: Exhibited at the Venice Biennale.
1982: Exhibited at Documenta 7 (Kassel, Germany).
2000–2001: Held large-scale retrospective exhibitions in the United States, including at the Hirshhorn Museum (Washington, D.C.).
2003: Solo exhibitions at the Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, and the Marugame Genichiro-Inokuma Museum of Contemporary Art (MIMOCA).
2005: Solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome (MACRO) and Fondation Beyeler (Basel, Switzerland).
2010: Solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt (MMK).

ship 1996 beeswax, wood 31.5 x 37 x 97.5 cm, 34 x 39 x 107 cm

Zikkurat 1998 beeswax, wood 79.5 x 118 x 50 cm

Dandelion pollen, Hazelnut pollen, Pine pollen on a shelf,1995

Wolfgang Laib with Milkstone
at Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, 2003

Somewhere else – la chambre des certitudes, 1996
beeswax, wood
290 x 124 x 675 cm (interior)

Public Collections

• The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
• Centre Pompidou, Paris
• Fondation Beyeler, Switzerland
• The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (MOCA)
• The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo
• Toyota Municipal Museum of Art, Japan (among others)