PORTFOLIO
By Nina K
XOOOOX (pronounced “zooks”) is Berlin based street-artist known for guerrilla-style who works with delicate stenciled works and installations in an Arte Povera style that consist of weathered and decaying materials. He was born 1979 and started with classical graffiti at the age of 15. He never went to art school so instead of that he taught himself by practicing under railway bridges and while travelling around big cities like Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne.
XOOOOX is, in fact, regarded as the first German street artist that has come to prominence on the international art market. Though the artist’s works can be seen throughout the city his identity remains a secret to prevent against charges of public vandalism.
In his works, XOOOOX distinctly contrasts the glamour of fashion culture with existentialist themes such as vulnerability and transience. The life-size stencils of professionally styled photo models form the leitmotif of the figurative studies and scrutinize the worship cult and the seduction techniques of haute couture. Beguilingly beautiful, XOOOOX’s women convey a sense of melancholy and introversion and allude to the growing displeasure with the uniform, consumption-driven hype of the fashion industry. Using transitory media such as exposed building facades, worm-eaten wood, rotting fabric and rusty metal, XOOOOX grounds this apparently glamorous theme in the street, but the artist’s aim is not to deconstruct fashion culture. XOOOOX pays homage to traditional haute couture while levelling criticism at the over-industrialization of fashion as a cultural artefact of our time. XOOOOX’s work, whether on the streets of Berlin or in a gallery setting, conveys the dynamics between standard ideas of beauty and ruin. Grimy buildings and rough, untraditional art surfaces like raw wood, parquet flooring, or copper sheets are adorned with gorgeous women, often appropriated from photographs of fashion models, seductively glancing out to their viewers, who may be either art enthusiasts or simply random passerby. Many of the women are surrounded by the letters X and O, which doubly act as the artist’s signature and imply that it is XOOOOX himself that the women are thinking of, implying a strong personal connection between the artist and his women. The transgressive quality of XOOOOX’s graffiti is reinforced by the fact that the stencil technique that he uses originates in political tagging traditionally done by military and revolutionary organizations.Thus, XOOOOX’s work is full of paradoxes. It is beautiful and focused on stunning models, and yet also becomes integrated into grungy environments and materials; it is optimistic and yet subversive.These qualities make his work so full of life, as his women seem to tell their stories from the walls that they rest upon. If you want to see more of XOOOOX’s work you can check out his first monograph edited by Benjamin Wolbergs and published by Gestalten. The book is focused mainly on artist’s portraits of female models that he prefers to stencil or wheat-paste onto surfaces of older buildings scarred by the passage of time. The contrast between the strikingly beautiful women and the crumbling walls is a fundamental aspect of his creative vision.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016
“OK Boy”, Circle Culture Gallery (Gipsstraße), Berlin, Germany
“Bluff Manners”, Circle Culture Gallery (Potsdamer Straße), Berlin, Germany
2014
“on off on on”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2013
“Beauty Will Come, Beauty Will Go”, Mead Carney, London, UK
“Vanish”, Circle Culture Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
“Everything, Everything!”, De Buck Gallery, New York, USA
2012
“Transformer”, Mead Carney, London, UK
2011
“Pilgrim, Baby!”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2010
“OH OH OK OK”, stilwerk, Hamburg, Germany
2009
“Opening Soon”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2008 SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003
“Molotov High Heels”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2017
Wanrooij Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands (upcoming)
“CUTOUT”, Urbanshit Gallery, Hamburg, Germany (upcoming)
“Knotenpunkt 17”, Affenfaust Galerie, Hamburg, Germany (upcoming)
“UNique. UNited. UNstoppable.”, Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
“Dirty Works Extended”, 30works Gallery, Cologne, Germany
“Us the Image”, Colonia Nova, Berlin, Germany
“Abstract Realism”, Affenfaust Galerie, Hamburg, Germany
“What The Weekend Is Gallery”, The Art Union, Berlin, Germany
“PM 11 – Radius”, Urban Nation, Berlin, Germany
“Metal”, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, USA
“Look again!”, Galerie Hilger Next & Hilger Brot Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria
“Summer Brunch”, Circle Culture Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
“Skateboarts”, Forum Kunst Rottweil, Rottweil, Germany
“What the Weekend is Gallery”, Urban Spree Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“DB Affair”, De Buck Gallery, New York, USA
“Winter”, Mead Carney, London, UK
“Aqua Art Miami”, Miami, USA
“Cut it Out”, Urban Nation, Berlin, Germany
“Radiate 2.0”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“30works @ City Leaks III”, 30works Galerie, Köln, Germany
“Ausschnitte”, Urban Shit Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
“Summer Selections”, De Buck Gallery, New York, USA
“Potse 68”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“10 Years of Wooster Collective: 2003—2013”, Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York, USA
“VII”, StolenSpace Gallery, London, UK
Vertical Gallery, Chicago, USA
“Escape the Golden Cage”, Vienna, Austria
“Ephemeral”, Circle Culture Temporary, Berlin, Germany
“Summer Selections”, De Buck Gallery, New York, USA
“Pret A Diner”, Alte Münze, Berlin, Germany
“Kunstlotterie”, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
“The Old Casino”, Hamburg, Germany
“GIVE”, Circleculture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“Paper Works”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“High Spirits”, Zier, Karthaus & Köpp, Hamburg, Germany
“The Urban Artist – paths from subcultural creativity to contemporary art”, Hamburg, Germany
“Hotspot Berlin – International trends and movements in contemporary art”, Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin, Germany
“The Urban Artist – paths from subcultural creativity to contemporary art”, Berlin, Germany
“Nixon Art Mosh”, Munich, Germany
“New Art – Formerly known as: New Art”, Circleculture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“Escape the Golden Cage”, Vienna, Austria
“Diamonds And Pearls”, Postfuhramt, Berlin, Germany
“Die Rückkehr des Abakus”, Berlin, Germany
“Sit Sit Down”, stilwerk gallery, Hamburg, Germany
“LE SALON DU CERCLE DE LA CULTURE A BERLIN”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“Hamburg Calling”, Zier, Karthaus & Köpp, Hamburg, Germany
“In fifteen minutes everybody will be famous”, Curated by Anna Erickson & Emilie Trice, Tape Modern No. 15, Berlin, Germany
“Abakus – How much is this?”, Berlin, Germany
“Self-Portraits”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“Urban Art Agenda”, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Australia
“Le Grand Poólais”, Berlin, Germany
“400 ml Project”, Toulouse, Lyon, Paris, France
“Berliner Strasse, Contemporary Urban Art & Street Culture”, BHC, Berlin, Germany
“Urban Affairs”, Berlin, Germany
“Inoperable Poster Show”, Vienna, Austria
“Finders Keepers”, Milan, Italy
“Hollywood the Remix”, Wooster, New York, USA
2013
Street Art in Germany, Timo Schaal, Riva Verlag
Urban Art Berlin, Kai Jakob, Jaron Verlag
Berlin What? 102 contemporary artists, Uwe Neu & Oliver Thoben, Ch. Schroer, Die neue Sachlichkeit
ARTnews, June, XOOOOX, Doug McClemont
New Street Art, Claude Crommelin, Vivays Publishing Ltd
XOOOOX (monograph), Benjamin Wolbergs, gestalten Verlag
Georg Kolbe Museum, Hotspot Berlin – International trends and movements in contemporary art, Artkapital Verlag
The Stencil Book, Olly Walker, Laurence King Publishing Ltd.
FEFÈ Magazine, DO IT FAST
Street Artists: The Complete Guide, Eleanor Mathieson, Korero Books
Unikat I (monograph), R. S. Spiegelberger Stiftung
STREET ART Berlin, Kai Jakob, Jaron Verlag
WeAr global magazine, Nr. 19, August
Phillips de Pury & Company, Contemporary Art Day
Style.com, Ana Finel Honigman, Hugs and Kisses from Berlin
Shift Magazine, XOOOOOOOOOOX
artillery Magazine, Emilie Trice, Poor Little Rich Girl
My Budget Magazine, Die Kunst liegt auf der Strasse, Nr. 1
Celbrity Magazine, Like a Sprayer, August
Streetwear International Styles Magazine, Molotov High Heels
Street Art in Berlin, Kai Jakob, Jaron Verlag
FEFÈ Magazine, It wasn’t Planned
Urban Illustration Berlin, Benjamin Wolbergs, Gingko Press Inc.
Street Art – Die Stadt als Spielplatz, Daniela Krause & Christian Heinicke, Archiv der Jugendkulturen e.V
MAX Magazine, Stickermania – Die Lust am Kleben
Art De Rue – Worldwide Street Stuff, Kanardo, éditions Artifacts by Free Presse,
Relevant Magazine, Street Art Coming to a City Near You
Postboks Magazine, Publica Postboks s.l
The Art of Rebellion I, Christian Hundertmark, Gingko Press Inc.
There are currently no shop items available from this artist
By Nina K
XOOOOX (pronounced “zooks”) is Berlin based street-artist known for guerrilla-style who works with delicate stenciled works and installations in an Arte Povera style that consist of weathered and decaying materials. He was born 1979 and started with classical graffiti at the age of 15. He never went to art school so instead of that he taught himself by practicing under railway bridges and while travelling around big cities like Frankfurt, Munich and Cologne.
XOOOOX is, in fact, regarded as the first German street artist that has come to prominence on the international art market. Though the artist’s works can be seen throughout the city his identity remains a secret to prevent against charges of public vandalism.
In his works, XOOOOX distinctly contrasts the glamour of fashion culture with existentialist themes such as vulnerability and transience. The life-size stencils of professionally styled photo models form the leitmotif of the figurative studies and scrutinize the worship cult and the seduction techniques of haute couture. Beguilingly beautiful, XOOOOX’s women convey a sense of melancholy and introversion and allude to the growing displeasure with the uniform, consumption-driven hype of the fashion industry. Using transitory media such as exposed building facades, worm-eaten wood, rotting fabric and rusty metal, XOOOOX grounds this apparently glamorous theme in the street, but the artist’s aim is not to deconstruct fashion culture. XOOOOX pays homage to traditional haute couture while levelling criticism at the over-industrialization of fashion as a cultural artefact of our time. XOOOOX’s work, whether on the streets of Berlin or in a gallery setting, conveys the dynamics between standard ideas of beauty and ruin. Grimy buildings and rough, untraditional art surfaces like raw wood, parquet flooring, or copper sheets are adorned with gorgeous women, often appropriated from photographs of fashion models, seductively glancing out to their viewers, who may be either art enthusiasts or simply random passerby. Many of the women are surrounded by the letters X and O, which doubly act as the artist’s signature and imply that it is XOOOOX himself that the women are thinking of, implying a strong personal connection between the artist and his women. The transgressive quality of XOOOOX’s graffiti is reinforced by the fact that the stencil technique that he uses originates in political tagging traditionally done by military and revolutionary organizations.Thus, XOOOOX’s work is full of paradoxes. It is beautiful and focused on stunning models, and yet also becomes integrated into grungy environments and materials; it is optimistic and yet subversive.These qualities make his work so full of life, as his women seem to tell their stories from the walls that they rest upon. If you want to see more of XOOOOX’s work you can check out his first monograph edited by Benjamin Wolbergs and published by Gestalten. The book is focused mainly on artist’s portraits of female models that he prefers to stencil or wheat-paste onto surfaces of older buildings scarred by the passage of time. The contrast between the strikingly beautiful women and the crumbling walls is a fundamental aspect of his creative vision.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2016
“OK Boy”, Circle Culture Gallery (Gipsstraße), Berlin, Germany
“Bluff Manners”, Circle Culture Gallery (Potsdamer Straße), Berlin, Germany
2014
“on off on on”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2013
“Beauty Will Come, Beauty Will Go”, Mead Carney, London, UK
“Vanish”, Circle Culture Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
“Everything, Everything!”, De Buck Gallery, New York, USA
2012
“Transformer”, Mead Carney, London, UK
2011
“Pilgrim, Baby!”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2010
“OH OH OK OK”, stilwerk, Hamburg, Germany
2009
“Opening Soon”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2008 SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003
“Molotov High Heels”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2017
Wanrooij Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands (upcoming)
“CUTOUT”, Urbanshit Gallery, Hamburg, Germany (upcoming)
“Knotenpunkt 17”, Affenfaust Galerie, Hamburg, Germany (upcoming)
“UNique. UNited. UNstoppable.”, Urban Nation Museum for Urban Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
“Dirty Works Extended”, 30works Gallery, Cologne, Germany
“Us the Image”, Colonia Nova, Berlin, Germany
“Abstract Realism”, Affenfaust Galerie, Hamburg, Germany
“What The Weekend Is Gallery”, The Art Union, Berlin, Germany
“PM 11 – Radius”, Urban Nation, Berlin, Germany
“Metal”, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, USA
“Look again!”, Galerie Hilger Next & Hilger Brot Kunsthalle, Vienna, Austria
“Summer Brunch”, Circle Culture Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
“Skateboarts”, Forum Kunst Rottweil, Rottweil, Germany
“What the Weekend is Gallery”, Urban Spree Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“DB Affair”, De Buck Gallery, New York, USA
“Winter”, Mead Carney, London, UK
“Aqua Art Miami”, Miami, USA
“Cut it Out”, Urban Nation, Berlin, Germany
“Radiate 2.0”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“30works @ City Leaks III”, 30works Galerie, Köln, Germany
“Ausschnitte”, Urban Shit Gallery, Hamburg, Germany
“Summer Selections”, De Buck Gallery, New York, USA
“Potse 68”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“10 Years of Wooster Collective: 2003—2013”, Jonathan Levine Gallery, New York, USA
“VII”, StolenSpace Gallery, London, UK
Vertical Gallery, Chicago, USA
“Escape the Golden Cage”, Vienna, Austria
“Ephemeral”, Circle Culture Temporary, Berlin, Germany
“Summer Selections”, De Buck Gallery, New York, USA
“Pret A Diner”, Alte Münze, Berlin, Germany
“Kunstlotterie”, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
“The Old Casino”, Hamburg, Germany
“GIVE”, Circleculture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“Paper Works”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“High Spirits”, Zier, Karthaus & Köpp, Hamburg, Germany
“The Urban Artist – paths from subcultural creativity to contemporary art”, Hamburg, Germany
“Hotspot Berlin – International trends and movements in contemporary art”, Georg Kolbe Museum, Berlin, Germany
“The Urban Artist – paths from subcultural creativity to contemporary art”, Berlin, Germany
“Nixon Art Mosh”, Munich, Germany
“New Art – Formerly known as: New Art”, Circleculture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“Escape the Golden Cage”, Vienna, Austria
“Diamonds And Pearls”, Postfuhramt, Berlin, Germany
“Die Rückkehr des Abakus”, Berlin, Germany
“Sit Sit Down”, stilwerk gallery, Hamburg, Germany
“LE SALON DU CERCLE DE LA CULTURE A BERLIN”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“Hamburg Calling”, Zier, Karthaus & Köpp, Hamburg, Germany
“In fifteen minutes everybody will be famous”, Curated by Anna Erickson & Emilie Trice, Tape Modern No. 15, Berlin, Germany
“Abakus – How much is this?”, Berlin, Germany
“Self-Portraits”, Circle Culture Gallery, Berlin, Germany
“Urban Art Agenda”, Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Australia
“Le Grand Poólais”, Berlin, Germany
“400 ml Project”, Toulouse, Lyon, Paris, France
“Berliner Strasse, Contemporary Urban Art & Street Culture”, BHC, Berlin, Germany
“Urban Affairs”, Berlin, Germany
“Inoperable Poster Show”, Vienna, Austria
“Finders Keepers”, Milan, Italy
“Hollywood the Remix”, Wooster, New York, USA
2013
Street Art in Germany, Timo Schaal, Riva Verlag
Urban Art Berlin, Kai Jakob, Jaron Verlag
Berlin What? 102 contemporary artists, Uwe Neu & Oliver Thoben, Ch. Schroer, Die neue Sachlichkeit
ARTnews, June, XOOOOX, Doug McClemont
New Street Art, Claude Crommelin, Vivays Publishing Ltd
XOOOOX (monograph), Benjamin Wolbergs, gestalten Verlag
Georg Kolbe Museum, Hotspot Berlin – International trends and movements in contemporary art, Artkapital Verlag
The Stencil Book, Olly Walker, Laurence King Publishing Ltd.
FEFÈ Magazine, DO IT FAST
Street Artists: The Complete Guide, Eleanor Mathieson, Korero Books
Unikat I (monograph), R. S. Spiegelberger Stiftung
STREET ART Berlin, Kai Jakob, Jaron Verlag
WeAr global magazine, Nr. 19, August
Phillips de Pury & Company, Contemporary Art Day
Style.com, Ana Finel Honigman, Hugs and Kisses from Berlin
Shift Magazine, XOOOOOOOOOOX
artillery Magazine, Emilie Trice, Poor Little Rich Girl
My Budget Magazine, Die Kunst liegt auf der Strasse, Nr. 1
Celbrity Magazine, Like a Sprayer, August
Streetwear International Styles Magazine, Molotov High Heels
Street Art in Berlin, Kai Jakob, Jaron Verlag
FEFÈ Magazine, It wasn’t Planned
Urban Illustration Berlin, Benjamin Wolbergs, Gingko Press Inc.
Street Art – Die Stadt als Spielplatz, Daniela Krause & Christian Heinicke, Archiv der Jugendkulturen e.V
MAX Magazine, Stickermania – Die Lust am Kleben
Art De Rue – Worldwide Street Stuff, Kanardo, éditions Artifacts by Free Presse,
Relevant Magazine, Street Art Coming to a City Near You
Postboks Magazine, Publica Postboks s.l
The Art of Rebellion I, Christian Hundertmark, Gingko Press Inc.
There are currently no shop items available from this artist