Kris Martin

Kris Martin (born 1972 in Kortrijk) is a Belgian conceptual visual artist. His work consists of monumental and small-scale sculptures, drawings and interventions.

Recurring themes in his work are the notion of time, history and the transience of human existence. His artwork also explores the relationship between the creators and the consumers of art, and combines elements of contemplation with humour and playfulness.

Among his best known works are 'Mandi XVIII', a plaster cast of the Laocoon group with the snakes omitted, and '100 years' a sculpture that will explode in 100 years from its conception. Martin has worked with curators Jan Hoet and Jens Hoffmann.

Martin held his first solo show in 2000. Since then he has mounted many solo exhibitions, and his work has been included in dozens of group exhibitions.

In 2020, a retrospective of Martin's work was held at S.M.A.K Ghent titled EXIT. The exhibition gathered many well known works amongst which the iconic Altar (2004), with recent additions such as Water (2020), a spread of vessels holding the life sustaining liquid.

Solo shows
<!-- No need to list every time one of his works was displayed - this can be on the artist's website, and a shorter, selected list of exhibitions in which the works were mentioned in reliable independent sources can be added here.
 * 2000 - Wahnsinn, Garden of Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, Deurle
 * 2004 - Beaulieu Gallery, Wortegem-Petegem
 * 2005 - Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf
 * 2006 - Deus ex machina, Johann König, Berlin
 * 2007 - MoMA PS1, New York; My Private 5, Piazza San Marco, Venedig; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Marc Foxx, Los Angeles
 * 2009 - Aspen Art Museum, Aspen; Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Johann König, Berlin
 * 2010 - FESTUM, White Cube, London; T.Y.F.F.S.H., K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf; Almine Rech Gallery, Brüssel/Brussels
 * 2011 - Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; Marc Foxx, Los Angeles; The Magnificent Seven: Hammarby!, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco
 * 2012 - Every Day of the Weak, Kestnergesellschaft, Hannover, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau; Mandi VIII, Lehmbruck-Museum, Duisburg; DO NOT CROSS THE RED LINE, Kunst-Station Sankt Peter, Köln; Festum II, Theseustempel, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Wien
 * 2013 - Somebody, Sies + Höke, Düsseldorf; White Cube, London; Künstlerraum, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
 * 2016 - König Galerie, Berlin.
 * 2020 - EXIT, S.M.A.K, Ghent.

Group shows
2014
 * Une brève histoire de l'avenir, Louvre, Paris
 * War, MOSTYN gallery, Llandudno
 * Gold, Bass Museum, Miami
 * Unendlicher Spass, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt am Main

2013
 * Pataphysics, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York
 * What Matters – Waar het op aan komt, Psychiatrisch Ziekenhuis Duffel, Belgium
 * Young Collectors, Maison Particulière, Brüssel/Brussels, Belgium
 * GLASSSTRESS: White Light/White Heat, Collateral Event of the 55th Venice Biennial, Venedig/Venice, Italy
 * Back to Earth. Die Wiederentdeckung der Keramit in der Kunst, Herbert Gehrisch Stiftung, Neumünster
 * Defining Space, Bastei, Köln/Cologne
 * Inner Journeys, Maison Particulière, Brüssel/Brussels
 * Dinard, Atomic Love, Ville de Dinard, Frankreich/France

2012
 * WONDERFUL – Humboldt, Crocodile & Polke, The Olbricht Collection, me Collectors Room Berlin
 * Private Kunstsammlung Münster – Director's Choice, Kunsthalle Münster
 * A House of Leaves – First Movement, David Roberts Art Foundation, London
 * Goldrausch: Gold in der Gegenwartskunst, Kunsthalle Nürnberg
 * Sint-Jan, Saint Bavo Cathedral, Gent/Ghent
 * PUNKT-SYSTEME. Vom Pointillismus zum Pixel, Wilhelm-Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen
 * Cartographies, Fundación la Caixa, Madrid
 * An Incomplete History of Incomplete Works of Art, Galleria Francesca Minini, Mailand/Milano
 * Particles, Meessen De Clercq, Brüssel/Brussels

2011
 * Mémoires du Futur, la collection Olbricht, La Maison Rouge, Paris
 * The Silver Show – 25 Years of NAK, Neuer Aachener Kunstverein
 * Die Kunst der Entschleunigung, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg
 * Wunder, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg
 * 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana
 * Untitled, 12th Istanbul Biennial
 * Commercial Break, 54th Venice Biennial, Venedig/Venice
 * The Shape of Things to Come: New Sculpture Part I, Saatchi Gallery, London

2010
 * Let's Dance, Musée D'Art Contemporain du Val-de-Marne, Vitry-sur-Seine
 * Exhibition, Exhibition, Castello di Rivoli, Museum of Contemporary Art, Rivoli, Turin
 * Touched, 6th Liverpool Biennial
 * Unsichtbare Schatten – Bilder der Verunsicherung, MARTa Herford
 * Under Destruction, Museum Tinguely, Basel
 * Yesterday will be better Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau
 * Intensif-Station Künstlerräume, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
 * Kupferstichkabinett, White Cube, London
 * Signs of Life Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles
 * Christmas in July, Yvon Lambert, New York
 * Human Condition, Kunsthaus Graz
 * 20th Century Fox, Vanmoerkerke Collection, Oostende/Ostend
 * Contemplating the Void, Guggenheim Museum, New York
 * Silent Revolution, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf
 * Neugierig? Kunst des 21. Jahrhunderts aus privaten Sammlungen, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn

2009
 * Beg Borrow and Steal, Rubell Family Collection, Miami
 * A L'épreuve, Institut D'Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne
 * Earth: Art of a changing world, Royal Academy of Arts, London
 * Silent, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art
 * Moby Dick, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco
 * The Site of Silence – Der Ort der Stille, Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössische Kunst Münster
 * Heaven 2nd Athens Biennial
 * Magritte et la Lumière, Almine Rech Galerie, Brüssel/Brussels
 * The Quick and the Dead, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis

2008
 * Heavy Metal, Kunsthalle zu Kiel
 * ‘‘Political/Minimal, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin
 * This is not a void, Galerie Luisa Strina, São Paulo
 * FADE IN/FADE OUT, Bloomberg Space, London
 * L'Argent, Frac, Ile-de-France, Paris
 * Speicher fast voll – Sammeln und Ordnen in der Gegenwartskunst, Kunstmuseum Solothurn
 * Boros Collection, Berlin
 * Past - Forward, Zabludovicz Collection, London
 * Traces du Sacré, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
 * Section des Miroirs, Art Institute of Chicago
 * Der eigene Weg/Perspektiven belgischer Kunst, Museum Küppermühle für Moderne Kunst, Duisburg
 * Countdown Center For Curatorial Studies, New York

2007
 * Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco
 * Gehen Bleiben, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, curated by Volker Adolphs
 * For Sale, Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art, Lisbon, curated by Jens Hoffmann
 * Learn to Read, Tate Modern, London, curated by Contemporary Art, Tate Modern
 * Some Time Waiting, Kadist Art Foundation, Paris, curated by Adam Carr
 * Trobleyn/Laboratorium, Jan Fabre, Antwerpen

2006
 * My private escaped from Italy, International Center of Art and Landscape on the island of Vassivière, Beaumont du Lac
 * Protections. Das ist keine Ausstellung, Kunsthaus Graz, Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz
 * Faster! Bigger! Better! Signetwerke der Sammlungen, ZKM, Museum für neue Kunst, Karlsruhe
 * Designing Truth, Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg
 * Of Mice and Men, 4th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art, curated by Ali Subotnick, Massimiliano Gioni and Maurizio Cattelan, Berlin

2005
 * SEE history 2005 – der private Blick, Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Kiel
 * Post Notes, Midway Contemporary Art, Minnesota

2003 -->
 * Gelijk het leven is, SMAK Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, Gent