Jochen gerz biography

German textual, conceptual and public artist

Jochen Gerz (born 4 April ) is a German conceptual artist who lived in France from to His work involves the relationship between art and life, history and memory, and deals with concepts such as culture, society, public space, participation and public authorship.

After beginning his career in the literary field, Gerz has in the meantime explored various artistic disciplines and diverse media. Whether he works with text, photography, video, artist books, installation, performance, or on public authorship pieces and processes, at the heart of Gerz's practice is the search for an art form that can contribute to the res publica and to democracy.

Gerz lives in Sneem, County Kerry, Ireland, since

Career

An autodidact, Jochen Gerz began his career in literature and later transitioned to art. He began writing and translating in the early s (Ezra Pound, Richard Aldington), while occasionally working as a foreign corresponden