Jiří Georg Dokoupil was born on June 3, 1954, in Krnov (now Czech Republic). After the violent ending of the Prague Spring in 1968, the family moved to Germany. Dokoupil graduated from high school and then studied from 1976 to 1978 in Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, and in New York, at Cooper Union, where German Conceptualist Hans Haacke was one of his teachers. After his return to Cologne, he met Walter Dahn in 1979, and the two embarked upon numerous collaborations.
The first paintings were done by projecting drawings onto canvases and then tracing them. In 1980 Dahn, Dokoupil, Hans Peter Adamski, and Peter Bömmels, the original members of the Mülheimer Freiheit, had an exhibition at the Hahnentorburg, the Cologne headquarters of the Bundesverband Bildender Künstler (Federal association of artists). The show, Auch wenn das Perlhuhn leise weint (Even if the guinea fowl softly cries), was attended by Bruno Bischofberger and gallerist Paul Maenz, who then organized the first group show for the Mülheimer Freiheit. In 1980 Dokoupil's painting, Italienische Insekten (Italian Insects) confronted the Italian Transavanguardia, while works such as Frühlingssturm (Spring Storm) or Fruchtwasser (Amniotic Fluid) referred to Fetting and Salomé in Berlin.
In 1985 Corporations and Products signaled the start of a series of large paintings and smaller bronzes, which dealt with famous companies and product names. Dokoupil works conceptually and does not adhere to a particular style. Instead, he continued to invent new content for his paintings, such as the 1982 group of works, Neue Kölner Schule (New Cologne school) and Blaue Bilder über die Liebe (Blue Paintings about Love), or the Schnuller Bilder (Pacifier Paintings, 1983-84). For almost every series he invented a new technique; for instance, he began with the soot paintings in 1988, the soap bubble paintings in 1991; then came the tire paintings, the whip paintings (2002-03), and the film paintings (begun in 2007). Some of the works are reminiscent of graffiti; others recall children's drawings, while still others seem to be conducting a dialogue with other artists.
In the early 1980s each of the different groups of works could be seen in various famous galleries in New York, such as Leo Castelli, Ileana Sonnabend, Mary Boone, Robert Miller, and Tony Shafrazi. At the documenta 7 he showed the work Gott zeig mir Deine Eier (God, show me your balls), in a reference to the Plate Paintings by Julian Schnabel, who had not been invited. For the Zeitgeist exhibition in Berlin in 1982 he parodied the style of the young Berlin painters, especially Middendorf 's.
To this day, Dokoupil's work cannot be categorized under any particular style, which has earned him the nickname of Sphinx. He taught at the art academy in Düsseldorf in 1983-84, and has been a teacher at the Circulo de Bellas Artes in Madrid since 1989. Dokoupil lives and works in Berlin, Madrid, Prague, and Rio de Janeiro.
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
Dokoupil: The Rebellion Against Conceptualism, La Casa Encendida, Madrid
2018
Dokoupil. Wild Foam, Galerie Andrea Caratsch, St. Moritz
2013
Dokoupil. Lovis Corinth-Preisträger 2012, Regensburg
Dokoupil. New foam paintings, Galerie Andrea Caratsch, Zurich
2011
Dokoupil, Christ, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich
Arrugadismus Extened, Evangelisch-reformierte Kirchgemeinde, St. Moritz
2010
Dokoupil. Candle Soot Paintings, Galerie Andrea Caratsch, Zurich
Dokoupil, Kunstverein Schwäbisch Hall Galerie am Markt, Schwaebisch Hall
Dokoupil. 100, Prague Castle Riding School, Prague
2009
Dokoupil. Nukes and Porn, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger and Galerie Andrea Caratsch, Zurich
2007
Dokoupil. Movie and TV Paintings, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger and Galerie Andrea Caratsch, Zurich
2006
Dokoupil. Haken-Paintings, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich
2005
Jiri Georg Dokoupil. Malerei im 21. Jahrhundert, Werkschau 1981-2005, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Hamburg, (Catalogue); traveling to Nationalgalerie, Prague
Dokoupil. Vier Serien, Haus der Kunst der Stadt Brno, Brno
2004
Jiri Georg Dokoupil. Kafkas Prag, Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg
Jiri Georg Dokoupil. Buddhas, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich
2003
Dokoupil. Cuadros de Vela (1989-2002), Centro Atlantico De Arte Moderno CAAM, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria (Catalogue); traveling to Instituto Oscar Dominguez de Arte y Cultura Contemporanea IODACC, San Cristobal de la Laguna, Tenerife
Jiri Georg Dokoupil. Peitschen Bilder, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich
2002
Jiri Dokoupil. Opere recenti, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio, Bologna
Jiri Georg Dokoupil. Blick ins 21. Jahrhundert, Kestner Gesellschaft, Hannover
Leopards, Skulls and Horses, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich
Elke Wolk is een weg, Centraal Museum, Utrecht
2000
Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Palacio de Velázquez, Madrid
Jiri Georg Dokoupil. New Works, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich
1999
Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Château de Chenonceau, Chenonceaux
1997
Jiri Georg Dokoupil. Skizzen, Zeichnungen und Kollagen zum Ring des Nibelungen, Museum Weimar, Kabinett am Goetheplatz, Weimar
Jiri Georg Dokoupil. Something Strange and Fantastic, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna
1996
Dokoupil, Horsens Kunstmuseum, Lund
Dokoupil, Centre d'Art Contemporain de Fréjus, Fréjus
1994
Jiri Georg Dokoupil. New Paintings, Gallery Tony Shafrazi, New York
1992
New Paintings, Tony Shafrazi Gallery, New York
Obstbilder und Skulpturen, A. C. R. Kunstvermittlung, Eltville am Rhein
1991
Dokoupil. Drawings 1980-1991, Horsens Kunstmuseum, Lund (Catalogue); traveling to Casa de la Cultura, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; Centro de Arte La Regenta, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Gran Canaria; Kunsthalle Kiel, Kiel
1989
Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Fundación Caja des Pensiones, Madrid
Drawings (with Roberto Cabot), Palacete del Embarcadero, Santander
1987
Zodiac, Galerie Bruno Bischofberger, Zurich
1986
Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Gallery Ileana Sonnabend, New York
1985
Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Gallery Leo Castelli, New York
1984
Dusch- und Afrikabilder (collaborations with Walter Dahn) Groninger Museum, Groningen
Dokoupil. Arbeiten aus 1981-1984, Museum Folkwang, Essen (Catalogue); traveling to Kunstmuseum Luzern, Luzern; Groninger Museum, Groningen; Espace Lyonnais d’Art Contemporain, Lyon
1983
Jiri Georg Dokoupil, Gallery Mary Boone, New York