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. JahrhundertWerkschau 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

DokoupilArbeiten 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