Thomas Schütte (b.1954, Oldenburg, Germany) works across sculpture, print, installation, drawing, watercolour and photography. He lives and works in Düsseldorf and graduated from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in 1981, where he was a student of Gerhard Richter.
Approaching art as a mode of intuitive play, Schütte models things to tell stories—often using what he calls “high-end bricolage” to break the rules and spiritedly put things together that he knows are wrong. He believes, however, that one has to make good mistakes and then learn from them. He is best known for his figurative sculptures ranging from miniatures to large-scale public works. Often unsettling or uncomfortable, his sculptures feature twisted expressions and a malevolent presence. Through his work he explores the human condition, offering a critical perspective on social, cultural, and political issues and visually eloquent commentary on memory, loss, and the difficulty of memorializing the past.
