TOBY ZIEGLER


TOBY ZIEGLER

Toby Ziegler (b. 1972) brings together motifs derived from a wide range of sources, including photographs of the Freud family, Spanish still-life paintings, Dutch Old Masters and Nineteenth Century landscape paintings. He uses the computer to generate new forms and pictorial spaces, playing with facetted structures for his sculptures and manipulating layers of pattern for his two dimensional works. The physical realisation of these digital forms allows mistakes and idiosyncrasies to creep into the rigorous schematic process and to erase the clear distinction between figuration and abstraction. Toby Ziegler revels in the slippage between the virtual and the actual, and furthermore in the very physical acts of decomposing, distorting, and damaging the materials. While Ziegler provides the viewer with some access to follow his path he intentionally leaves room for personal interpretation.

‘As a process, the enlargement of pixelated, discoloured images seems almost automatic in Ziegler – as if no new voice could be imparted to an image before it had passed through a singular neutralising filter. [...] The metal ensures a very specific form of paint adhesion and drying; it retains the trace of every brushstroke, whose nuances stand out at each transition. [...] Yet these operations would mean nothing without a further process, one that comes into effect after the first layer of paint has been painstakingly laid down. Of course, it is thought through from the start with the aid of a computer used to elaborate the composition. This second stage can be perceived as a kind of sabotage – though without it the painting would not be complete. Ziegler now sprays the painting, authoritatively superimposing a pattern over the motif.’

J.M. Gallais, in Toby Ziegler: Borderline Something, Galerie Max Hetzler and Holzwarth Publications, 2013

Image: eight women, 2019, oil on aluminium, 246 x 199.8 x 3 cm.; 96 7/8 x 78 5/8 x 1 1/8 in. Photo: Peter Mallett

Artist Talk

Solo Exhibitions


Group Exhibitions


Selected Institutional Exhibitions


Biography


VITA

1972

Born in London, UK


1991–1994

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, London (B.A. Hons Fine Art)


2004–2006

Residency at Delfina Studios, London


Lives and works in London, UK

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Arad Collection, London

Arts Council of England, Manchester

Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Birmingham

The British Council, London

British Airways Collection, London

Contemporary Arts Society, London

François Pinault Collection, Paris

Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas

Hudson Valley Centre for Contemporary Art, Peekskill

James Moores Collection, Liverpool

Kadist Art Foundation, Paris

Museum of Old and New Art, Tasmania

The Saatchi Gallery, London

Stavanger Kunstmuseum, Stavanger

Tate Gallery, London

The West Collection, S.E.I, Philadelphia

Walsall New Art Gallery, Walsall

The Zabludowicz Collection, London

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023

Broken Images
PKM Gallery, Seoul

Blind men exploring the skin of an elephant
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris


2022

Long live ghosts
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin

Stiftung zur Förderung zeitgenössischerkunst in Weidingen

Pronk
Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong


2020

The sudden longing to collapse 30 years of distance
Simon Lee Gallery, London


2019

There's a ghost in my house
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris

Flesh in the age of reason
PKM Gallery, Seoul


2018

Your Shadow Rising
Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart

Your Mother
Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong

Everything is Recorded
Savoy Cinema, London


2017

Slave
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris

New Art Centre, Salisbury

The Genesis Speech
Freud Museum, London

Sculpture
Stiftung zur Förderung zeitgenössischerkunst in Weidingen

The Cheat
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin


2016

Post-Human Paradise
Simon Lee Gallery, London


2015

PKM Gallery, Seoul


2014

Unused Potential
Galerie Max Hetzler, Paris (catalogue)

Toby Ziegler: Expanded Narcissistic Envelope
The Hepworth Wakefield

New Art Centre, Salisbury

Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong


2013

Borderline Something
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (catalogue)


2012

The Cripples
off-site exhibition at a Q-park 3-9, Old Burlington Street, London

Simon Lee Gallery, London


2010

The Alienation of Objects
Zabludowicz Collection, London, travelled to:
The New Art Gallery Walsall, Walsall, West Midlands;
Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki (catalogue)


2009

Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin


2008

The Liberals
Simon Lee Gallery, London

Danish Pastry / Rose of Mohammed
Parkhaus im Malkastenpark, Düsseldorf

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse
Patrick Painter Inc, Los Angeles (catalogue)


2007

Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield


2006

Simon Lee Gallery, London


2005

Enter Desire
Chisenhale Gallery, London

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023

das gelbe Licht 6 Uhr nachmittags
Remembering, envisioning, sensing landscape,
curated by Christian Malycha
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin


2022

Grayscale
Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong


2020

Winter Light
Southbank Centre, London

Sculpture Park Schloss Schwante


2019

So British! 10 Masterpieces from the Pinault Collection
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen

Input / Output: Painting After Technology
Galerie Max Hetzler, London

Soft Power: Rosso - Morandi - Ziegler
Tommaso Calabro, Milan


2017

I Want! I Want!: Art & Technology
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

After Image
Cassina Projects and Artuner, New York

A Certain Kind Of Light - Light In Art Over Six Decades
Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne;
The Exchange, Penzance


2016

New Past: Contemporary Art from Britain
The Art Gallery of Uzbekistan, Tashkent

Factually Real Illusions
Cookhouse Gallery, Chelsea College of Arts, London

My Abstract World
me Collectors Room Berlin

Fractured
Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong


2015

Faux Amis
Simon Lee Gallery, London

Homeland
Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong


2014

Conflict and Collisions: New Contemporary Sculpture
The Hepworth Wakefield

Painting about Painting
Simmons & Simmons, London (catalogue)

New Art Centre - Roche Sculpture Park and Gallery, Salisbury

Halftone: Through the Grid

Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, Paris

Landscape: The Virtual, The Actual, The Possible
Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou

Love Story - The Collection Anne & Wolfgang Titze
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

Walk The Line
Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong

Private Utopia: Contemporary Works from the British Council Collection
Tokyo Station Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (catalogue), touring exhibition:
Itami City Museum of Art, Itami;
Kochi Museum of Art, Kochi;
Okayama Museum of Art, Okayama, 2015


2013

REMEMBER  EVERYTHING 
40 Years Galerie Max Hetzler

Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin (catalogue)

The Red Queen
Museum of Old and New Art, Berriedale


2012

Curious Visitors:
The Arts Council Collection
Aston Hall, Birmingham

Art Foundation Mallorca Collection. Special Edition
CCA, Andratx

Gold
Belvedere, Vienna (catalogue)

Sidetracks. Painting in the paramodern continuum
Stavanger Art Museum (catalogue)


2011

Saatchi Gallery in Adelaide: British Art Now
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide (catalogue)

Self-Similar seen somewhere else at the same time
Galerie De Expeditie, Amsterdam


2010

A GROUP PAINTING SHOW
Patrick Painter Inc., Santa Monica

Another Face: works from the Arts Council Collection
Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne        

Newspeak: British Art Now
The Saatchi Gallery, London
   

2009

Newspeak. British Art Now
The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (catalogue)

The White Show (curated by Caroline Douglas)
PM Gallery and House, London

Work on Paper
Wolverhampton Art Gallery 

Accrochage
Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin

Cui Prodest?
New Galerie de France, Paris (catalogue)

Reframing
CCA, Andratx

Natural Wonders: New Art from London
Baibakov Art Projects, Moscow

Supernova
Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, Wales


2008

RU(technhe) TH(episteme)8?
Hats Plus, London

Parkhaus
Kunsthalle Düsseldorf

Hamster Wheel (curated by Franz West)
Malmö Konsthall
               
Thuring and Ziegler
10 Vyner Street, London
               
Nature is a Workshop: selected from the Arts Council Collection
Turner Contemporary Project Space, Margate

35% Vrai 60% Faux
Simon Lee Gallery, London

                           
2007

Hamster Wheel, curated by Franz West
Centre d'Art Santa Mònica, Barcelona, travelled to:
Le Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse;
Tesa della Nuovissima, Venice

Size Matters: XXL - Recent Large-Scale Paintings
Hudson Valley Centre for Contemporary Art, Peekskill

Soufflé, curated by Franz West
Kunstraum Innsbruck (catalogue)
   
How to Improve the World
Gas Hall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

Recent Abstraction, British Art Display 1500–2007
Tate Britain, London


2006

Out of Place
The New Art Gallery, Wallsall

Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, curated by Barry Schwabsky
Asbæk, Copenhagen

Archipenture: painters build architecture
Camden Arts Centre, London

Archipenture: artists build architecture
Le Plateau - FRAC d’Ile de France, Paris

Supernova
City Art Gallery, Prague


2005

The Future Lasts a Long Time
Le Consortium, Dijon

Ordering the Ordinary, curated by David Thorp
Timothy Taylor Gallery, London
   
Supernova
Bunkier Sztuki Gallery Of Contemporary Art Poland, Krakow, travelled to:
Kunstihoone, Tallinn; Centre Of Contemporary Art, Vilnius (catalogue)


2004

Kingdom
The Market, Glasgow

Contrapop
Vamiali's, Athens (catalogue)

Expander
Royal Academy of Arts, London (catalogue)

John Moores 23
The Walker, Liverpool

The Future Lasts a Long Time
Tal Esther Gallery, Tel Aviv
                                         
Collection 1
Isabella Brancolini Arte Contemporanea, Florence


2003

Art Kliasma 2003
Moscow
                                          
EAST international
Norwich Gallery, (catalogue)

Civilia
Bluecoat Gallery, Liverpool

Creek
Cell project space, London

Picture Room
Gasworks, London


2002

King of Norway’s house, Piccadilly, London

Hypnotising Chickens
One in the Other, London


2001

Sages, Scientists and Madmen
One in the Other, London

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Monographs

Simon Lee Gallery (Ed.): Toby Ziegler: anticlimax, Hong Kong, 2014

Galerie Max Hetzler (Ed.): Toby Ziegler. Borderline Something, Berlin, 2013

Koenig Books / Simon Lee Gallery (Eds.): From the Assumption of the Virgin to Widow / Orphan Control, London, 2012

Toby Ziegler with Elizabeth Johnson, Zabludowicz Collection (Eds.): The Alienation of Objects, London, 2010

Patrick Painter (Ed.): The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Los Angeles, 2008


Others

Galerie Max Hetzler (Ed.): Halftone: Through the Grid, Berlin, 2014

Galerie Max Hetzler (Ed.): REMEMBER  EVERYTHING : 40 Years Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin, 2014

Simmons & Simmons (Ed.): Painting about Painting, London, 2014

Tokyo Station Gallery (Ed.): Private Utopia: Contemporary Works from the British Council Collection, Tokyo, 2014

Hossein Amirsadeghi, Maryam Eisler (Eds.): Sanctuary. Britain's Artists and their Studios, London, 2012

Museum und Schloss Belvedere Österreich (Ed.): Gold. Gold in der Kunst von der Antike bis zur Moderne, Munich, 2012

Peter Meyer (Ed.): Sidetracks, Stavanger, 2012

Modern Painters Magazine (Ed.): Underground Man. Toby Ziegler takes over a car park, October, 2012

Art Gallery of South Australia (Ed.): Saatchi Gallery in Adelaide : British art now, Adelaide, 2011

New Galerie de France (Ed.): Cui Prodest?, Paris, 2009

Black Pages, Vienna (Ed.): Toby, #1, Vienna, 2009

The State Hermitage Museum (Ed.): Newspeak. British Art Now, St Petersburg - London, 2009

Hans Werner Holzwarth (Ed.): Art Now, Vol 3, Taschen, Cologne, 2008

Quadrille Publishing (Ed.): Tiddy Rowan, Art in the City, London, 2008

Kunstraum Innsbruck (Ed.): Soufflé, Innsbruck, 2007

British Council (Ed.): The Supernova, London, 2005

Vamiali's Gallery (Ed.): Contrapop, Athens, 2004

Mustafa Hulusi (Ed.): Expander, London, 2004

Norwich Gallery (Ed.): EAST International, Norwich, 2003

Videos


Publications


das gelbe Licht 6 Uhr nachmittags
Remembering, envisioning, sensing landscape

Exhibition Poster
2023

€ 15.00

HALFTONE

Darren Almond, Tauba Auerbach, Mark Barrow & Sarah Parke, Jeff Elrod, John Houck, Navid Nuur, Albert Oehlen, Michael Raedecker, Tursic & Mille, Kelley Walker, Christopher Wool, Toby Ziegler

Galerie Max Hetzler Berlin | Paris 2014
With a text by Pierre-Nicolas Bounakoff

€ 15.00

REMEMBER EVERYTHING

Darren Almond, Glenn Brown, André Butzer, Rineke Dijkstra, Günther Förg, Mona Hatoum, Jeff Koons, Vera Lutter, Marepe, Beatriz Milhazes, Ernesto Neto, Frank Nitsche, Albert Oehlen, Yves Oppenheim, Richard Phillips, Michael Raedecker, Bridget Riley, Thomas Struth, Rebecca Warren, Christopher Wool, Toby Ziegler

Galerie Max Hetzler / Holzwarth Publications / Ridinghouse, Berlin and London 2014
With texts by Julie Sylvester and Jean-Marie Gallais
Edited by Jean-Marie Gallais

€ 45.00

Toby Ziegler: Borderline Something

Galerie Max Hetzler, Berlin 2013
With a text by Jean-Marie Gallais
Edition of 400

Selected Press


The Independent August 2014

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Berliner Zeitung May 2013

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The Guardian October 2012

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Frieze January 2011

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Artforum Summer 2008

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