Michael Krebber

• Name — Michael Krebber • Born — 26 April 1954 • Birthplace — Cologne, Germany • Field — Painting • Spouse — Cosima von Bonin • Education — Kunstakademie Düsseldorf

Michael Krebber was born on 26 April 1954 in Cologne, a city that played a significant role in post-war avant-garde art movements. Krebber studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. Krebber was significantly influenced by his time as an assistant to the German painter Martin Kippenberger, whose artistic approach resonated with Krebber's later explorations of art-making and anti-art tendencies. However, while Kippenberger often embraced excess and provocation, Krebber's approach tends to be more subdued, relying on absence, restraint, and strategic withholding.

Krebber is an artist creating conceptual paintings and works on paper. Rather than adhering to a signature style or thematic consistency, his oeuvre is marked by strategic inconsistencies and a self-aware approach to artistic production. He frequently employs minimal marks, sparse compositions, and seemingly unfinished gestures, prompting discussions about the purpose and boundaries of painting. Krebber's work is often described as an intellectual and critical engagement with painting. A key aspect of Krebber's work is his rejection of traditional painterly skill, often incorporating invoking themes of doubt, irony, and disengagement. His paintings frequently contain large areas of unpainted canvas, delicate brushstrokes, or seemingly arbitrary marks, emphasising the idea of painting as a conceptual exercise rather than a purely aesthetic endeavour. This has led critics and scholars to categorise his work within the broader context of "deskilled" painting—a term referring to an intentional avoidance of technical mastery in favor of conceptual rigor.

Michael Krebber has exhibited in Europe and the United States.

• Year — Title — Institution — Location — Country — Ref • 1993 — Parallax View: New York-Köln — MoMA PS1 — New York, NY — USA • 1997 — Villa Arson — Nice — Italy • 2000 — Wolfsburg Municipal Gallery — Wolfsburg — Germany • Braunschweig Art Association — Braunschweig • 2005 — Secession — Vienna — Austria • 2008 — Kölnischer Kunstverein — Cologne — Germany • 2012 — CAPC Musée d'art Contemporain — Bordeaux — France • 2015 — Museum Ludwig — Cologne — Germany • 2016 — Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art — Porto — Portugal • 2017 — Kunsthalle Bern — Switzerland • 2019 — Museum Brandhorst — Munich — Germany • 2021 — Fondazione Antonio Dalle Nogare — Bolzano — Italy • 2023 — Esprit de Corps — Galerie Buchholz — Cologne — Germany • 2024 — Michael Krebber — Greene Naftali — New York, NY — USA

Krebber lives in Cologne with his wife, artist Cosima von Bonin.

His work has elicited varied interpretations, with some viewing his work as a critique of artistic commodification and others as an intellectual game that resists definitive meaning.

Krebber's work influenced the "zombie formalism" debate—a term used to critique the revival of abstract painting for commercial purposes without deep conceptual engagement. His practice has been said to question the necessity of painting while continuing to practice it, making his work an important reference for artists grappling with the medium's relevance in the 21st century. His influence is particularly evident in younger painters who challenge the boundaries of the medium through conceptual frameworks and self-referential gestures. Krebber is a professor at the Städelschule in Frankfurt.