John Bock

 ( Living People ) 

John Bock (born 1965 in Schenefeld, Germany) is a German artist. He studied in Hamburg, Germany and lives and works in Berlin.

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Work Bock is a multi-media artist primarily known for his performances. Since 1991, he creates environments hand crafted from found materials which function as symbolic settings for his "lectures." More recently there has been an increased production of film and video work. John Bock. Films, June 7 - September 23, 2007 Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt.

In his "lectures", Bock acts on "stages" built from tables, cupboards or multi-level wood constructions. The objects are handmade or re-modeled accessories of the lecture, made out of clothing, electrical equipment such as hoovers and mixers, or "plastic diagrams" that illustrate his mathematical explanations. After the lecture, they are left on the stage which thus forms a "theatrical collage". The "lectures" are structured by different scenes in which Bock sometimes works with (non-professional) actors; frequently he plays pop songs or classical pieces from a record player. The lecture is mostly recorded on video. The film is then integrated in the installation, documenting the lecture throughout the exhibition. John Bock Klosterfelde Galerie, Berlin.

Bock has been professor for sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts of Karlsruhe since 2004.

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Exhibitions Bock participated in numerous international exhibitions, among others the Venice Biennial (1999 and 2005) and the documenta 11 in Kassel (2002). He has also had solo exhibitions in a number of international institutions including MoMA and the New Museum in New York, Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, Kunsthalle Basel in Basel, Secession, Wien, and the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London.

He has participated in various group shows including Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art, Barbican Centre, London, and "Laughing in a Foreign Language", The Hayward Gallery, London, both in 2008. John Bock: Maltreated Frigate, a monograph of his work, was published by Walther Koenig Ltd, 2007.

Bock is represented by Galerie Klosterfelde, Berlin, Anton Kern Gallery, New York, and Regen Projects, Los Angeles.

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Selected exhibitions Source:.

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Germany

2006
1998
1997
2005
2009
2006
1997
2000
2006
2011
1999
1999
2011
2000
2010
1998
2001
1999
2013
2000
1999
1996
1999
2004
1995
1995
1993
1992
2005
1998
2001
1994
2013
1997
1993
1995
1993
1996
1993
1997
1993
1996
1993
1994
1992
	Kunst – Mädchen – Erfolg – Tod
	Paul Eluard Gesichtskorrektur
	Wie werde ich breühmt?
1994
2000
1999
2000-2001
2007
1998
2001
2001
1999
1999

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Europe

1999
2000
1999
2007
2000
1998
1998
1999
1998
1999
2000
1996
2005
1999
1999
1996
1999
2000-2001
2010
2008
2008
2004
2005
MEECHbuildings – “playing among the ruins”
2007
2001
2005
2005
2005
2009
2007
2001
1999
1999
2008
2005
	Reykjavík Arts Festival
2007
2008
2003
1999
2004
2000
2001
2001
2013
2005
1999
1999
2006
2006
2010
2004
2008
1999
	Lombardi Bängli

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Americas

2011
2007
2008
2007
2011
2006
2008
2010
2006
1999
2012
2007
2006
2000
1999
2005
2005
2012

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Asia + Oceania

2000

2008

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Lectures

• 2000: Four Lectures, Museum of Modern Art, New York
• “Aller Anfang ist Merz – von Kurt Schwitters bis heute”, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany, 6 June
• Gribbohm meets Mini-Max society, (lecture 4, MoMA N.Y.C.)
• thread waxing space, “death race”, Brooklyn, Dec.
• 2009: Lecture / Fashion Show The greased bendsteering in the luggage gets tangled up with the white shirt (in German: Die abgeschmierte Knicklenkung im Gepäck verheddert sich im weissen Hemd) at HKW, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany

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See also

• Robecchi, Michele, "John Bock: A Man in Space", Flash Art, January–February, 2005, p. 92-95.
• Galloway, David, "Spray the Ketchup, Fling the Lettuce", ARTnews, May, 2006
• Coulson, Amanda, "John Bock", Frieze, Issue 111, November–December, 2007
• O'Reilly, Sally, "John Bock: Hide and Seek", Art Review, 2007, p. 52-59.
• Millard, Coline, "John Bock", Modern Painters, July 15, 2010
• Smith, Roberta, "Art in Review: John Bock", The New York Times, April 2, 2010
• Tsitsovitis, Yannis, "John Bock's Unorthodox Machines", Under/Current Magazine Vol. 6, 2011, p. 144-149.

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Further reading

• (2026). 9783822840931, Taschen. ISBN 9783822840931

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External links

• John Bock at Anton Kern Gallery
• John Bock at Galerie Klosterfelde, Berlin
• John Bock at the Berliner Poster Verlag
• John Bock at Sadie Coles HQ
• John Bock at Fondazione Nicola Trussardi
• Lecture / Fashion Show The greased bendsteering in the luggage gets tangled up with the white shirt at HKW, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany VernissageTV Video September 2009.

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