Camill Leberer
b. 1953 in Kenzingen in Breisgau
lives in Stuttgart
| 2017 | Artist in Residence, Beijing |
| 2011 | Artist in Residence, Sanskriti Foundation, Neu-Dehli |
| 2004 | Africa |
| 1991-1992 | Guest professorship at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart |
| 1990 | Lecturer at the Trier University of Applied Sciences |
| 1987-1988 | Lecturer in sculpture at the Hochschule Pforzheim |
| 1978-1984 | Studies in sculpture at State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart |
| 2008 | Peter-Hans-Hofschneider-Award, Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg |
| 1991 | Sponsorship Award, City of Stuttgart |
| 1988 | Scholarship, Villa Massimo, Rom |
| 1985 | Award winner, Forum Junger Kunst at the Kunsthalle Mannheim |
| 1984 | Scholarship, Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg |
| 1979 | Academy Prize |
| 2022 | Lichtfaden, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Stuttgart |
| 2021 | Glashaut, Galerie der Stadt Tuttlingen |
| 2019 | Flow, Galerie Bernd A. Lausberg, Düsseldorf (mit Wolfgang Flad) Tauchbad, Kunsthalle Göppingen C1, Göppingen |
| 2018 | Indigoraum, Galerie Peter Zimmermann, Mannheim Selbst und Teile, Kunstverein Pforzheim Augen-schritt, Galerie Albert Baumgarten, Freiburg |
| 2017 | Glanzstücke, Audi-Museum mobile, Ingolstadt Selbst und Teile, Kunstverein Pforzheim Museum Art.Plus, Donaueschingen |
| 2016 | Ponderosa Highway, Galerie am Klostersee, Lehnin |
| 2015 | Cutting Guide, Galerie Bernd A. Lausberg, Düsseldorf |
| 2014 | Pneuma / Kristall, Galerie Peter Zimmermann, Mannheim Camill Leberer – hinter dem lichtfeld ein dunkleres blau, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Stuttgart Perlenlied, DavisKlemmGallery, München |
| 2013 | Anandagram, Galerie der Kreissparkasse Esslingen-Nürtingen, Esslingen InsaGalery, Seoul |
| 2012 | Sarnarth, Galerie Bernd A. Lausberg, Düsseldorf Sarnarth, Lausberg Contemporary, Toronto Galerie von Braunbehrens, München |
| 2011 | Galerie Peter Zimmermann, Mannheim DavisKlemmGallery, München Neue Arbeiten, Galerie Erhard Witzel, Wiesbaden |
| 2010 | Galerie von Braunbehrens, München Camill Leberer. Metaphysik des aufgeklärten Materials: Zeichnungen Skulpturen und Fotografien, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart Galerie Ihn, Seoul Neue Arbeiten, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Stuttgart |
| 2009 | Lichtung – Schwebe, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Stuttgart Erstaunliche Lichtung, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt Neue Arbeiten, Galerie M. Haas, Ingolstadt |
| 2008 | Pforzheim Galerie Galerie Peter Zimmermann, Mannheim |
| 2007 | Camill Leberer: (Unterstand/Gehäuse), Kunstmuseum Heidenheim Erstaunliche Lichtung, Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern (selbst), Galerie Erhard Witzel, Wiesbaden Gallery Ihn, Seoul |
| 2006 | Galerie Heinz Holtmann, Köln Waßermann Galerie, München |
| 2005 | Galerie Peter Zimmermann, Mannheim |
| 2004 | Galerie Erhard Witzel, Wiesbaden Echo – Zu den Zeichnungen von Camill Leberer, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe, Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders, Bergisch-Gladbach, Sprengelmuseum Hannover |
| 2003 | Museum Goch Waßermann Galerie München Galerie Heinz Holtmann, Köln |
| 2002 | Galerie Erhard Witzel, Wiesbaden Dommuseum Frankfurt |
| 2001 | Galerie Beck+Priess, Berlin Galerie Peter Zimmermann, Mannheim Galerie Heinz Holtmann, Köln Waßermann Galerie, München |
| 2000 | Hortus conclusus, Museum Folkwang Essen, Kunstverein Freiburg |
| 2022 | Kubus. Sparda-Kunstpreis, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart Spieglein, Spieglein…, Kunstmuseum Heidenheim Leberer, Langenfeld, Bach, Villa Friede, Bonn |
| 2021 | Accrochage, Galerie Fetzer, Sontheim an der Brenz Finale – Director‘s Cut, Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern Sommerzeit Galerie Fetzer, Sontheim an der Brenz Pure Galerie Bernd A. Lausberg, Düsseldorf Blick nach vorn – Aufbruch in die 2020er Jahre, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Grafeneau |
| 2020 | Vorsicht Glas, Clemens-Sels-Museum, Neuss Die Form, BcmA, Berlin Die Illusion der Realität, Fotographische Positionen, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Stuttgart Lust auf Farbe, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Stuttgart |
| 2019 | Leben mit Kunst – Die Sammlung Altmann, Kunstmuseum Villa Zanders, Bergisch-Gladbach Sammlung Kunsthalle Göppingen Großes, Kunstmuseum Heidenheim Whats up, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Grafenau |
| 2018 | Revisted, Städtische Galerie Villingen-Schwenningen The world is something flat, or not, Galerie Art-Off, Offenbach Konvolution, Osthaus Museum Hagen |
| 2017 | inszenierte Denkräume, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Stuttgart Metall – es ist nicht alles Gold, was glänzt, Kunstmuseum der Stadt Pforzheim Bestandsprobe V, Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern Homage to Modern Art, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Grafenau out of office, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt |
| 2016 | Der Künstler und sein Ich, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart Lost in words, Kunstraum Dreieich, Dreieich-Dreieichenhain Vor/Nachbild, Galerie Albert Baumgarten im Morat-Institut Freiburg FARBE bekennen, Galerie Albert Baumgarten, Freiburg Verborgenes – Bestandsprobe III, Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern |
| 2015 | SCHICHTUNGEN, Schmalfuß Berlin Schwarz auf Weiß. Highlights aus der Sammlung Maximilian und Agathe Weishaupt und der Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst und Design, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt Imagine – 5 Jahre Kunstraum Dreieich, Kunstraum Dreieich Private View, Städtische Galerie Villingen-Schwenningen |
| 2014 | Einknicken oder Kante zeigen? Die Kunst der Faltung, Museum für konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt Konstruktive Tendenzen im Südwesten, Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch Raw materials – vom Bauwerk ins Museum, Städtische Galerie Delmhorst Accrochage Schloss Dätzingen, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Grafenau |
| 2013 | SPACES, Kunstraum Alexander Bürkle, Freiburg Accrochage, Galerie Peter Zimmermann, Mannheim Die Kunstsammlung – Szenenwechsel – Andere Werke wieder neu gesehen, Kunsthalle Göppingen Vielfalt statt Einfalt. 20 Jahre Artothek, Städtische Galerie Villa Zanders, Bergisch Gladbach Bestandsprobe II – Grenzerfahrung, Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern |
| 2012 | Highlights II – 5 Jahre Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst und Design, Museum für Konkrete Kunst, Ingolstadt Bis hier. 50 Jahre Kunstverein Bochum, Kunstverein Bochum Monografie des Blaus, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Grafenau |
| 2011 | Galerie E. Witzel, Wiesbaden 12 Künstler – 12 Wege. Ausgangspunkt Stuttgarter Kunstakademie, Galerie Schlichtenmaier, Stuttgart Ansichten VII – Transparente Bildwelten, QuadrArt, Dornbirn |
| 2010 | Metall: Werke, Museum Biedermann, Donaueschingen Autumn Exhibition @ The Spoke Club, Lausberg Contemporary, Toronto Farbe, Raum, Struktur, Galerie von Braunbehrens, München Selection, Museum Biedermann, Donaueschingen |
| 2009 | Hommage an das Quadrat, Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch Die Gegenwart der Linie, Staatliche Graphische Sammlung,München, Neue Pinakotek München Vom Glück zu sammeln , Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe Malen und Schreiben – Die Sammlung in Wort und Bild, Museum für Neue Kunst, Freiburg |
| 2008 | 3. Biennale der Zeichnung, Kunstverein Eislingen |
| 2007 | Zeitzeichen im Raum, Kunstsammlung des Landkreises Esslingen |
| 2006 | Museum Goch The quiete strikes of a night swimmer, Deutsche Botschaft, London Shining-close in value, Broadbent Gallery, London Foreign artists work, Mano Gallery, Seoul |
| 2005 | Illusion-Irritation, Waßermann Galerie, München Neues aus den Ateliers, Galerie Heinz Holtmann, Köln Vom Materiel zur Form, Galerie Schwarz, Greifswald Square, Museum Ritter, Waldenbuch Angekommen, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart |
| 2004 | Reflections, Galerie Grusemeyer, Gent Zeichnungen, Kunstverein Wilhelmshöhe, Ettlingen Neuerwerbungen zeitgenössischer Kunst, Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe Sammlung Weißhaupt, Museum für konkrete Kunst Ingolstadt |
| 2003 | Photo-Kunst 1852-2002, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart Heintz’s Wonderland, Dexia-Bank Luxembourg |
| 2002 | Malerei-Malerei, Galerie Heinz Holtmann, Köln 50 Jahre Kunst in Baden-Württemberg, Museum Schloß Bonndorf Un rapport d’oeil, Galerie mueller-roth, Stuttgart |
| 2001 | Sammlung, Werke aus der Sammlung der Kunsthalle Göppingen |
| 2000 | On Paper, Abstract, Galerie Heinz Holtmann, Köln Transformaties, Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen Neupräsentation der Sammlung, Kunstmuseum Bonn Schenkungen, Dauerleihgaben und Neuerwerbungen, Museum für Konkrete Kunst Ingolstadt |
At the heart of Leberer’s oeuvre are sculptural constructions that correspond with independent groups of works from the fields of painting, graphics, and photography. His work is characterized by an interplay between the materials he uses following a dialectic principle: heavy industrial iron, for instance, meets delicate glass, transparent lacquers meet opaque paints. Whereas the pure iron surface appears rough and forbidding, gestural traces of a grinding machine lend it an iridescent, sensual effect.
In developing his work, Leberer initially engages in a phase of experimenting with different materials and artistic forms of expression, such as video, performance, and installation, followed by a process of form-finding. His early sculptures and drawings, whose organic, natural shapes unfold expressively in space, took on more solidified form toward the end of the 1980s in his distinctive iron-and-glass constructions. To this day, Leberer continues to renegotiate the themes of space and nature in various media.
Interior – Exterior
Leberer’s large sculptures such as “Lichtung” (Clearing) or “Nachbild – Lichtfaden” (Afterimage – Thread of Light) follow a particular construction principle, taking up the basic catchwords associated with a traditional understanding of three-dimensional sculpture: volume, void, and boundary. The works appear as geometric bodies that harbor an interior space. Individual surfaces are added around the skeletal frame. They describe the maximum physical extension of the object and at the same time form the material boundary to the exterior space.
Mouth-blown fluorescent tubes and cables seem like graphic accents and counteract the strict design principle. The works recall examples of modern architecture made of steel and glass that exhibit a close connection with constructive sculpture. Integrated directly into the structure of the exhibition space, they confront the viewer with their presence. The room becomes an event space in which the artwork and the visitor come face to face.
Skin
The motif of the boundary represents an essential element within the structure of Leberer’s oeuvre and he repeatedly reinterprets it in his stock of materials. Whereas solid iron emphasizes the aspect of demarcation, hermetically concealing the interior, the transparency and fragility of glass counteracts this separating function, as in the work “Glashaut 2” (Glass Skin 2). Here, incoming light refracts in the colored glass and is emitted into the interior. At the same time, artificial light from the work’s interior passes through to the outside. This osmotic exchange, which can be understood as a communicative act, is reminiscent of ways in which the human skin functions. In “Haut – Körper” (Skin Body), the artist takes up the subject of touch. His graphic sheets depict fruits and plants that cause skin irritation.
Ambivalent Space
The complex system of references manifest in the works standing freely in the space is also inscribed in the other groups of works. The photographs depict, for instance, scenic arrangements of colored glass, plants, and metal parts that follow the principle of collage. There are also detailed shots of realized objects in which the camera directs the view from the outside to the inside. In the multi-part, three-dimensional wall piece “Ambivalenter Raum” (Ambivalent Space), a shift in perspective takes place: the optical grid of painted glasses over a stainless-steel surface suggests the view out a merely imagined spatial sculpture.
What Is Looking at Me…
The small-scale wall objects in Leberer’s series “Was mich anschaut” (What Is Looking at Me) picks up on his series of “Köpfe” (Heads) from an earlier creative phase. The motif of the head touches on a key theme of sculptural work. Installing the sculptures at head level is desired here, as it results in the viewer and the work of art coming face to face. The title of the series implies an expectation of interpersonal communication. It is assumed that our own gaze triggers a reaction in the person we are facing, that is, that they will return our gaze.
