“People and Cities” by the Artist Kim Corbisier (*1985
†2012)
11 September – 8 October 2021
Dear friends of the arts,
ladies and gentlemen,
we warmly invite you to the opening of the exhibition
People and Cities (“Menschen und Städte”)
by the Hungarian artist Kim Corbisier (1985–2012), who died young,
on Friday, 10 September 2021 at 7 pm.
Stiftung Starke • Löwenpalais • Koenigsallee 30–32 • 14193 Berlin
On view: 11 September – 8 October 2021
Opening: 10 September 2021 (7–9.30 pm)
Welcome: Prof. Dr Klaus Siebenhaar
Opening speech: Dr Dávid Fehér, art historian, Budapest
Please register via the following link:
The life and work of the talented Kim Corbisier (1985–2012) are exceptional in many respects in the history of contemporary Hungarian art. Born in Brussels, Belgium, she lost her mother at the age of two. Barely eight years old, she moved with her Belgian father and his new Hungarian wife to Nagyvenyim, a village near Dunaújváros in Hungary. There she attended primary and secondary school and decided to become an artist, which led her to the University of Fine Arts in Budapest.
Traumatic and tragic experiences shaped her life. Her father died a few years after the move to Hungary. After her 18th birthday she received a phone call from her Belgian grandmother, who told her that her foster mother was not her biological mother. The fragile young woman studied at the university in Budapest under András Halász. In the capital she came to know not only painting but also drugs, which would stay with her for the rest of her life. During her studies she acted in films – her most important role was in György Pálfi’s experimental film “I Am Not Your Friend” (“Ich bin nicht dein Freund”). And she began to make films herself. Kim completed her studies in 2010, and her paintings were awarded numerous prizes (Fundamenta Creativity Award – 2008, Best of Diploma – 2010; KOGART Friss – 2010; STRABAG Artaward, Special Prize – 2011), but it became increasingly hard for her to keep her life within bounds: her studio was closed, she moved around a lot and at times lived with friends. In spring 2012, at the age of 27, she fell from a balcony at a house party in unexplained circumstances and was taken to hospital, but the doctors could not save her life.
Corbisier was an instinctive creator who never felt the need to legitimise her art theoretically. At the start of her career her subject was her friends and her immediate surroundings; during her stays in France and Belgium this shifted towards urban life and people’s everyday lives. Although she spent most of her life in Hungary, her works are cosmopolitan and refer to the big city, to Francophone metropolises.
Her first works from her student years are characterised by her still filling the entire pictorial field with colour and at first trying to create precisely worked pictures. On the advice of her teacher she later began to combine pencil drawing and painting in her pictures, which from then on defined her technique. Within a few years the small-format paintings of her early period became large-format pictures, and the initial meticulous execution gave way to a schematic, fragmentary style.
The exhibition is arranged chronologically, so that visitors can follow the development of Corbisier’s career from 2006 to 2012.
Kim Corbisier’s work is present in the Hungarian contemporary art scene. Exhibitions of her work were held at the INDA Gallery in 2012 and 2019 and at the Intercisa Museum in Dunaújváros in 2014. In the documentary film about her life and work, important figures from the Hungarian art scene have their say. Some of the works on show will become part of the country’s most important collections, including the contemporary art collection of the National Gallery and the collection of the Ludwig Museum.
Almost a decade after her early death at the age of 27, Kim Corbisier is being honoured for the first time outside Hungary with a representative, extensive show of her paintings.
The exhibition is part of “Berlin X Budapest”, an event series by the Kunststiftung Starke, the Institut für Kultur- und Medienwirtschaft in Berlin and the Eleven Blokk Art Foundation in Budapest. The aim of the cooperation is to present a range of artistic formats and programmes.
Supported by Collegium Hungaricum Berlin and INDA Gallery.
We look forward to welcoming you,
Stiftung Starke
Please note that photographs and videos will be taken at the event by a photographer, a film crew or members of staff. By taking part in the event, you and your guests consent to the images taken being used free of charge for a documentary film about the artist and for use and publication by the Stiftung Starke, and to the rights to them being transferred to the Stiftung Starke.
