Prinz Gholam

Born in: 2001
From: Lebanon, Germany
Lives and works: Berlin, Germany
Represented by: Galerie Jocelyn Wolff
Website: http://www.prinzgholam.com/prinz-gholam/

UN goals

Biography

Since forming a duo in 2001, Wolfgang Prinz and Michel Gholam have put the human body at the crux of their practice through performance. Drawing inspiration from various contemporary and historical sources, they often embody their surroundings and in turn their impact on us which result in internalization and micro-adaptations in our comportment. Supplementing their performances with drawings of the poses taken, Prinz Gholam immortalize the act all while exploring the balance between the physical and pictorial representation.

Similarly tackling the issue of the political body, Ana Mendieta’s dedication to confronting her viewers to the harsh realities of the female experience brought her to the forefront of the body art movement. Unapologetically feminist, she put forward the unbreakable ties between our natural environment and the bodies we inhabit.

Prinz Gholam’s recognition of the body as a political entity can be retraced to the body politic metaphor, which dates back to ancient Greece, such as in Aesop’s “The Belly and the Members”, considered to be the first such image of political disputes and tensions among a governing body.

Career highlights

Solo shows

2021, The Mattatoio, Rome, Italy: While Being Other
2021, MEWO Kunsthalle, Memmingen, Germany: Dial F for Father
2018, Punta della Dogana, Pinault Collection, Venice, Italy: Similitude
2016, National Gallery and Schwarzenberg Palace, Prague, Czech Republic: Generosity. The Art of Giving

Group shows

2019, Pola Art Museum, Hakone, Japan: Syncopation: Contemporary Encounters with Modern Masters
2019, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany: The Video is the Message
2017, Kassel, Germany and Athens, Greece: documenta14
2010, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw, Poland: Living Currency