Gabriel LESTER

Gabriel Lester works across various disciplines including music, cinema, installation, sculpture, architecture and performance. Many of his works evolve around the very nature of the media of our time, and transform the space and time through meticulously altering the media and narrative forms. Strongly influenced by cinema and mime, Gabriel Lester’s works challenge the reality of perception and stimulate on collective imagination through constructing and creating theatrical illusions. “My work represents a field of tension.” Lester has explained. “It is either implicitly narrative, explicitly visual or both at the same time. My works of art rarely convey a single explicit message or idea, rather they suggest ways to relate to the world.”

 

1972  Born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Lives and works in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

  • Selected Solo/Duo Exhibitions

    2024
    Majestic, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China
    Gabriel Lester: Odeon, Blaffer Art Museum, Houston, USA
    Dig it, Ryan Lee Gallery, New York, USA
    Token of Gratitude From Refuge to Freedom, National Holocaust Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    2023
    Dig it, Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    2020
    Holes in the Sky, Machinery of Me, Arnhem, the Netherlands

    2018
    Shake A Face, Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    2017
    The Return of Lester’s Loops, Groninger Museum, Groningen, the Netherlands
    If you happen to be, Ryan Lee Gallery, New York, USA
    How to Act, De Hallen Haarlem, Haarlem, the Netherlands

    2016
    Unresolved, De Appel Art Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
    The Nine Day Week, CAC Museum, Vilnius, Lithuania

    2015
    Cosmic Call, Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
    Cleromancy, Ryan Lee Gallery, New York, USA

    2014
    The Ears Have Walls, Leo Xu Projects, Shanghai, China
    Habitat Sequences, El Museo de Arte Moderno, Buenos Aires, Argentina
    Follies, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany
    The Silent Trilogy, Stiftelsen 3’14, Bergen, Norway
    Blank Stare, Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland, New Zealand

    2013
    The Secret Life of Cities, Galerie Fons Welters, the Netherlands
    Highlights & Chance Encounters, Tetem Kunstruimte, Enschede, the Netherlands

    2012
    Roxy, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China
    The Future that Was, Smart Project Space icw NIMk, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

  • Biennale, Triennial, Quinquennial

    2024
    Biennale of Digital Imaginaries, France—organized by CHRONIQUES

    2022
    Quebec City Biennial, Canada – curated by Steven Matijcio

    2021
    Momentum10 Biennial, Oslo, Norway – curated by Théo-Mario Coppola

    2019
    Ural Biennale, Russia – curated by Xiaoyu Weng

    2018
    Busan Biennale, South Korea – curated by Cristina Ricupero and Jorg Heiser

    2017
    Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India – curated by Sudarshan Shetty

    2016
    Moscow Biennale, Russia – curated by Defne Ayas and Bart De Baere

    2015
    Istanbul Biennial, Turkey – curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev

    2014
    Marrakech Biennale, Morocco – curated by Hicham Khalidi
    Biennale of Sydney, Australia – curated by Juliana Engberg
    Folkestone Triennial, UK – curated by Lewis Biggs
    CAFAM Biennale, Beijing, China – curated by Xiaoyu Weng

    2013
    Momentum Biennale, Oslo, Norway – curated by Power Ekroth
    Performa Biennial, USA – curated by Defne Ayas
    Sharjah Biennial, UAE – curated by Yuki Kamiya
    Venice Biennale, Italy –  curated by Raimundas Malasauskas

    2012
    Documenta (13), Kassel, Germany – curated by Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev

  • Public Commissions

    2023
    Dank Teken, NHM, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
    Tree of Souls, NHM, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
    NDSM GIANTS, Stichting NDSM, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
    PostNL HQ, Den Haag, the Netherlands

    2022
    Peel Plaza, Capital C, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    2021
    Mural, Busterminal Utrecht CS, the Netherlands

    2020
    AirMail, Headquarters PostNL, The Hague, the Netherlands
    Water Mirrors, Headquarters Arhend, Sint Oedenrode, the Netherlands
    Promenade, Tunnel design, Oegstgeest, the Netherlands

    2019
    CS Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands
    Voor de Wind, Zeist, the Netherlands
    Beemster Ereboog, Zuidoostbeemster, the Netherlands

    2018
    Void-Non-Void, NDSM-Terrein, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
    Delta – Design for a City Icon, Den Helder, the Netherlands

    2017
    Corridor, Horst Festival, Belgium
    Locomotion, University of Sports Science, Oslo, Norway
    Pitstop, Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands
    The Ripple, TAAK / Hortus Haren, the Netherlands

    2016
    Aura Utrecht, Public Works, Utrecht, the Netherlands
    The Moveables, Kunstfort Vijfhuizen, the Netherlands

    2015
    Arcadia Grandview Pavilion, Southbank London, England

    2014
    Peel #2 Twisted, Museo de Arte Moderno Medellín, Colombia

  • Selected Group Exhibitions

    2024
    Interactions 2024, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany

    2023
    New Statues of Liberty, Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar, Alkmaar, the Netherlands
    A Filed Guide to Getting Lost, Museum Het Nieuwe Domein, Sittard, the Netherlands

    2022
    Ridiculously Yours!, Bundeskunsthalle, Bonn, Germany

    2021
    Ω, Om, Ohm, Omega, Elektriciteitsfabriek, Den Haag, the Netherlands
    Within Space—Time, We Walk Through Images, Glow Shenzhen 2021 – Futian, Shenzhen, China
    Warehouse Story VII, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China

    2020
    We Never Sleep, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany

    2019
    Chapter I, Het Hem, Zaandam, the Netherlands
    Weg en Water, Burgerweeshuis, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    2018
    LekArt Festival, Culemborg, the Netherlands
    Paysage—Fiction, Le Tetris, Le Havre, France
    Bambaataa, De Beeldengalerij, Den Haag, the Netherlands
    Sculpture in the City, City of London, London, England
    Another Dimension, Nest, Den Haag, the Netherlands

    2017
    Radicale Sociale Animale, Cobra Museum, Amstelveen, the Netherlands

    2016
    Heaven, Hell & Earth, Stedelijk Museum Den Bosch, the Netherlands

    2015
    Nice’n Light, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, the Netherlands
    Lustwarande 15, Park De Oude Warande, Tilburg, the Netherlands
    When I Give I Give Myself, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
    The School of Nature and Principle, The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, USA

    2014
    (In)constancy of Space, Ring Gallery, Zagreb, Croatia
    The Promise, Arnolfini Center for Contemporary Arts, Bristol, England
    Crime Was Almost Perfect, Witte de With, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
    Play Time, Corner House, Manchester, England

    2013
    Suspicious Minds, Galeria Vermelho, São Paulo, Brazil
    The Garden of Diversion, Sifang Museum, Nanjing, China
    Call of the Mall, Utrecht, the Netherlands
    Shanghai Surprise, chi K11 Art Space, Shanghai, China
    Bourgeois Leftovers, De Appel, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

    2012
    Blind Cut, Marlborough Chelsea Gallery, New York, USA
    Jardin de Esculturas, NuMu, Guatemala City, Guatemala

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