The artist with Red Coat No. 300
Manfred Müller was born 1950 in Düsseldorf, Germany. From 1967 to 1970, he apprenticed as a technical draftsman, receiving his state license as an engineering draftsman. From 1971 to 1975 he studied visual communication at the university in Düsseldorf. During the this period, he was a conscientious objector from military service and spent his time in civil service working at a foster home. Following his service, he worked as a freelance graphic designer at Grey Advertisement and BBDO Advertisement. From 1976 to 1981 he attended the Kunstakademie of Fine Art in Düsseldorf—studying as a master-class student under Erwin Heerich (1922-2004). After leaving the Kunstakademie in 1981 he was awarded a Cité des Artes Scholarship, Paris, France and received the Grand Price for Fine Arts of the City of Düsseldorf in 1983, and the German Industry Endowment of the Arts in 1985. He was selected to be part of the exhibitions Dimensionen IV and Dimensionen V which were shown throughout Germany between 1984-1987. He was one of seven German artists of the inaugural exhibition Boñ Angeles supported by Goethe-Institut, Lufthansa, IBM and the City of Los Angeles to open the new Santa Monica Museum of Art. Since then Müller works as a sculptor in Düsseldorf, Germany and Los Angeles, California.
Recent selected solo and group exhibitions include: Not from Here, ROSEGALLERY, Los Angeles, 2017; Objects Are Closer Than They Appear, Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2014; Framing Abstraction: Mark, Symbol, Signifier, Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2011; Heliotropo, Galería López Quiroga, Mexico City, Mexico, 2010.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017 Not from Here, ROSEGALLERY, Santa Monica, CA
2016 New Oxid Yellow Cycle, ROSEGALLERY, Santa Monica, CA
2015 Object Prelude, Lippischer Kunstverein, Detmold, Germany
2014 Objects Are Closer Than They Appear, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2011 ML Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
2010 Heidi Cho Gallery, New York, NY
Heliotropo Galería López Quiroga, Mexico City, Mexico
2008 Hidden Cache No. 1, ROSEGALLERY, Santa Monica, CA
2007 New Work, Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL
Works on Paper, ROSEGALLERY, Santa Monica, CA
2006 CONTRATO, Mike Karstens Galerie, Münster, Germany
Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL
2003 Human Conditions: The Body Shop, The Fisher Gallery, USC, Los Angeles, CA
ROSEGALLERY, Santa Monica, CA
2001 Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL
1999 Palacio de Memoria, Museo de Universitario del Chopo, Mexico City, Mexico
1998 Hete A. M. Hünermann Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany
1997 Sculpture and Drawing, Form Zero Architecture Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1996 Current Work: Sculpture and Paperworks, Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL
1995 New Objects and Sketches, Hete A. M. Hünermann, Düsseldorf, Germany
1994 Tunnelvision, Site Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Transformer: A Change of Past Perceptions, Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara, CA; traveled to Open Space, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
1993 The Exchange, Hete A. M. Hünermann Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany
1992 Sculptural Events, Mandeville Gallery, University of California, San Diego, CA
The Lights at the End of the Tunnel, Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany
1991 New Paperworks, Galerie Jöllenbeck, Cologne, Germany
Cabinettpiece, Hete A. M. Hünermann Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany
1989 Paperobjects, Galerie Carol Johnssen, Munich, Germany
1988 Sketches and Paperworks, Galerie Jöllenbeck, Cologne, Germany
1986 Wallpiece, Galerie Christian Fochem, Krefeld, Germany
1985 Galerie Jöllenbeck, Cologne, Germany
Waiting in the Windshade, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany
1984 Stadtmuseum, Düsseldorf, Germany
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2015 Frederick R. Weisman Foundation, New York, NY
2011 Framing Abstraction: Mark, Symbol, Signifier, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010 SHOPWEAR, ROSEGALLERY, Santa Monica, CA
2008 Reflections from the Artist’s Eye: Contemporary Art from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art,
Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA
2007 Made in California: Contemporary California Art from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art, Pepperdine
University, Malibu, CA
The Eclectic Eye: Pop and Illusion—Selections from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Fine Arts Center Museum, Colorado Springs, CO
2006 LA Art Scene: Selections of California Artists from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Beverly Hills Municipal Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA
2005 Group Exhibition for Art Chicago, Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL
Art Chicago, Chicago, IL
2004-13 INCOGNITO, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA
1995-96 LA Current: Works on Paper, Armand Hammer Museum, Art Rental and Sales Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1995 10 European Artists, Roy Boyd Gallery, Chicago, IL
1994 Current Abstractions, Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
In Reference to the Vessel, Mount St. Mary’s College Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
1993–97 Venice Art Walk, Venice Beach, CA
1993 Peter’s Friends, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Germany
1992 Für Karl Ernst Jöllenbeck, Galerie Jöllenbeck, Cologne, Germany
Triennale of Small Sculpture, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany
Triennale Fellbach, Fellbach, Germany
1990 Fusion, Wilkes University Gallery, Wilkes-Barre, PA
La Jeune Sculpture, Quai d’Austerlitz, Paris, France
Cicero, Kronprinzenstrasse 27, Düsseldorf, Germany
1989 BonAngeles, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica, CA
1988 Figurationen: Der Zusammenhang der Dinge, Flottmann Hallen, Herne, Germany
Auszugsweise, Galerie Jöllenbeck, Cologne, Germany
Meine Zeit, Mein Raubtier, Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany
Ucronos, Faux Mouvement, Metz, France
1987 Paperworks, T. G. Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Ucronia, Sermig, Piazza Borgo Dora, Turin, Italy
IBM Deutschland, Düsseldorf, Germany
Sub aqua, Peter-Lauten-Strasse, Krefeld, Germany
1985 Die sich verselbständigenden Möbel, Wuppertaler Kunstverein, Wuppertal, Germany
Mitten im Werktag, Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany
Dimensionen V, Kunsthalle, Cologne, Germany
Dimensionen V, Kunsthalle, Berlin, Germany
Dimensionen V, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich, Germany
Thun Naturell, Kunstmuseum, Thun, Switzerland
Kranz ohne König, Südhaus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
1984 Dimensionen IV, Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
Dimensionen IV, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Dimensionen IV, Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, Germany
Forum Junger Kunst, Wüttembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany
Forum Junger Kunst, Kunsthalle, Mannheim, Germany
Forum Junger Kunst, Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, Germany
Vielleicht fiel viel Schatten, Studio Ratherstrasse Collective, Düsseldorf, Germany
Drunter und Drüber in Aorta, Aorta, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1983 Standort Düsseldorf, Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, Germany
Galerie Jöllenbeck, Cologne, Germany
1982 Between 9, Bild der Abschreckung, Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf, Germany
Junge Bildhauer in Düsseldorf, Skulpturenpark Seestern, Düsseldorf, Germany
1981 Plastische Versuche, Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany
Reine Weste, Tote hose, Studio Ratherstrasse Collective, Düsseldorf, Germany
Pflüger auf Grund, Börnestrasse construction site, Düsseldorf, Germany
Perspektiven 2, Kunstverein NRW, Düsseldorf, Germany
1980 Artistes Allemands à Paris, Goethe Institut, Paris, France
1979 Projekt Wupper, Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal, Germany
Weisser Saal Kunstverein, Bern, Switzerland
SELECTED PUBLIC ARTWORKS
2002 When a Person Plants a Tree . . ., public installation, Civic Center and Library, Agoura Hills, CA
2000 Ringrotsiebzehngrad (ringredseventeendegrees), Universität Münster, commissioned by the city of Münster, Germany
1998 Twilight and Yearning, installation beneath the Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA
1997 Rosso Rotondo, first prize sculpture for permanent display in the city of Münster, commissioned by the County NRW, Germany
1988 Vom Verteilen der Lasten, first prize sculpture for permanent display in public place, commissioned by the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany