Biography of John Armleder
John Armleder (born 1948 in Geneva, Switzerland) is a Swiss performance artist, painter, sculptor, and curator. A member of the Geneva-based Groupe Luc Bois and co-founder of publishing house Groupe Ecart (1969), Armleder was a student of the Fluxus Movement of the 60s and 70s. He is known for his resistance to classification, rejecting the idea that he can be easily pigeonholed into any narrow artistic practice. This has resulted in a hugely diverse body of work, ranging wildly in terms of medium, style, and discernible influences.
In 2014 alone, John Armleder was the feature of numerous solo exhibitions throughout the world, including at the Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels; Le Consortium, Dijon; Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, Innsbruck; Vera Munro Galerie, Hamburg; Galerie Richard, New York; and at l'ECAL in Renens. Recent group exhibitions include Between Heaven and Hell at Elevation 1049, Gstaad (2014) and Island at Dairy Art Center, London, UK (2013); as well as shows at MoMa, New York, the Centre d'art de Fribourg; the Grand Palais, Paris; and countless others. Career highlights include representing Switzerland at the Venice Biennale and documenta, shows at the Centre Pompidou, the Tate Liverpool and the Swiss Institute in New York. The artist lives and works in Geneva and New York.
