Born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1957, Bernhard Zimmer pursued an education in Cultural Studies in Hildesheim from 1978 to 1984. Zimmer currently resides and works in Cologne. His works have been showcased in various cities, including Hanover, Munich, Dusseldorf, Basel, Gent, and Singapore, among others. Notably, Zimmer has garnered attention and acclaim at major international art fairs such as Art Basel and Kunst Köln.
Zimmer produces layered, subtly textured paintings that contain diametrically opposed elements—order and chaos, abstraction and representation, boldness and subtlety—in exquisite tension. Working with oil and mixed media on canvas, he paints in color-fields of soft shapes and delicate lines.
Like reliefs, his compositions are built up from numerous layers of material and mark-making. Grids of diaphanously rendered faces and blocks of illegible text emerge in rich washes of color, their surfaces shift with the light and changing position of the viewer. Full of strength and fragility, Zimmer’s works reward patient viewing, revealing their rich visual nuances to those who take time to delve into their layers.
Whether figurative or abstract, Zimmer’s artworks inherently alter the feeling of a space. Zimmer’s work oscillates between the Geometric Abstraction of Josef Albers and the sublimely layered color fields of Mark Rothko, with added figures that seem to be composed of shadows. This tension between form, color, and text create canvases with glowing compositions that reverberate with emotion.
EXHIBITIONS
2021-23 Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, USA
2018 Artspace Warehouse Los Angeles, USA
2017 Galerie Manoel Nunes, Köln, Germany Kunstwarenhaus Zurich, Switzerland
2016 Galerie J. Huber, Rapperswil, Switzerland
“New Figuration and Neo-Expressionism,” Galerie Henze & Ketterer, Switzerland
2015 Art-co. Galerie, Aachen, Germany
Galerie Reitz, Köln, Germany
Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles
2014 Kunstwarenhaus Zurich, Switzerland
2013 Galerie Biesenbach, Köln, Germany
”Suspended Moments,” Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, CA
HLP Galerie, Wesseling, Germany
Galerie Wilmsen, Hergatz, Germany
2012 Galerie Artco, Aachen, Germany
Artspace Warehouse, Los Angeles, USA
2011 Galerie Reitz, Köln, Germany
2010 Galerie Artco, Aachen, Germany
Galerie Reitz, Köln, Germany
2008 Galerie Reitz, Köln, Germany
Galerie Muenchow, Zürich
2006 Galerie Reitz, Köln, Germany
Wolkenburg, Köln, Germany
Galeria Sineu Estacio, Mallorca, Spain
2005 Galerie Muenchow, Zürich, Switzerland
Art Forum Riehen, Basel/Köln
2004 Fesser, Trier, Germany
2003 Hesse, Hannover Hiscox, München, Germany
Döres, Köln, Germany
2002 CBH, Köln, Germany
2001 Galerie Depelmann, Hannover, Germany
Galerie Glanz, Erftstadt, Austria
Credit Suisse, Switzerland
Art Forum Riehen/Basel, Switzerland
1988 2001 Inter Art Galerie, Köln, Germany
1998 A. Hansrod, Singapur, Singapore
1997 Museum Langes Tannen, Hamburg, Germany
1995 Alte Feuerwache, Köln, Germany
1993 Stollwerck-Museum, Köln, Germany
1992 EP Galerie, Düsseldorf, Germany
1990 Galerie Pului, Praterinsel München, Germany
1984 Kunstverein Holzminden, Germany
Kunstverein Hildesheim, Germany
1982 Galerie Berger, Bochum, Germany
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
LB Bank Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Stadtsparkasse, Köln, Germany
R+V Versicherung, Köln, Germany
Oberpostdirektion, Köln, Germany
ART FAIRS
2017 AAF Hong Kong
2015 AAF New York, USA
2014 Houston Fine Art Fair, Texas, USA
2014 Love Art Fair Toronto, Canada
Art14 London, UK
2013 Art Fair, Cologne, Germany
ART Karlsruhe, Germany
2012 ART Karlsruhe, AAF Los Angeles, Art San Diego
2011 Kunst Köln, Kunstmesse Dresden, Kunstmesse Hamburg, ART Frankfurt, ART Karlsruhe, Kunstmesse Innsbruck, Kunst Wien, Kunstmesse Dornbirn
1990 Kunstmesse Hamburg
1988 ART Basel, Switzerland
1987 ART Gent, Belgium
1986 ART Basel, Switzerland
TV & FILM
L.A.’s Finest, Netflix
Hacks, HBO
Minx, HBO
