Dennis Oppenheim
USA
Bio
Dennis Oppenheim (1938 – 2011) was one of the most influential and respected artists of his generation. A pioneer in the fields of earthworks, body art, and conceptual art, he chose to work outside formally defined museum and gallery spaces.
During the four decades of his practice, Oppenheim used mechanical and industrial elements, fireworks, common objects, traditional materials, and materials of the earth in a multitude of mediums that included writing, performance, video, film, photography, and installation.
Oppenheim’s works have been exhibited at the Centre Pompidou, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Venice Biennale, Documenta, the Tate, the Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
Two of his most seminal works, Device To Root Out Evil and Engagement, have been exhibited in Vancouver Biennale open-air exhibitions. In 2007, he was the recipient of the Vancouver Biennale’s 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award.
