Daniel Spoerri

Daniel Isaac Feinstein, known as Daniel Spoerri, born in 1930 in Galați, is one of the most influential figures of post-war art. Alongside artists such as Yves Klein, Jean Tinguely and Arman, he called for the Nouveau Réalisme movement. This innovative way of reading reality can be seen in his “Snare Pictures”, sculptural still lives, in which artist combines old and new reflections on the essence of painting and sculpture. Nevertheless, Spoerri’s artistic vocabulary exceeds the famous series. In the 1950s, after theater school in Zurich and ballet studies in Paris, Spoerri directed several plays and became a prominent dancer as well as choreographer at the Bern’s State Opera. Throughout the next decade, the artist teamed up with Fluxus movement, and – pursuing the ideal combination of art and life – continued to focus on food and consumption. Almost at once, the artist initiated the “Bread Objects” series and set up a restaurant in Düsseldorf (1968), later joined by the Eat Art Galerie (1970). Arguably one of his most interesting projects is “Il Giardino” in Seggiano (1997), a sculpture garden with installations by Meret Oppenheim, Dieter Roth, Jean Tinguely and Erwin Wurm, among 50 invited artists. Spoerri is extensively exhibited and collected, including collections of the Centre Pompidou, Tate Britain, Sprengel Museum in Hanover or MUMOK in Vienna. His works were on view at Martin-Gropius-Bau in Berlin, Museum Tinguely in Basel and Swiss Institute in New York. Some of his latest exhibitions were presented at Fleiss- Vallois in New York, USA (2023), at the foundation Boghossian in Brussels, Belgium (2023), and at the Kunsten museum of modern art in Aarlborg in Denmark (planned for 2024).