Michel Majerus (1967 – 2002) was a Luxemburgian artist whose work combined painting with digital media.[1]
His work was featured in a number of solo and group exhibitions in Europe and North America, most notably the "Pop Reloaded" exhibition in Los Angeles.
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Majerus was born in Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg in 1967.
His artwork first came to international attention in 1996 with an exhibition at the Kunsthalle in Stuttgart, and then with subsequent exhibitions in Munster and Dundee.
In 1998, he was invited to participate in Manifesta 2[2]. Subsequently in 1999, he created a major work which was presented on the facade of the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
After moving to the United States in 2000, Majerus began work on a series of thirty large-format paintings incorporating digital media and animated videos.
Nine of these works would eventually become the "Pop Reloaded" exhibition in Los Angeles. "Pop Reloaded" emphasised the visual confusion of urban landscapes and the scale and domination imposed by freeway billboards and office towers. It drew on works by Cy Twombly, Mark Rothko and Gerhard Richter in inscribing logos and detail on the dull greys and blacks of a cityscape.
The paintings were accompanied by a video of a constantly changing image of Majerus' signature, to illustrate the idea of celebrity as a constantly changing concept.
In 2001-02, Majerus' works were exhibited in Berlin, London and New York, and additional works were in production for exhibition in 2002-03.
In November 2002, Majerus was killed in the crash of Luxair Flight 9642 while travelling from Berlin to Luxembourg.[3]
A posthumous exhibition of Majerus' works was featured at the Kunstmuseum of Wolfsburg (Germany) in 2003.
Entitled “Painting Pictures”, the exhibition was a celebration of Majerus' genre and was dedicated to his memory. Other painters represented in “Painting Pictures” included Takashi Murakami, Sarah Morris, Franz Ackermann, Matthew Ritchie, Torben Giehler and Erik Parker.
Commencing in 2005, approximately two hundred of Majerus' works have been displayed as the "European Retrospective" travelling exhibition.
The exhibition is a collaboration between the Majerus family and the Galerie Neugerriemschneider, Berlin. It includes works usually displayed at the Hamburger Bahnhof - Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, the Kunsthaus - Landesmuseum Joanneum, Graz and from private collections throughout the world (Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Great-Britain, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Portugal, USA).