Günther Förg was born in Füssen (southern Germany) and studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich from 1973 to 1979. In 1980, he has his first solo exhibition at a Munich gallery. In 1984, he participates in the exhibition ‘Von hier aus – Zwei Monate neue deutsche Kunst’ in Düsseldorf. In 1992, he represents Germany at the Documenta IX in Kassel. From 1992 to 1999 he teaches at the Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung in Karlsruhe and then, until his early death in 2013, he holds a professorship at the Münchense Akademie der Bildenden Künste. In 1996, he receives the prestigious Wolfgang-Hahn-Preis Köln.
Förg’s work (paintings, sculptures, graphics and photographs) is interpreted differently in the 1980s and 1990s: he is alternately seen as a postmodernist and as an heir of expressionism. In any case, he stretches the boundaries of the disciplines. His work contains references to famous and admired predecessors. With his method, he comments and analyses the conventions and interpretations of modernist aesthetics.
Förg’s artistry is established worldwide. In 1985, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam organised the exhibition Günther Förg & Jeff Wall, followed in 1995 by a solo exhibition. In 2018, the Stedelijk Museum organised a large retrospective of Förg’s work.
