jimmie durham
1940, United States – 2021, Berlin
In his artistic research, Jimmie Durham was interested in what happens “away from language”, in the relationship between forms and concepts. Working against Western Rationalism, his practice was rooted in uncertainty and paradox. Durham created in an array of mediums: drawings, installations, video (which he used to document his performances), and sculptural constructions often combined with written messages, photographs and objects. Covering a broad range of subject matter in artworks —as well as in essays and poetry— his production was often laced with the agility of wordplay, a dry, highly critical humor and, above all, insight. He consistently addressed the political and cultural forces that construct our contemporary discourses, the history of oppression, the futility of violence and the powerlessness of the minorities in the world. Jimmie Durham worked with both natural and artificial materials, and was particularly drawn to the intrinsic qualities of those that have been used throughout history as tools: stone, wood, bone, iron and glass. Stone was a primary material for Durham due to its role in defining power dynamics of culture and society through architecture and ideas of monumentality; he used it to underscore the polemics of nature vs. culture, religion, architecture, and Eurocentric ideas of history.
Jimmie Durham moved to Geneva in 1969 and enrolled in the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts where he worked on sculpture and performance. In 1973 he moved back to the U.S. to join the American Indian Movement and was requested by AIM to be the founding director of the International Indian Treaty Council and its representative before the United Nations, thus becoming the first official representative of a minority within this organization. In 1980, he focused his attention back to art, but remained concerned with dismantling stereotypes of American Indians that had been widely accepted and disseminated in American culture: a theme he returns to in many of his essays. Durham gained notoriety within the New York art scene, but found his work was seen as “Indian art” and failed to encourage fundamental —political or artistic— discussions about how American Indian history and culture have been misrepresented by others. He left the U.S. in 1987 and moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico, until he returned to Europe in 1994.
Jimmie Durham passed away in Berlin in late 2021.
la malinche, 1988-1991
wood, cotton, snakeskin, watercolor, polyester, metal
66.1 x 22 x 33.1 in.
a dead deer, 1986
skull, bone, wood, paint, plastic, string
47.2 x 28.3 x 5.5 in.
pallas athena, 2008
mixed media
96.46 x 57.09 x 35.43 in.
mulholland drive, 2007
horse skull, mixed media
88.6 x 70.9 x 43.3 in.
untitled, 1992
acrylic on canvas, plywood
30.7 x 32.6 in.
self-portrait pretending to be a stone statue of myself, 2006
photograph
variable dimensions
painted self-portrait, 2007
acrylic and marker on color photograph
30.71 x 22.83 in.
self-portrait pretending to be maria thereza alves as terminator 2, 1995-2006
color photograph
31.7x 23.9 in.
a staff to mark the center of the world at the gwangju biennale, 2004
multi-media
78.7 x 3.9 in. each
red granite and grey cristalina granite, 1971
red and gray granite
4.72 x 22.68 in.
the center of the world at chalma, 1997
production documentation, at porin taidemuseo, porin, finland, 1997
i will try to explain, 1970-2012
wood, metal, cat fur, leather
variable dimensions
st. frigo, 1996
documentation of action, at frac, champagne-ardenne, rheims, france, 1996
st. frigo, 1996
refrigerator
51.97 x 23.62 x 23.62 in.
this is a stone from the mountain, this is a stone from the red palace, 1992
sandstone
16.54 x 15.75 x 18.9 in. each
a stone from metternich's house in bohemia, 1996
documentation of action, as part of der verführer und der steinerne gast, wittgenstein house, vienna, 1996
a stone from metternich's house in bohemia, 1996
production shots from action at der verführer und der steinerne gast
solo exhibition at wittgenstein house, vienna, 1996
encore tranquilité, 2008
airplane, stone, chains
59.06 x 338.58 x 338.58 in.
upon reflection, i was no longer sure of my position, 2009
obsidian, german silver (copper, zinc, and nickel), steel table, obsidian mirror with colored tin frame
variable dimensions
xitle and spirit, 2007
car, volcanic stone, acrylic paint
variable dimensions
untitled (the penis mightier), 2007
graphite pencil on acid free cotton paper
triptych, 30.31 x 22.83 in. each
untitled (the penis might), 2007
graphite on cotton paper
30.31 x 22.83 in. each
azurite, calcite, quartz, 1998
oil, stones, marker on painted wood
51.18 x 35.43 in. each
brazilian bloodstone, 1997
stone, orange, graphite on wood
32.68 x 47.24 x 3.15 in.
in a cabin in the woods, 2010
deer skin, wood, felt
59.06 x 27.56 x 12.99 in.
drawing performance in la leçon d'anatomie (a progress report), 1996
documentation of action, at frac champagne-ardenne, rheims, france, 1996
le lesson d'anatomie no. 4, 1996
cotton shirt, artist's hair, mud, dirt and white glue
29.53 x 26.38 x 1.18 in.
smashing, 2004
digital video transferred to DVD
1 hr, 31 min, 52 sec.
a project for the tree at potolice, 2000
installation view of construction in process, potolice, poland, 2000
garcon, garou, gargouille, 1994
papier maché, PVC pipe, leather
59 x 39 in.
sweet light crude, 2008
twenty five oil barrels
variable dimensions
elsa, 2003
installation view of arte all’arte, puente de san marziale, colle di val d’elsa, italy, 2003
elsa, 2003
installation view of arte all’arte, puente de san marziale, colle di val d’elsa, italy, 2003
the names of the team of scientists who submitted an article on the human chromosome 14 in nature magazine, february, 2003, 2003
mixed media
51.2 x 39.4 in.
hommage à filiou, 2003
purpurin and oil on pine wood
39.37 x 29.53 x 12.99 in.
hommage à filiou, 2003
purpurin and oil on pine wood
39.37 x 29.53 x 12.99 in.
homage to luis buñuel, 2012
mixed-media installation
variable dimensions
various elements from the actual world, 2009
mixed media
98.43 x 118.11 in.
ok! look, 2009
graphite on cotton paper
31.89 x 24.02 in.
from serie of drawings, 1998
graphite
variable dimensions
a line of graphite beginning on the left side, 2009
graphite on cotton paper
31.89 x 24.02 in.
installation view of traces and shiny evidence, parasol unit, london, 2014
He held his first solo exhibition in 1965 and continued to exhibit internationally.
Solo exhibitions include: De Durham a Xico: El legado como herramienta del tiempo. Seis ejercicios sobre el territorio, Galería Xico Arte, Museo Comunitario del Valle de Xico, Valle de Chalco Solidaridad, Mexico, in collaboration with arte UNAM (2023); humanity is not a completed project, Madre · museo d’arte contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples, Italy (2022); And now, so far in the future That no one will recognize Any of my jokes, Fondazione Morra Greco, Naples, Italy (2022); drawings, as part of Siembra, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2021); The beneficial catastrophe of art, Fondazione Morra Greco, Naples, Italy (2019); God’s Children, God’s Poems, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland (2017); At the Center of the World, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2017); traveled to Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota (2017); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2017); and Remai Modern, Saskatoon, Canada (2018); Evidence, Mönchehaus Museum Goslar, Germany (2016); Sound and Silliness, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome (2016); Various Items and Complaints, Serpentine, London (2015); Venice: Objects, Work and Tourism, Museo della Fondazione Querini Stampalia, Venice (2015); Traces and Shiny Evidence, Parasol unit foundation for contemporary art, London (2014); Varios y diversos, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2013); Streets of Rome and Other Stories, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma (MACRO) (2012); A Matter of Life and Death and Singing, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA), Belgium (2012); Jimmie Durham, Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen, Rome (2011); Obsidiana, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2010); Rocks Encouraged, Portikus, Frankfurt, Germany (2010); Pierres rejetées…, Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (2009); Jimmie Durham, Madre · museo d’arte contemporanea Donnaregina, Naples, Italy (2008); The Imaginary Number, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2006); From the West Pacific to the East Atlantic, Musée d’Art Contemporain [mac], Marseille, France (2003); Between the Furniture and the Building (Between a Rock and a Hard Place), Kunstverein München, Munich, Germany (1998); The Center of the World, Vleeshal Center for Contemporary Art, Middelburg, the Netherlands (1995); Original Re-Runs, BOZAR Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels, Belgium (1993), among others.
Group exhibitions include: Desde el umbral, Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC), Mexico City (2026); Ante el eclipse: Arqueologías del arte en México, Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2026); Así como suceden las cosas, también nada sucede. Colección MUSAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (MUSAC), Spain (2025); Un inventario insólito: diálogos con el surrealismo, kurimanzutto, Mexico City (2024); Nikos Alexiou: The Collection, Benaki Museum, Athens (2024); Colección Jumex: Todo se vuelve más ligero, Museo Jumex, Mexico City (2023); En el jardín: Colección Isabel y Agustín Coppel, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey (MARCO), Mexico (2023); TODOS JUNTOS (All Together), kurimanzutto, New York (2022); Museum in Motion, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA), Belgium (2022); MONOCULTURE – A Recent History, Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA), Belgium (2020); Potential Worlds 2: Eco-Fictions, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich, Switzerland (2020); On the Spiritual Matter of Art, MAXXI Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo, Rome (2019); The Absent Museum, WIELS, Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels, Belgium (2017); Soil and Stones, Souls and Songs, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila, Philippines (2016); traveled to Para Site, Hong Kong, China (2017); and Jim Thompson Art Center, Bangkok, Thailand (2017); A Sense of History, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), Berlin (2016); Surrealism: The Conjured Life, The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA Chicago) (2015); America Is Hard to See, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2015); Advance through Retreat, Rockbund Art Museum (RAM), Shanghai, China (2014); What Models Can Do, Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen, Germany (2014); Una máquina desea instrucciones como un jardín desea disciplina, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo (MARCO), Spain (2013); traveled to 49 Nord 6 Est – Frac Lorraine, Metz, France (2014); Yes, Naturally, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, the Netherlands (2013); In the Holocene, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts (2012); Nouvelle présentation des collections contemporaines des années 1960 à nos jours, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2011); On Rage, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin (2010); Faux Jumeaux 15, Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent, Belgium (2009); Transmission Interrupted, Modern Art Oxford, United Kingdom (2009); Experiment Marathon Reykjavik, Reykjavík Art Museum – Kjarvalsstaðir, Iceland (2008); Tiempo al tiempo/Taking Time, Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo (MARCO), Spain (2007), among others.
Durham has participated in many international biennials, including: VOCAL, Bienal de Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico (2026); Refuge, Lagos Biennial 2024, Nigeria (2024); documenta fifteen, Kassel, Germany (2022); 50JPG – 50 Jours pour la Photographie à Genève, Switzerland (2016); How to Gather? Acting in a Center in a City in the Heart of an Island in Europe, 6th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art (2015); The past, the present, the possible, Sharjah Biennial 12, United Arab Emirates (2015); Whitney Biennial 2014, New York (2014); Mom, am I barbarian?, 13. Istanbul Bienali (2013); Il Palazzo Enciclopedico, 55th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2013); Modern Monsters / Death and Life of Fiction, Taipei Biennial 2012, Taiwan (2012); dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel, Germany (2012); Há sempre um copo de mar para um homem navegar, 29ª Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil (2010); Shockworkers of the Mobile Image, 1st Ural Industrial Biennial of Contemporary Art, Yekaterinburg, Russia (2010); Trust, Media City Seoul 2010, South Korea (2010); Manifesta 7, The European Biennial of Contemporary Art, Trento, Italy (2008); Day for Night, Whitney Biennial 2006, New York (2006); 51st International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2005); A Grain of Dust A Drop of Water, 5th Gwangju Biennale, South Korea (2004); On Reason and Emotion, 14th Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2004); Dreams and Conflicts: The Dictatorship of the Viewer, 50th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2003); Mega-Wave: Towards a New Synthesis, Yokohama Triennale 2001, Japan (2001); Plateau of Humankind, 49th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (2001); dAPERTutto, 48th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale (1999); On Life, Beauty, Translations and Other Difficulties, 5. Istanbul Bienali (1997); Whitney Biennial 1993, New York (1993); documenta IX, Kassel, Germany (1992), among others.
In 2019, Durham received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 58th International Art Exhibition at the Venice Biennale.
two solo exhibitions open in naples on december 22, 2022
documenta fifteen presents jimmie durham & a stick in the forest by the side of the road
Read the full review on Jimmie Durham's passing at the New York Times.
Read the full review on the new artist list for Documenta 2022, including participant Jimmie Durham at Art Review.
Labinac's exhibition opening is tomorrow! The design collective composed by Jimmie Durham and Maria Thereza Alves will showcase limited edition design pieces and a special site-specific installation at the Royal Gardens in Venice.
Haegue Yang selects a number of works by the artist, poet, author, essayist and political activist, Jimmie Durham.
Jimmie Durham & Haegue Yang talk in an all in-conversation exclusively for kurimanzutto's Art Basel: Pioneers Online Viewing Room.
Watch a selection of Jimmie Durham video performances.
Jimmie Durham & Haegue Yang participate in Tate Modern's Room 6 and 9 Displays: Materials and Objects.
Although the works on display were made in the late 1980s and early 1990s—a period of dissent against decades of conservative government in the United States—the concerns they raise remain urgent.
kurimanzutto is proud to participate in Art Basel OVR: Miami Beach 2020 featuring a selection of works by: Gabriel Orozco, Nairy Baghramian, Haegue Yang, Jimmie Durham, Damián Ortega, Abraham Cruzvillegas, Carlos Amorales, Roberto Gil de Montes, Wilfredo Prieto, Miguel Calderón.
Potential Worlds 2: Eco-Fictions inquires into the potential worlds that might emerge from the ruins of humanity’s making
Watch the online conversation with renowned artist and activist Jimmie Durham and culture advisor Michela Bondardo published by the National Arts Club.
Read the poem written by Jimmie Durham during Covid-19 quarantine.
Listen to the playlist Jimmie Durham's ipod by Jimmie Durham on Spotify.
Inspired by José Saramago’s The year of the death of Ricardo Reis, the works in the exhibition include quotes from the book that, typed or handwritten, are individually integrated into each piece.
"I have nominated Jimmie Durham for the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement of the 58th International Art Exhibition based on his remarkable accomplishments as an artist over the past six decades, and in particular for making art that is at once critical, humorous and profoundly humanistic."
Jimmie Durham questions current standards of human - animal relations.
As part of its series of new digital initiatives, the New Museum presents Bedtime Stories, a project initiated by the artist Maurizio Cattelan in which different artists are invited to read a selection from their favorite book.
