Uriel Orlow
Uriel Orlow was born in 1973 in Zurich
He currently lives and works in London
Uriel Orlow studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design London, the Slade School of Art, University College London and the University of Geneva, completing a PhD in Fine Art in 2002.
His practice is research-based, process-oriented and multidisciplinary including film, photography, drawing and sound. He is known for single screen film works, lecture performances and modular, multi-media installations that focus on specific locations and micro-histories and bring different image-regimes and narrative modes into correspondence. His work is concerned with residues of colonialism, spatial manifestations of memory, blind spots of representation and plants as political actors.
Orlow has participated in many international survey shows, such as the 54th Venice Biennale (2011); the 12th Berlin Biennale (2022); Manifesta 9 and 12, Genk/Palermo (2012, 2018); the 5th Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Kochi, India (2023); Kathmandu Triennale 2077 (2022); British Art Show 9, UK (2021-2022); the 2nd Thailand Biennale, Korat (2021); Bienal de Arte Paiz, Antigua Guatemala (2021); Riboca 2 – Riga Biennial (2020); Taipei Biennial (2020); Lubumbashi Biennial, Congo (2019); 13th Sharjah Biennial (2017); 7th Moscow Biennial (2017); EVA International, Ireland (2014, 2016); 8th Mercosul Biennial, Brazil (2011); Aichi Triennale, Japan (2013); and Bergen Assembly, Norway (2013), among others.
His institutional solo exhibitions include Kunsthalle Nairs, Scuol (2022); La Loge, Brussels (2020); Kusnthalle Mainz (2020); State of Concept, Athens (2020); Tabakalera, San Sebastian (2019); Les Laboratoires d’Aubervilliers, Paris (2018); Kunsthalle Sankt Gallen (2018); PAV – Parco d’Arte Vivente, Turin (2017); Parc Saint Léger – Centre d’art contemporain (2017); The Showroom, London (2016); Castello di Rivoli, Turin (2015); John Hansard Gallery, Southampton (2015); Depo, Istanbul (2015); Spike Island, Bristol (2013); Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris (2013); Al-Ma’mal Foundation, Jerusalem (2013); Les Complices*, Zurich (2013); Kunstmuseum Bern (2013); Centre PasquArt, Bienne (2012); Kunstforening, Oslo (2012).
Orlow’s work has been shown widely in museums and galleries including in London at Tate Modern, Tate Britain, Whitechapel Gallery, ICA and Gasworks; in Paris at Palais de Tokyo, Fondation Ricard, Maison Populaire, Bétonsalon; in Zurich at Kunsthaus, Les Complices*, Helmhaus and Shedhalle; in Geneva at Centre d’Art Contemporain and Centre de la Photographie; as well as in Berlin, Ramallah, Marseille, Cairo, Alexandria, Istanbul, Mexico City, Dublin, San Sebastian, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver and elsewhere.
His films have been screened at Oberhausen Short Film Festival; Locarno Film Festival; Videoex, Zurich; Centre Pompidou, Paris; BFI, London; Kino der Kunst, Munich; Visions du Réel, Nyon; Biennale of the Moving Image, Geneva.
Orlow received the CF Meyer Prize in 2020, and the Sharjah Biennial Prize in 2017. He was also awarded the annual major art-award of the city of Zurich in 2015, and three Swiss Art Awards at Art Basel in 2008, 2009 and 2012.
A major monograph of his work, Theatrum Botanicum, was published by Sternberg Press in 2018.
Reading Wood (Backwards), 2022 - Installation view, 12th Berlin Biennale, 2022
Reading Wood (Backwards), 2022 - Installation view, 12th Berlin Biennale, 2022
Conversing with Leaves, - Exhibition view, Bienal Arte Paiz, 2021
Conversing with Leaves - Exhibition view, Kunsthalle Mainz, 2020
Conversing with Leaves - Exhibition view, Kunsthalle Mainz, 2020
Conversing with Leaves - Exhibition view, Kunsthalle Mainz, 2020
Learning from Artemisia - Exhibition view, Lubumbashi Biennial, 2019
Learning from Artemisia - Exhibition view, British Art Show, 2022
Learning from Artemisia, 2019 - Acrylic on cardboard
Learning from Artemisia, 2019 - Acrylic on cardboard
Learning from Artemisia, 2019 - Acrylic on cardboard
Learning from Artemisia - Exhibition view, La Loge, Brussels, 2020
Artemisia Afria in Katanga, 2019 - Archival pigment prints
Soil Affinities, 2018 - Mixed media installation - Exhibition view, Kunsthalle Mainz, 2020
Soil Affinities, 2018 - Mixed media installation - Exhibition view, Laboratoires d'Aubervilliers, 2018
The Planetary Garden - Exhibition view, Manifesta 12, Palermo, 2018
The Planetary Garden - Exhibition view, Manifesta 12, Palermo, 2018
Wishing Trees, 2018 - Archival pigment print - Exhibition view, Manifesta 12, Palermo, 2018
The Planetary Garden - Exhibition view, Manifesta 12, Palermo, 2018
The Memory of Trees, 2017 - Series of 5 digital prints mounted on aluminium - Exhibition view, Kunsthalle Sankt Gallen, 2018
Milkwood Tree (Cape Town) 2017- Digital print
Lombardy Poplar (Johannesbourg), 2017
Palm Tree (Cape Town), 2017 - Digital print
Garden of Earthly Delights - Exhibition view, Gropius Bau, Berlin, 2019
The Fairest Heritage - Exhibition view, Villa Romana, Florence, 2019
Theatrum Botanicum - Exhibition view, Kunsthalle Sankt Gallen, 2018
The Crown against Mafavuke, 2016 - Digital video, color, sound
Imbizo Ka Mafavuke, 2017 - Digital video, color, sound
Muthi, 2016 - Digital video, color, sound
Theatrum Botanicum - Exhibition view, Kunsthalle Sankt Gallen, 2018
Echoes, 2015-2018 - Mixed media installation - Exhibition view, Kunsthalle Sankt Gallen, 2018
Geraniums are never red, 2016 - Wall paper, postcards - Exhibition view Kunstmuseum Lichtenstein, 2020
Geraniums are never red, 2016 - Postcards, metal rack
Prisoners in the Garden, 2016 - Wall paper
Grey, Green, Gold, 2015 - Exhibition view, Centre d'Art Contemporain, Geneva, 2016
Theatrum Botanicum: The Memory of Trees - Exhibition view, Parc Saint-Léger, France, 2017
The Squirrel's Revenge, 2015 - Installation with digital print, seed and magnifying glass
The Squirrel's Revenge, 2015 - Seed and magnifying glass - Detail
The Squirrel's Revenge, 2015 - Digital print
The Squirrel's Revenge, 2015 - Exhibition view, Castello di Rivoli, 2015
Mafavuke and Other Plant's Stories - Exhibition view, The Showroom, London, 2016
The Fairest Heritage, 2016 - Digital video, color, silent
The Fairest Heritage, 2016 - Digital video, color, silent
Made/Unmade - Exhibition view, Castello di Rivoli, 2015
Made/Unmade - Exhibition view, Castello di Rivoli, 2015
Made/Unmade - Exhibition view, Castello di Rivoli, 2015
Unmade Film, 2012-2013 - Large-scale project - Exhibition view, Bergen Assembly, 2013
Unmade Film: Paused Retrospect, 2012 - Slide projection
Unmade Film: Paused Prospect, 2012 - Digital prints mounted on aluminium
Unmade Film: The Stills, 2013 - Digital print
Unmade Film: Voiceover, 2012 - 8 channel sound piece - Exhibition view, Kunsthalle Sankt Gallen, 2018
Unmade Film: The Staging, 2013 - Digital video - Exhibition view, Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris, 2013
Still Aftershock, 2011 - Archival pigment print on fine art paper
Still Aftershock, 2011 - Archival pigment print on fine art paper
Remnants of the Future, 2010-2012 - Digital video - Exhibition view, Spike Island, Bristol, 2013
Etats des lieux, 2012 - Digital prints Installation view, CentrePasquArt, Biel, 2012 © David Gagnebin
The Short and the Long of It, 2010-2012 - Large-scale project - Exhibition view, Fondation Ricard, Paris, 2012
The Short and the Long of It, 2010-2012 - Large-scale project - Exhibition view, Kunstforening, Oslo, 2012
Benin Project: Lost Wax, 2007 - 7 channel video installation - Exhibition view, CAPC, Bordeaux, 2015
Benin Project: Lost Wax, 2007 - 7 channel video installation - Edinburgh Art Festival, 2014
Benin Project: Lost Wax, 2007 - 7 channel video
1942 (Poznan), 1996-2002 - Digital video - Exhibition view, Castello di Rivoli, 2015