Christoph Draeger (born 1965) is a Swiss multimedia artist. Born in Zürich, he currently lives and works in Berlin, Germany.Christoph Draeger's biography, lokal_30's website.
Life and career Christoph Draeger was born in 1965 in Zürich, Switzerland. From 1986 until 1990, he attended the School of Visual Arts in Lucerne, Switzerland, and from 1990 until 1991 he studied at École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Visuels de la Cambre in Brussels, Belgium. In Brussels, he co-founded the artist-run space Etablissements d'en Face together with Alec DeBuschere.
Christoph Draeger's biography , Christoph Draeger's official website. After four years in Brussels, in 1996, Christoph Draeger moved to New York where he won a one-year scholarship at P.S.1's International Studio Program. There, he met his future partner, Austrian artist Heidrun Holzfeind. They stayed in New York until moving to Vienna in 2011 with their two year old son, Jakob.Christoph Draeger's biography, "Anti-utopias" website.
From 2015-2020, the family moved to Umea, Sweden, where Christoph Draeger was holding a full professorship at Umea Academy of Fine Arts.
From 2022-2025, Christoph Draeger taught artistic practice at Yale-NUS, National University of Singapore.
His works have been exhibited worldwide in galleries and institutions such as the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and Santiago Museum of Contemporary Art. Draeger has also taken part in several important art events, Venice Biennale and Art Cologne among others. His works are in many private and institutional collections such as the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, Kunsthaus Zürich, and the Whitney Museum of American Art and Brooklyn Museum in New York.
He sometimes works together with his partner, Austrian artist Heidrun Holzfeind, who specialises in documentaries and photography. Together with their son, Jakob, then three years old, Draeger recreated fragments from the Hollywood movie The Road (2009) for his work The Rd. (2013).About "The Rd." , Christoph Draeger's official website.
Artistic practice and interests In his artistic practice, Draeger relies mainly on installation, photography and video, in which he uses both archival and self-made footage. He also occasionally explores the medium of sculpture and practices performance art. As Draeger's interests revolve around media-saturated culture and people's struggle with disasters, most of his works focus on catastrophes and media representations of tragic events.Christoph Draeger's biography, "Museum as Hub" website.An Interview with Christoph Draeger by Sebastian Cichocki.Shooting History: an Interview with Swiss Artist Christoph Draeger about the Reenactment of Terrorism in his Video Installation Black September (2002) , Sebastian Baden, "Imaginations" 5-2."Unforces Errors", exhibition at lokal_30, text: Zuzanna Derlacz.
Works Selected works by Christoph Draeger.
Voyages Apocaliptiques Voyages Apocaliptiques (from 1994) is a long-term photographic project, which began in 1994 and is still in progress. The cycle is dedicated to the elusiveness of memory in a broad sense. It comprises so far around 100 photos taken by Draeger of places affected by some kind of catastrophe, including photographs of areas that look like nothing tragic have ever happened there, and of places permanently marked with those events or still coping with their effects.
The Last News The video installation The Last News (2002) by Draeger and American artist Reynold Reynolds is a coverage of the end of the world. It is a reaction to media response to the events of 9/11, mocking and exaggerating the way in which tragic events are presented in mass-media, but also commenting on the process of transmission and reception of information and its reliability faced with commercial sensationalism.
Black September The video installation Black September (2002) is a video reconstruction of the events from the XXth Olympiad in Munich in 1972 when eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were abducted by Palestinian terrorists. It was one of the first events of this kind in which media had such profound impact on the situation; the terrorists planned their next steps on the basis of information they had heard on the television. Draeger's installation also includes excerpts from the authentic TV coverage, set in a reconstructed hotel room where the events occurred.
Helenés The title of the video Helenés (2005) originated as a result of Draeger's reading mistake - the original material, a film showing dramatised nuclear protection exercises from the Cold War era, was actually named Jelenés. The 16mm film roll was found by the artist in the storage room of a disaster prevention camp in Hungary. The thing that struck Draeger the most in the original film was its monotonous narration in Hungarian, which he decided to subtitle with George W. Bush's second term inaugural address. By relating the presidential speech to the Cold War discourse, the artist emphasizes the durability of the American ideological project, positing a special role of the United States and a necessity for its hegemony.About "Helenés" , Christoph Draeger's website.
Tsunami Architecture Tsunami Architecture (2012) by Christoph Draeger and Heidrun Holzfeind is a project composed of a book and a video. It follows the effects of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, one of the worst natural catastrophes in history. Draeger and Holzfeind say about this project: "We were interested in how the flood of aid money has transformed the affected regions, rebuilt and refashioned local economies and shaped communities. How does collective and individual memory work, years after such highly publicized media event? How has architecture built after the tsunami been able to respond to the individual needs of affected communities? How were these communities able to participate in the recovery process? How have these structures been adapted over time by their inhabitants, and how did architectural interventions alter societal and communal structures?"About "Tsunami Architecture", Heidrun Holzfeind's website.
Awards, grants & residencies List of selected Draeger's awards, scholarships and residencies.
2015 Pro Helvetia Residency in Delhi, India 2014-2025: MAK Residency in Los Angeles 2008: Pro Helvetia Residency in Cairo, Egypt 2007: Residency at CCA, Center for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw 2006: Residency at Springhill Institute, Birmingham 2006-2007: Residency of the Landis+Gyr Foundation, London 2005-2005: Residency in Mexico City 2005/2008/2013: Grant (Werkjahr) of the canton of Zürich 2004: Grant (Werkjahr) of the City of Zürich 2003: Grant Steo Foundation, Küssnacht 2002: Residency at Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito; California 2002: Residency at Faxinal des Artes, Parana, Brazil 1997: Promotion Grant of the Grisons government 1996-1997: Residency at International Studio Program, P.S.1, Institute for Contemporary Art, New York 1994 and 1995: Kiefer-Hablitzel Award 1994: Swiss National Art Award 1991: Grant of the Landis+Gyr Foundation
Exhibitions List of selected solo exhibitions.
KLET- Centre of Conceptual Art, Landskrona, Sweden, 2025 Aceh Tsunami Museum, Banda Aceh, Indonesia, 2025 (with Heidrun Holzfeind) The Auroville Project, ARTES, Porto, Portugal (with Heidrun Holzfeind) The Near Future, Konsthall Kåddis, Umeå, 2020 From Within and From Without-The Auroville Project, Kunstpavillon Innsbruck, Austria, 2017 (with Heidrun Holzfeind) Tsunami Architecture, X and Beyond, Copenhagen, 2016 (with Heidrun Holzfeind) Young Projects, Los Angeles (USA), 2015 Unforced Errors, Lokal 30, Warsaw, 2014 Zero, Kunstzeughaus Rapperswil, Switzerland, 2013 The Christoph Project, Kunstraum Pro Arte, Hallein, Austria, 2013 Tsunami Architecture, OK Centrum for Contemporary Art, Linz, 2012 (with Heidrun Holzfeind) A drift, Kunsthalle Arbon, 2012 Temporary Wall of Voodoo, West Gallery, Den Hague, 2011 Apocalipso Place (with Reynold Reynolds), Lokal_30, Warsaw, 2011 Breaking The Wave, Y Gallery, New York, 2011 Monumental, Y Gallery, Bowery, New York, 2010 Tropolicalia, Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, 2009 The End of the Remake, Roebling Hall, New York, 2008 Music Is the Healing Force of the Universe, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, 2008 Helenés Rising, Living Room, Cologne, 2007 Old works, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, 2006 Munich, Susanne Vielmetter Projects, Los Angeles, 2005 The Brazil Project, Roebling Hall, New York, 2005 New Landscapes, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, 2004 Memories of Terror From a Safe Distance, Kunstmuseum Solothurn, 2003 Beaufort 12, Expo 02, Arteplage, Neuchatel, Switzerland The Last Rider, Kunsthalle Fri-Art, Fribourg, Switzerland Black September, mullerdechiara gallery, Berlin, 2002 If You Lived Here You Would Be Dead Now, Roebling Hall, New York, 2001 Inundacions, CCCB, Centre de Cultura Contemporània, Barcelona, 2000 Voyages, Galerie Urs Meile Luzern, Switzerland, 2000 Going All The Way, Kunstforum Baloise, Basel, Switzerland, 2000 Teenage Riot, Halle für Kunst e.V., Lüneburg, Germany, 2000 Natural Born Killer, Le Parvis, Centre d’Art Contemporain,Ibos-Tarbes, 2000 Crash, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Pau, France, 2000 St. Gervais, Centre pour l’image contemporaine, Geneva, 2000 Apocalypso Place/Fall Season, Kunsthaus, Zurich (with Reynold Reynolds), 2000 Apocalypso Place (with Reynold Reynolds), Liebman Magnan Gallery, New York, 1999 Lakehurst NJ, Zeppelinmuseum, Friedrichshafen, Germany, 1999 Yellow and Red, Institute for Contemporary Art, Dunauvarnos, Hungary (with Martin Frei), 1999 Out of the Blue-Into the Black, Damasquine Gallery, Brussels,1999 KomMerzbau, ©usa-united swiss artists, Galerie Bernhard Schindler, Bern (with Martin Frei),1999 New York-Serneus Retour, Kulturhaus Rosengarten, Gruesch, 1998 OEL, Galerie Urs Meile, Luzern, Switzerland NB, Kunsthalle, St.Gallen, Switzerland Heidji, ©usa-united swiss artists, Luciano Fascati Galerie, Chur (with Martin Frei) Hotelbrand, Hotel, Zürich, Switzerland Nature abhors a naked singularity: Paddy Jolley, Nin Bruderman and Christoph Draeger, P.S.1. Clocktower Gallery, New York, 1997 How Far You Are, Passage Placette, Belluard Fribourg, Switzerland , 1996 It's the end of the world as we love it, Shed im Eisenwerk, Frauenfeld, 1996 M.U.S.E.U.M., Kunstmuseum Luzerne, Switzerland (with ©usa-united swiss artists), 1994 Schleutelwerken, Galerie Fons Welters, Amsterdam, 1994 Critical Distance, ADO Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium, 1993 SOLO, Etablissements d'en Face, Brussels, 1991
References
External links
Interview with Christoph Draeger about disasters and disastertainment, surveillance, copies and originals, critical distance, reenactments, layers of meanings, and provocation. 2016