David Schiesser

*1989, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Lives and works in Berlin

Studied at the OfG Kunsthochschule Offenbach mentored by Prof. Manfred Stumpf and Prof. Eike König

In his large-scale spatial images, wall interventions, and drawings on canvas and wood, David Schiesser draws upon the visual languages and motifs of antiquity and the Middle Ages, merging them with contemporary visual codes. A defining characteristic of his work is the concentration on the line as a fundamental creative element. Thematically Schiesser’s figurative depictions are fueled by mythology, science fiction, and art-historical references. Simultaneously, they connect to the reductionist strategies of the Avantgarde, which explored the expressive power of the line and its elementary formal language. While Schiesser utilizes both art-historical sources and digital image archives as reference material, he transforms these into entirely new contexts.

A central medium of his practice is human skin. Using a black-and-white "one-line" style, the artist tattoos figures and symbols that become permanent carriers of meaning for the wearer. He perceives the skin as a mobile canvas that changes over time, thereby influencing the perception of the drawing itself. His work is less about decorative body art and more about developing an authentic, individual visual language in which the line asserts its own aesthetic validity as an elemental means of expression. Thus, his oeuvre moves at the intersection of art history, drawing, and tattoo culture.

Vita

David Schiesser lives and works in Berlin, Germany

2011– 2018
Diploma of Arts, HfG Offenbach. Prof. Manfred Stumpf and Prof. Eike König

2020
Scholarships
Stiftung Kunstfonds, NeustartKultur

2022–2024
Teaching
Illustrationclass, HSD Düsseldorf

Exhibitions

2026
Steinstrasse Siebzehn, Off-Space by Stadtsparkasse Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf curated by Katie-Eva Gaj and Jan van de Weyer

2025
Bridge, JVDW, Düsseldorf
Bridging The Gap, Court Tree Collective, New York City
Haloes & Hula-Hoops, Studio Hannibal, Berlin (duo)
The Barn, Soycapitan Gallery, Berlin

2024
Mit heißer Nadel, Schaufenster, Berlin
Raunacht, Grotto, Hansabibliothek, Berlin (Booklaunch)
Europa Carnivora, Kiralik Depo, Istanbul (solo)

2023
Spirale, JVDW Düsseldorf (solo)
Realms, JVDW Düsseldorf
Silent Spring, Outdoor Group Show, Schaffhausen

2022
I am everything you pay me for, Schaufenster, Berlin
Drawing Wow 3, Minus Eins, Wien

2021
Invasion der Geschuppten, DWDS, Bregenz (solo)
Speaking In Tongues, Blake & Vargas, Berlin

2020
Might Go To Bern Later, Sattelkammer, Bern (solo)
Reclaim The Game, C. Rockefeller Center For The Contemporary Arts, Dresden

2019
Die drei Achsen unserer Leiblichkeit, Blake & Vargas, Berlin (solo)
Follow The Vanishing Point, Salon Kennedy, Frankfurt (solo)
Anatomy Of A Mesh, Tempus Projects, Tampa, FL

2018
Goodhopehouse, Galerie Kenilworth, Milwaukee, WI
Mixed Pickles 3, Ruttkowski;68, Köln
Bataillon d´Amour, Galerie Kleindienst, Leipzig
Spectator Mode, Fisk Gallery, Portland, OR (solo)

2017
Meta, Meta, M35, Luzern
Things I Think I Want, Frankfurter Kunstverein
66,7%, Kunstverein Wiesen, Wiesen
What Can Be Done To Make Trouble, Kunstverein Familie Montez, Frankfurt

2016
Offenbacher Hängung, Nina Sagt Galerie, Düsseldorf
R.I.P - release, Studio Kicks, London
Contournement, Kunstverein Bad Nauheim
Whistle While We Are Working, Kressmannhalle, Offenbach (duo)
OM, popsixtyeight / Cologne (solo)

2015
Habt ihr Bock auf Ibiza?, Ruttkowski;68, Cologne
T O K Y O, Zollamt Studios, Offenbach

2014
Erdloch verschluckt Kleinwagen, M-35, Luzern

2013
OFNY, Copper Union, New York City, NY
Neue Offenbacher Schule, Schanzenstrasse, Gießen

Publications

2018
Extra Extra

2020
Supergaia

2022
Kondensat

2024
Raunacht

2026
Chefsachen

JVDW contemporary art gallery in Düsseldorf

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