Georg Gatsas

Georg Gatsas (*1978 in Grabs, Switzerland) is of Greek-Swiss extraction and grew up in the canton of St.Gallen, where he completed his qualifying examination for university in 2000. Having taught himself photography, he began taking pictures in New York during an extended stay there in 2002, photographing the city’s underground music scene. These series of images led to his first national and international solo exhibitions at the Kunsthalle St.Gallen (The Process, 2003), the Binz39 Foundation in Zurich (The Process IV, 2006), and the Swiss Institute in New York (The Process VI, 2007). Since 2004, Gatsas has received a number of grants and awards, including studio residencies in New York (2009), London (2012 and 2014) and Johannesburg (2016 / 2017). In 2007, he won the Swiss Federal Prize for Art. In 2017, he was awarded the Manor Art Prize St.Gallen, which included a solo exhibition at the Kunstmuseum St.Gallen and a monographic publication. Between 2018 and 2020, he completed a master’s in fine arts at the FHNW Academy of Art and Design (IAGN Institute Art Gender Nature).

Gatsas’s photographs—which typically portray key figures in contemporary club culture and depict venues for experimental and global pop music—get right to the nub of what’s happening. Whether in the metropolitan centres of New York, London, Johannesburg, or Athens, he always surrounds himself with people directly and immerses himself in their different identities. He focuses on complex socio-cultural processes (The Process, 2003 – 2008) and comes into contact both with visions of society—embracing freedom, diversity and solidarity—and with individual takes on life. As he looks through the camera lens, his way of seeing does not create a sense of distance from the people he portrays but serves rather as an instrument of communication and, no less importantly, of research.

Gatsas’s feeling for the different forms and variants of urban life and of intercultural pop and club music is predicated on his earlier involvement with the music scene. Early on in his artistic career, as he travelled around, his contacts with global musical networks gave him direct access to places where local communities meet and exchange ideas. Gatsas likes to seek out moments of collective experience and absorption, often venturing out on the street at night and going to different clubs (H.O.M.E., 2013) and dance spots, in south and east London for example, where he captures in an instant the effect that dubstep—an extremely bassy and physical sound—has on the bodies of people dancing. Even though there is no audio track to listen to, the extensive series Signal the Future (2008 – 2017) brings out the rhythm and energy of the scene.

His thematic focus extends beyond the immediate context of music and tackles identities shaped by migration and global networking. This is evident, for example, in the series Are You… Can You… Were You? (2005 – 2017), which takes the portraits Gatsas has shot in various places in Switzerland and the wide range of encounters he has had there and juxtaposes them with the pictures he has taken in metropolises around the world: this provides a record of his impressions as a traveller, while also conveying the condition of being in-between worlds—a state associated with travel—in which elements that are familiar bump up against what is unknown and new. The portraits of the people he meets thus mutate into a self-portrait: Gatsas does not see himself as a distanced observer but rather as part of a process of intercultural dialogue. His pictures ask questions about our modern-day human condition and probe the new forms of (self)representation that have become virulent in a time when self-enactment in social networks has become ubiquitous.

Alice Wilke for Sikart, 2019

Email
Curriculum Vitae
Portfolio
Education
2018 – 2020
Master of Arts in Fine Arts, Institut Kunst, FHNW Basel, Switzerland
Selected Solo and Two Person Exhibitions
2022
JUBG, ‘Turnstile’, Cologne, DE
2017
Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, ‘Are You… Can You… Were You?’, St.Gallen, CH
2013
Kunstraum Riehen, ‘Georg Gatsas & Tobias Spichtig: cyan, yellow, and violette’, Basel, CH
2011
Katharinen, ‘Georg Gatsas & Beni Bischof: Trash Bar’, St.Gallen, CH
2010
Coalmine Gallery, ‘Signal The Future’, Winterthur, CH
2010
Guerilla Galerie International, ‘Memorizer’, St.Gallen, CH
2008
James Fuentes, LLC, ‘Five Points’, New York, USA
2007
Swiss Institute, ‘The Process VI’, New York, USA
2003
Kunsthalle St.Gallen, ‘The Process’, St.Gallen, CH
Selected Group Exhibitions
2021
Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, ‘Welt Am Draht’, St.Gallen,  CH
2021
Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, ‘Blicke aus der Zeit – Sammlungsperspektiven I’, St.Gallen, CH
2021
Edition VFO, ‘On Photography: Landscape, Cityscape, Interior’, Zurich, CH
2020
Kunsthaus Baselland, ‘Life, Love, Justice’, Muttenz, CH
2020
Stiftung Schloss Neuhardenberg, ‘Portraits II’, Neuhardenberg, DE
2020
Centre d’Arts Ronzier, ‘Lumières Obscures’, Valenciennes, FR
2019
Fotomuseum Winterthur, ‘Because The Night’, Winterthur, CH
2019
Kunstraum Riehen, ‘Splendid Isolation’, Basel, CH
2018
FRAC Grand Large, ‘Tubologie – Nos vies dans les tubes’, Dunkirk, FR
2018
Kunstraum Düsseldorf, ‘Portraits II’, Dusseldorf, DE
2017
Le Confort Moderne, ‘Tainted Love’, Poitiers, FR
2017
Oldenburger Kunstverein, ‘Portraits II’, Oldenburg, DE
2015
FRAC Nord – Pas De Calais, ‘Hôtel Dunkerque’, Dunkirk, FR
2013
Museum Bärengasse, ‘Twisted Sisters—Reimagining Urban Portraiture’, Zurich, CH
2012
Aargauer Kunsthaus, ‘Blick—Artists work with the Ringier image archive’, Aarau, CH
2012
Galerie Christian Nagel, ‘Bilderladen DuMont-Carré’, Cologne, DE
2011
Kunsthaus Zürich, ‘Junge Kunst’, Zurich, CH
2011
Helmhaus, ‘Welt-Bilder 4 / World Images 4’, Zurich, CH
2011
No10, ‘Beat’, New York, USA
2010
BolteLang, ‘What Sticks’, Zurich, CH
2009
Contemporary Art Center, ‘Shifting Identities’, Vilnius, LT
2009
Bateau Feau, FRAC Nord – Pas De Calais, ‘People and Places #2’, Dunkirk, FR
2009
Le Fresnoy, Studio national des arts contemporains, ‘Never Dance Alone’, Tourcoing, FR
2008
Kunsthaus Zürich, ‘Shifting Identities’, Zurich,  CH
2008
New Jerseyy, ‘Clinch / Cross / Cut—Team 404 & John Armleder’, Basel, CH
2007
James Fuentes LLC, ‘Drawing is a Verb and a Noun’, New York, USA
2006
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, ‘DARK’, Rotterdam, NL
2006
Zendai Museum of Modern Art, ‘Lovely Shanghai Music’, Shanghai, CN
2006
Spinnerei, ‘Das Sein im Schein: Praktiken des Glamour in der aktuellen Kunst’, Leipzig, DE
2004
Helmhaus, ‘Fürchte Dich’, Zurich, CH
2004
MAMCO, Musée d’art moderne et contemporain, ‘Yellow Pages’, Geneva, CH
Selected Curatorial Projects
2018
Concert / Performance: Faka, Manthe Ribane & Kami Awori, Palace, St.Gallen, CH
2018
Lecture and Screening: CUSS Group, Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, CH
2007
Three-day festival as part of the closing event of The Process VI: Tony Conrad, Ira Cohen, Dälek, Norbert Möslang, Tomas Korber, I. U.D., The Young Gods, Swiss Institute, New York, USA
2006
Concert for the opening reception of The Process IV: Dälek, Norbert Möslang, Göldin-Gatsas-Möslang-DJ-Set, Helsinki Club, Zurich, CH
2002
Concert: From Ashes Rise, Frohegg, St.Gallen, CH
2002
Concert: Kid606, Gold Chains, Voice Crack, Frohegg, St.Gallen, CH
2002
Concert: Blectum From Blechdom, Norbert Möslang, Frohegg, St.Gallen, CH
2001
Concert: The Locust, Galluskeller, Rorschach, CH
1998
Concert: His Hero Is Gone, Sabeth, My Hero Died Today, Galluskeller, Rorschach, CH
1998
Concert: The Get Up Kids, Braid, Hafenbuffet, Rorschach, CH
1997
Concert: The Van Pelt, The Sin-Eaters, Hafenbuffet, Rorschach, CH
Awards, Grants and Residencies
2022
Artist in Residence, Atelier Mondial / Fondazione MAST, Bologna, IT
2018
Pro Helvetia Research Grant, Zurich, CH
2018
Werkbeitrag, Kanton St.Gallen, St.Gallen, CH
2018
Anerkennungspreis, UBS Kulturstiftung, Zurich, CH
2017
Manor-Kunstpreis, Manor AG, St.Gallen, CH
2016
Artist in Residence, Pro Helvetia, Johannesburg, ZA
2015
Werkbeitrag, Kanton St.Gallen, St.Gallen, CH
2015
Werkbeitrag, Ausserrhodische Kulturstiftung, Herisau, CH
2014
Artist in Residence for London, Ausserrhodische Kulturstiftung, Herisau, CH
2014
Production Grant, Volkart Stiftung, Winterthur, CH
2013
Förderbeitrag, UBS Kulturstiftung, Zurich, CH
2012
Artist in Residence, Zuger Kulturstiftung Landis & Gyr, London, UK
2010
Werkbeitrag, Ausserrhodische Kulturstiftung, Herisau, CH
2010
European Newspaper Award, Sonderseiten (portrait Dorothee Elmiger for WoZ), Vienna, AT
2009
Artist in Residence for New York, Bundesamt für Kultur, CH
2008
Werkbeitrag, Stadt St.Gallen, St.Gallen, CH
2007
Eidgennössisches Kunststipendium (Swiss Art Award), CH
2006
Werkbeitrag, Kanton St.Gallen, St.Gallen, CH
2005
Werkbeitrag, Stadt St.Gallen, St.Gallen, CH
2005
Förderpreis, internationale Bodenseekonferenz, AT / CH / DE
2005
Artist in Residence for Zurich, Stiftung Binz39, Zurich, CH
2004
Förderbeitrag, Stadt St.Gallen, St.Gallen, CH
Collections
FRAC Grand Large, Dunkirk, FR
Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, CH
Maus Frères SA Collection, Geneva, CH
Volkart Stiftung, Winterthur, CH
Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, St.Gallen, CH
Kanton St.Gallen, CH
Kanton Appenzell AR, CH
Kanton Zurich CH
Stadt St.Gallen, CH
Soho House Art Collection, New York, USA
Soho House Art Collection, London, UK
Collection of Albert Oehlen, CH
Selected Talks and Panel Discussions
2023
Fondazione MAST, Artist Talk with Georg Gatsas, Antonio Grulli and Francesco Zanot, Bologna, IT
2022
JUBG, ‘Max Dax: Lesung + Artist Talk mit Georg Gatsas + Malte Zenses’, Cologne, DE
2020
Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, Kunstgespräch mit Georg Gatsas und Roland Wäspe, St.Gallen, CH
2019
The Nonante-Neuf Talks at Les Rencontres d’Arles (in collaboration with Pro Helvetia), ‘Challenging visuality: Who has the right to look (away)?’, Arles, FR
2016
Recyclart, ‘Extra Fort: Georg Gatsas’, Brussels, BE
Book Fairs
2022
Fotobokfestival Oslo - Get Out!, Oslo, NO
2019
LA Art Book Fair, Los Angeles, USA
2018
Athens Photo Festival, Athens, GR
2018
The Kitab, IN
2017
Offprint, Paris, FR
2017
Volumes, Zurich, CH
2017
Good Books, St.Gallen, CH
Selected Publications and Catalogues
2017
‘Signal The Future’, cpress, Zurich / Loose Joints, London
2015
‘Americana’, FRAC Nord – Pas De Calais, Dunkirk
2011
‘FRAC Nord – Pas De Calais #3, Collection 2001 – 2010’, FRAC Nord – Pas De Calais, Dunkirk
2010
‘Five Points’, Nieves, Zurich
2009
‘Born to Be Wild: Homage to Steven Parrino’, Verlag für moderne Kunst, Nürnberg
2009
‘Younger Than Jesus’, Phaidon, New York
2008
‘Shifting Identities – Swiss Art Today’, JRP Ringier, Zurich
2007
‘The Process V’, Nieves, Zurich
2006
‘Double-Face – The Story of Fashion and Art from Mohammed to Warhol’, JRP Ringier, Zurich
2005
‘Miuze #4’, Gianni Jetzer, Barbara Corti, Zurich
2004
‘The Process III’, Nieves, Zurich
Selected Record Covers
2017
‘NPVR: 33 33’, LP, Editions Mego, Vienna
2012
‘Norbert Möslang: indoor_outdoor’, LP, Ideologic Organ / Editions Mego, Vienna
2008
‘It’s Sensational: Göldin & Bit-Tuner’, LP, Quiet Records, Zurich
Contributions for Magazines and Newspapers
Wire, London, UK
Dazed & Confused, London, UK
Hero, London, UK
Beat, London, UK
AnOther, London, UK
AnOther Man, London, UK
Kilimanjaro, London, UK
i-D, London, UK
The Guardian, London, UK
ANP Quarterly, Los Angeles, USA
Interview, New York, USA
New York Magazine, USA
V Magazine, New York, USA
Zeit Magazine, Berlin, DE
Visions, Berlin, DE
Electronic Beats, Berlin, DE
Musikexpress, Berlin, DE
Bubblegum, Johannesburg, ZA
Dapper Dan, Athens, GR
Tight, Kiev, UA
STUDIO, Zurich, CH
Zweikommasieben, Lucerne, CH
WoZ, Zurich, CH
Das Magazin, Zurich, CH
Saiten, St.Gallen, CH
Selected Writing
2017
Blaupause für die Popwelt, Review for WoZ
2015
Auf dem Trip zum verlorenen Selbst, Review for WoZ
2014
China fälschen, Review for WoZ
2014
Ben Frost überwältigt die Sinne, Review for WoZ
2010
Politik der Frequenzen, Review for WoZ
Selected Press
2018
Camera Austria International: ‘Im Widerhall der Muschel’, June Drevet
2018
Trax Magazine: ‘London Underground’, Noëmie Vermoesen
2018
Groove: ‘Momentaufnahmen einer hyperkapitalistischen Zukunft’, Philipp Weichenrieder
2017
BBC: ‘When dubstep left the underground’
2008
New York Times: ‘Art in Review’, Karen Rosenberg
Collaborations and Clients
Herzog & de Meuron, Basel, CH
Mute Records, London, UK
Hyperdub Records, London, UK
Editions Mego, Vienna, AT
Ideologic Organ / Editions Mego, Vienna, AT
Latency Records, Paris, FR
Radicalis Music, Basel, CH
Neutral Zurich, Zurich, CH
daehlerlehmann.works, Zurich, CH
Studio NOI, Zurich, CH
Fabian Harb, Basel, CH
Amt für Soziales des Kantons St.Gallen, St.Gallen, CH
Amt für Kultur des Kantons St.Gallen, St. Gallen, CH
Studio Achermann, Zurich, CH
Spillmann / Felser / Leo Burnett, Zurich, CH
Festland, St.Gallen, CH
Le Soir, Le Jour, St.Gallen, CH
Agosti Meier, Waldkirch, CH
Swisslife, CH
SiR MaRY, Zurich, CH

All images on this website are under copyright of Georg Gatsas. No part of this website may be reproduced in any form or processed, duplicated or distributed using electronic systems without the express written permission of Georg Gatsas. The authorship accepts no responsibility for correctness or completeness of the information provided.

This online archive has been kindly supported by the Kulturförderung St.Gallen, Kulturförderung Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Bertold-Suhner-Stiftung Herisau and the Arnold Billwiller Stiftung St.Gallen. Design and Programming by Dorothee Dähler & Kaj Lehmann.