Ingo Vetter
Bio
*1968 in Bensheim/Germany, lives and works in Stockholm and UmeåI am a visual artist working with the relationship between the concepts of the public and of space. I understand Public as the moment when an individual action gets a public appearance, where we are social and build society. Space as our urban and/or architectural condition, which is produced, administered and controlled. Combining the terms to public space means today everything from a nostalgic utopia to a conflict zone. It’s not a constant and as artists, we are asked to give a symbolic meaning to this fluid relation.
I have a background in sculpture and I’m used to working with all kinds of materials and techniques. Yet the starting point is always a foundation in theory, art history and mainly site-specific research. The medium I choose is a result of this foundation. It could be a sculpture, an intervention in public space or photography and I often combine different media in installations.
Collaborations are important to me. I often work together with other artists or experts in various fields. An ongoing project is my engagement in Detroit, Michigan. I went there for the first time in 2000 and got part of the international research project Shrinking Cities in 2003. In 2005 I founded together with two artist colleagues the Detroit Tree of Heaven Woodshop. We have been making use of a common weed tree, the rampant Tree of Heaven, and in collaboration with a network of local specialists we develop art works and commissions for international museums and galleries.
As a professor at the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts, I am responsible for the Bachelor education, supervise the students in their examination year and take care of several research and development activities, like Projekt Ålidhem or recently Art and Sustainability, a series of workshops about the conditions of artistic production in the circumpolar regions of northern Scandinavia.
Ingo Vetter is one of the founders of the Kirunatopia project.
Websites
Detroit Tree of Heaven Woodshop Umeå Academy of Fine Arts
Research and exhibition project Shrinking Cities
Public Art Project Ålidhem
Recent artist book
Ingo Vetter & Carl Bergstöm, Priapos trädgård, Gävle Konstcentrum, 2009 Annette Weisser & Ingo Vetter, Works 1996 – 2006
CV
born 1968 in Bensheim, Germany
Teaching experience etc.
- 2008 Exchange professor at CCS Detroit, USA
- since 2006 Professor at Academy of Fine Arts, Umeå University, Sweden
- 2005-06 Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Architecture BTU, Cottbus, Germany
- 2003-08 Member of the international research program Shrinking Cities
Studies
- 1994-97 Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Munich, Germany
- 1992-93 Konstfack, University College of Art, Craft & Design, Stockholm, Sweden
- 1990-92 Hochschule für Künste, Bremen, Germany
- 1996-2006 Collaborative work with Annette Weisser
Recent Solo Exhibitions
- 2010 Motor Show, Bildmuseet Umeå, Sweden
- 2009 Priapos trädgård, public art realization, roundabout Gustavsbro, Gävle, Sweden
- 2008 Workshop and presentation: Detroit Tree of Heaven Woodshop, The Noguchi Museum, New York, USA
- 2006 Annette Weisser & Ingo Vetter, Works 1996 - 2006, Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Münster, Germany
Recent Group Exhibitions
2011
- (re)designing nature, Städtische Galerie Bremen, Germany
- Best of Papa Jo’s, Museum Dieselkraftwerk Cottbus, Germany
- (re)designing nature, Kunsthaus Wien, Austria
- Parkliv, Konsthall Marabouparken, Sundbyberg, Sweden
- Klimakapseln, Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, Germany
- Workers Leaving the Workplace, Muzeum Sztuki, Lodz, Poland
- Metamorphose der Pflanze, Halle 10, Köln, Germany
- New Beginnings, Iaspis, Stockholm, Sweden
- Heartland, Smart Museum of Art, Chicago, USA
- subvision. art. festival. off. HafenCity, Hamburg, Germany
- Gartenstadt, Kunst und urbane Gärten, Kunstverein Hildesheim, Germany
- Heartland, Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
- Shrinking Cities – ff., Akademie der Künste, Berlin, Germany
- Field Work – part 2, SMART Project Space, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- Katastrophenalarm, NGBK, Berlin, Germany
- Shrinking Cities - International Analysis, Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund
- Shrinking Cities - International Research, Van Alen Institute, New York, USA
- Shrinking Cities - Interventions, Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit, USA
- Shrinking Cities - Interventions, SPACES Gallery, Cleveland, USA
- Shrinking Cities - Interventions, Site Gallery, Liverpool, UK
- Shrinking Cities - Nine Urban Ideas, Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
- Nachvollziehungsangebote, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Wien, Austria
- Vårsalong, Liljevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden
- Walk, Kunstraum Berlin, Germany
- Bin beschäftigt, Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst Bremen, Germany
- working-world.net, Museum Arbeitswelt, Steyr, Austria
- Wildes Kapital, Kunsthaus, Dresden, Germany
