Born in 1966 in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Lives and works in New York, New York, USA

Paul PFEIFFER

Paul Pfeiffer recasts the visual language of pop spectacle to investigate how media images shape our perception of the world and ourselves. Working in video, photography, sculpture, and sound, he is drawn to moments intended for mass audiences (live sports events, stadium concert tours, televised game shows, celebrity glamour shots), which he meticulously samples and re-edits to expose an uncanny emptiness underneath. From the hyperreality of photo retouching and digital erasure to the endless repetition of video loops, his mastery of postproduction allows him to magnify the surreal aspects of contemporary existence, where bodies become sites of saturated observation, and violence-as-entertainment flirts with nationalism, religion, and ancient myth. While he also experiments with the format and scale of his works, immersive audiovisual installations often cohabit with portable fetish objects in his exhibitions. Throughout his practice, Pfeiffer seeks to reflect and heighten the existential condition of the viewer as consumer by perversely blurring the boundary between voyeurism and contemplation.

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education

1997-1998
- Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program

1994
- MFA, Hunter College, New York City

1987
- BFA, San Francisco Art Institute

solo shows

2024
- Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain

2023
- Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, USA
- Paul Pfeiffer: Still Life, ICP and MTA Arts & Design, New York, NY, USA
- Red Green Blue, The Athenaeum, University of Georgia, Athens, Greece

2022
- Red Green Blue, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, NY, USA

2021
- Incarnator, Carlier Gebauer, Madrid, Spain
- Incarnator, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, England
 
2019
- Incarnator, Carlier Gebauer, Berlin, Germany

2018               
- Paul Pfeiffer, Vitruvian Experiments, Inhotim Institute, Brumadinho, Brazil
- Desiderata, Perrotin, Paris, France
- Incarnator, Bellas Artes Outpost, Manila, Philippines 
 
2017    
           
- Paul Pfeiffer: Screen Series, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
- Paul Pfeiffer, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, England
                       
2016               
- Three Figures in a Room, Paula Cooper, New York, USA
- Paul Pfeiffer: Caryatids, Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI, USA
- Three Figures in a Room, carlier | gebauer, Berlin, Germany
- Desiderata, Lamar Dodd School of Art Gallery, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
 
2015               
- Three Figures in a Room, Perrotin, Hong Kong
- Vitruvian Figure, Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Malate Manila, Philippines
- Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, U.S. Embassy, Vienna, Austria
 
2014               
- Jerusalem, Artangel
 
2013               
- The Drives, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, England
 
2012               
- Playroom, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, NY, USA
- The Rules of Basketball: Works by Paul Pfeiffer and James Naismith’s Original Rules of Basketball, Blanton Museum of Art, Austin, TX, USA
 
2011               
- Sammlung Goetz, Munich, Germany
 
2010               
- Paul Pfeiffer: In the Zone, Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo, NY
 
2009               
- Perspective Machine, BAIBAKOV art projects, Moscow, Russia
- The Saints, Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, Germany
 
2008               
- Monologue, MUSAC. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, Léon, Spain
- Carlier l Gebauer, Berlin, Germany
- The Saints, Thyssen Bornemisza Art Contemporary at Kunstzone Karlsplatz Technische Universität, Vienna, Austria
- Thomas Dane Gallery, London, United Kingdom
                       
2007               
- Live from Neverland, The Project, New York, NY, USA
- The Saints, ArtAngel at The Junction, Engineers Way, Wembley, London, United Kingdom
- Morning After the Deluge, University of Iowa Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA, USA
                       
2006               
- Paul Pfeiffer, MC Kunst, Los Angeles, CA, USA
 
2005               
- Pirate Jenny, Carlier l Gebauer, Berlin, Germany
- Morning after the Deluge, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, VT, USA
- Morning after the Deluge, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
 

group shows

​2024
- Forthcoming: Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860–1960, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC, USA
- Forthcoming: Julie Mehretu, Palazzo Grassi, Venice, Italy 

2023
- Gimme Shelter, The Historic Hampton House, Miami, USA
- The Art of Sport, Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, Ireland
- Strike Fast, Dance Light: Artists on Boxing, FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY, USA
- The Church, Sag Harbor, New York, NY, USA

2022
- “What Is Left Unspoken, Love”, High Museum of Art, Atlanta GA
- Toronto Biennial of Art, Toronto, Canada
 
2021
- In Search of the Miraculous, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York NY
- One Escape at a Time, 11th Seoul Mediacity Biennale, Seoul Museum of Art SeMA, Seoul, South Korea
- Previously Inconceivable, Protocinema, Istanbul, Turkey
- Fade to Fade, Library Street Collective, Detroit MI
- Get Lifted: The Art of the Ecstatic, curated by Hilton Als, Karma, New York NY
- Art of Sport, Copenhagen Contemporary, Copenhagen, Denmark
- The Politics of Desire, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York NY
 
2020
- FEAR TOUCH POLICE, curated by Sable Elyse Smith, Swiss Institute, New York NY (online)
- Grace Before Jones: Camera, Disco, Studio, Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, England
- Basketball and Contemporary Art, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro NC

2019
- Honolulu Biennal, Honolulu, USA
- Vancouver Biennal, Vancouver, Canada 

2018             
- Picture Industry: A Provisional History of the Technical Image, 1844 - 2018, LUMA, Arles, France  
- The Journey That Wasn't, The Broad, Los Angeles, USA 
- Ready ? OK!, Naughton Gallery at Queen’s University, Belfast, Ireland 
- Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today, Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Boston, USA 
- The World’s Game: Fútbol and Contemporary Art, Perez Art Museum, Miami, USA
- Para Site, Hong Kong
- Museum of Modern Art , Warsaw, Poland
- Michael Jackson: On the Wall, National Portrait Gallery, London, England 
- The World’s Game: Fútbol and Contemporary Art, Perez Art Museum Miami, USA 
- Art in the Age of the Internet: 1989 to Today, ICA Boston, Boston, MA, USA
- A Beast, a God and a Line, Dhaka Art Summit, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Para Site, Hong Kong, TS1 Yangon, Myanmar
- Inhotim Institute, Inhotim Museu de Arte Contemporanea, Brumadinho, Brazil
- Frieze Film 2018 curated by Diana Campbell Betancourt, Frieze London, England
 
2017               
- Private Choices, Centrale for Contemporary Art, Brussels, Belgium
- Picture Industry, Hessel Museum of Art, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
- Oracle, The Broad, Los Angeles, CA
- The Game Show, Lyndon House Arts Center, Athens, GA
- I want! I want!: Art and Technology, Birmingham Museum, Birmingham, England
- Versus Rodin: Bodies Across Space and Time, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia
- Jaguars and Electric Eels, Julia Stoschek Collection, Berlin, Germany
- The Extended Moment, carlier | gebauer, Berlin, Germany
- Get'cha Head in the Game, The Naughton Gallery, Belfast, UK
 
2016               
- March Madness, Fort Gansevoort Outpost, New York, NY, USA
- Open This End: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Blake Byrne, The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery, New York, USA
                                               
2015               
- Arena, curated by Adam Shopkorn, Fight Club, New York, NY
- Brief History of Humankind, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel         
- Fireflies in the Night, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Athens, Greece                                                                                 
- ésxatic photo, Samsøñ Projects, Boston, MA, USA
- Blood Sport, Elaine L. Jacob Gallery at Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
- All the Worldʼs a Stage. Works from the Goetz Collection, Sala de Arte Santander, Madrid, Spain
- Open This End: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Blake Byrne, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
 
2014               
- THE SEA, Brandts Museum For Kunst & Visuel Kultur, Odense, Denmark
- Under Erasure, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Lone Tree, Marlborough Chelsea, New York, NY, USA
- Propaganda für die Wirklichkeit (Propaganda for Reality), Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany
- SCORE: sports+art, Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, Atlanta, GA, USA   
Broken: Slapstick, Comedy and Black Humor, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany                            
- The Beautiful Game, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, USA
- Tatu: soccer and the culture of adversity in the caatinga, Museu de Arte do Rio (MAR), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
 
2013               
- John Bock, Keren Cytter, Paul Pfeiffer, Gillian Wearing and Akram Zaatari, Regen Projects, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Wish You Were Here, Chanel Waikiki/Honolulu Museum of Art, HI, USA
- Collection Sandretto Re Rebaudengo: Have you seen me before?, Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK
- Una Posibilidad de Escape. Para asaltar el estudio de la realidad y volver a grabar el universo. (Possibility of scape. For storming the reality studio and retake the universe.), Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, León, Spain
- Horizon, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA, USA
- And I Feel Fine, Athens Institute for Contemporary Art, Greece
 
2012               
- We Could Be Heroes: The Mythology of Monsters and Heroes in Contemporary Art, Brigham Young University Museum of Art, Provo, UT, USA
- Soccer, Museo de Arte Contempráneo de Monterrey, Mexico
- The Sports Show, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, curated by David Little, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- Audience as Subject, Part 2: Extra Large, curated by Betti-Sue Hertz, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Sophie Calle, Christian Marclay, Paul Pfeiffer, Walid Raad, Michael Sailstorfer, Carey Young, Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, NY, USA
 
2011               
- Big Picture, Ständehaus, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Human Nature, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Why I Never Became a Dancer, Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
- On Your Marks, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden, Dresden, Germany
- Soft Machines, Pace Gallery, New York, NY, USA
- The Luminous Interval, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain
- Anonymous Sculptures. Vídeo and Form in Contemporary Art, Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck, Austria
- Entretiempos, La Regenta Arts Centre, Las Palmas de Gran Canárias, Spain
- Ball Game, Dunn and Brown Contemporary, Dallas, TX, USA
- American Dream, DZ Bank Kunstsammlung, Frankfurt, Germany
 
2010               
- Passages. Travels in Hyperspace. A Selection of Works from the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection, LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, Gijon, Spain
- The Nameless Hour; Places of Reverie, Paths of Reflection, VCUarts Anderson Gallery, Richmond, VA, USA
- Entretiempos, Museo d’Arte Província di Nuoro, Sardinia, Italy; PhotoEspaña/Centro Cultural de La Villa, Madrid, Spain
- Anonymous Sculptures. Vídeo and Form in Contemporary Art, Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Germany
- Screening, 203-205 Brompton Road, London, England
- SWEAT, Patrícia Low Gallery, Gstaad, Switzerland
- LUSH LIFE, Salon 94 Freemans, New York, NY, USA
- I WANT TO SEE HOW YOU SEE, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, Germany
- The Library of Babel / In and Out of Place, 176 // Zabludowicz Collection, London, England
- Collecting Biennials, The Whitney, New York, NY, USA
- Size DOES Matter, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY, USA
- Contemplating the Void: Interventions in the Guggenheim Museum Rotunda, Guggenheim, New York, NY, USA
- Americana, NGKB, Berlin, Germany
- Hard Targets, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH, USA
 
2009               
- Paul Pfeiffer: The Machine in the Ghost, World Class Boxing, Miami, FL, USA
- Pete and Repeat, 176 // Zabludowicz Collection, London, England
- The Eye in the Door, Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Coral Visual, Casa de La Cultura, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- No Sound, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, USA
- Video Journeys, Sister, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Flicks - The Cinematic In Art, Highlanes Gallery, Drogheda, Ireland
- Waiting for Video: Works from the 1960s to Today, The National Musuem of Modern Art (MOMAT), Tokyo, Japan
- The Kaleidoscopic Eye: Thyssen-Bornemizsa Art Contemporary Collection, Mori Art Musuem, Tokyo, Japan
- Un Certain Etat du Monde, Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture, Moscow, Russia
- Mixed Signals: Artists Consider Masculinity in Sports, Cranbrook Art Museum, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI (traveling)
 
2008               
- Empire, Frye Art Museum, Seattle, WA, USA
- Depletion: Works from the Doron Sebbag Art Collection, Tel Aviv Museum, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Revolutions – Forms That Turn, Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
- New at the Nasher, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- The Morning After: Videoarbeiten der Sammlung Goetz, Neues Museum Weserburg, Bremen
- Herz:Rasen, Kunstlerhaus, Wien, Germany
- Shadows, Dissappearances and Illusions, Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL, USA
- Currents: Recent Acquisitions, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, D.C., USA
- Reconstitutions, Reenactments, DHC/Art, Montreal, Quebec
- Stretching the Truth, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, USA
- Ghost in the Machine, Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, Norway
- Biennale of Sydney, Australia
- San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA, USA
 
2007               
- When We Build, Let Us Think That We Build Forever — The Zabludowicz Collection, BALTIC The Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, England
- Currents: Recent Acquisitions, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC, USA
- Existencias, MUSAC — Museo de Arte Contemporâneo de Castilla y León, León, Spain
- Passage du temps, Collection François Pinault Foundation, Tri Postal, Lille, France
- Automatic Update, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, USA
- Invisible, Max Wigram Gallery, London
- Summer Show, James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY, USA
- For the Love of the Game, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT, USA
- Art in America: Now, Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art and the Shanghai Museum, Shanghai, China
- The Shapes of Space, Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
NO.1: DESTROY, SHE SAID, Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf, Germany
 
2006               
- Visions du Déluge, Le Musee Cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne Palais de Rumine, Lausanne, Switzerland
- Meditations in an Emergency, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, MI, USA
- The Gold Standard, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, NY
- Fantastic Frameworks, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
- The Expanded Eye, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
- Choosing My Religion, Kunstmuseum Thun, Thun, Switzerland
- Full House: Views of the Whitney’s Collection at 75, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA
- The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture: 60 Years, Colby College, Waterville, ME, USA
- Strange Powers, Creative Time, New York, NY, USA
- Time Frame, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, NY, USA
- Human Game. Winners and Losers, Stazione Leopolda, Florence
- Review: Collection Pierre Huber, Magasin, Grenoble
- IAMNOWHERE, Center for Curatorial Studies Museum at Bard College, curated by Erica Hope Fisher
- You Never Walk Alone: Football and Fan Culture, The O.K. Center for Contemporary Art Linz, Austria
- Work Zones: Three Decades of Contemporary Art from SFAI, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Amazing Friends, Galleria Maze, Turin, Italy
- Home Productions, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
- Filipiniana, Centro Cultural Conde Duque, Madrid, Spain
- 100 Artists See God, Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville, TN, USA
 
2005               
- Superstars, Kunstalle Wien, Vienna
- Swarm, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Rundlederwelten, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
- VIDEO II: Allegorie, NRW — Forum, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Blur of the Otherworldly: Contemporary Art, Technology and the Paranormal, Center for Art and Visual Culture, UMBC, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Only Skin Deep — Changing Visions of the American Self, San Diego Museum of Art, San Diego, CA, USA
- Closing Down, BORTOLAMI, New York, NY, USA
- Girls on Film, Zwirner & Wirth, New York, NY, USA
- Marking Time: Moving Images, Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL, USA
- Logical Conclusion, PaceWildenstein, New York, NY, USA
- 100 Artists See God, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, VA, USA
- Spielräume, Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum und Center International Sculpture, Duisberg, Germany
- Getting Emotional, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA, USA
- Fast Forward / Colección Goetz, Centro Cultural Conde Duque, Madrid, Spain
- Honolulu to New York, The Contemporary Museum Honolulu, Honolulu, HI, USA
- Faces in the Crowd - Picturing Modern Life from Manet to Today, Castello Rivoli, Turin, Italy; Milwaukee Art Museum, Wisconsin, USA
- Log Cabin, Artists Space, New York, NY, USA
- Faces in the Crowd - Picturing Modern Life from Manet to Today, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, United Kingdom
 
2004               
- 100 Artists See God, ICA —Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
- CUT: Film as Found Object in Contemporary Video, North Miami Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; Milwaukee Art Museum, WI, USA
- Contested Fields: Identity in Sports and Spectacle, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, USA
- Pop Remix, SF Camerawork, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Pirate Jenny, The Project, New York, NY, USA
- Modern Means: Continuity and Change in Art, 1880 to the Present, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
- Eclipse: Towards the edge of the visible, White Cube, London, United Kingdom
- Marilyn: From Anastasi to Weegee, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY, USA
- Love / Hate: From Magritte to Cattelan, Villa Manin. Centro d’arte contemporânea, Codroipo (UD), Italy
- Phantasmagoria, Butler Museum of American Arts Beecher Center of Art and Technology, Youngstown, OH, USA
- Size Matters, Independent Curators International, New York, NY, USA
- 10 Commandments, Hygiene Museum, Dresden, Germany
- Die Neue Kunsthalle III – Materiell – Immateriell, Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany
                      
2003               
- VI Cairo Biennial 2003, The Palace of Fine Art, Cairo, Egypt
- Honolulu to New York, The Contemporary Museum at First Hawaiian Center Honolulu, HI; Cairo Biennial 2003, The Palace of Fine Art, Cairo, Egypt
- Postproduction from Collage to Sampling, Dundee Contemporary Arts, Scotland, United Kingdom
- 100 Artists See God, Independent Curators International, New York, NY, USA   
- Black Belt, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, USA
- Fast Forward – Media Art, Sammlung Goetz ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany
- Nuit Blanche Museum of Contemporary Art of the City of Paris, Paris, France
- A Simple Plan, James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY, USA
- Uneasy Space, SITE Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM, USA
- Himmelsschwer. Transformationen der Schwerkraft, Kunsthaus, Graz, Austria
- The Squared Circle: Boxing in Contemporary Art,  Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA
- The Moderns, Castello di Rivoli, Torino, Italy
- Imperfect Innocence, Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, Lake Worth, FL, USA
- Imperfect Innocence ,Debra & Dennis Scholl Collection, Contemporary Museum, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Interplay, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, PR, USA
- Social Strategies: Redefining Social Realism, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- Graz 2003 (As Heavy as the Heavens), Graz, Austria
- Losing It, Fenton Gallery, Cork, Ireland
- Social Strategies: Redefining Social Realism, Richard E. Peeler Art Center, Greencastle, IN, USA
- American Dream, Ronald Feldman Gallery, New York, NY, USA
                       
2002               
- Interplay, The Moore Space, Miami, FL, USA
- Out of Place, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, USA
- Pictures, Greene Naftali, New York, NY, USA
- Model World, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT, USA
- The Beach, The Gallery at Windsor, Vero Beach, FL, USA
- Hair Stories, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY, USA
- Tempo, Museum of Modern Art , New York, NY, USA
- Busan Biennale, Busan, Korea
- Startkapital, K21, Dusseldorf, Germany
- Special Effects (2002 Media Art), Daejeon Municipal Museum of Art, Korea
- One Hand Clapping, Smackmelon, Brooklyn, NY, USA
- NYC, Museum of Sex, New York, NY, USA
- Miami Currents: Linking Collection & Community, Miami Art Museum,  Miami, FL, USA
- Interplay, The Moore Building, Miami, FL, USA
 
2001               
- Sport in der zeitgenössischen Kunst, Kunsthalle, Nürnberg, Germany
- 49th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
- Original Language: Highlights from the MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, USA
- Bitstreams, The Whitney Museum, New York, NY, USA
- The Project, Maze Gallery, Torino, Italy; Gio Marconi Gallery, Milan, Italy; Sala Uno, Rome, Italy
- Casino 2001, SMAK, Gent, Belgium
- Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse, France
- Zero Gravity, Palazzo delle Esposizioni, Rome, Italy
- The Americans, Barbican Arts Centre, London, United Kingdom
- Subject Plural, Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, TX, USA
- Refresh, Cantor Centre for the Visual Arts, Stanford, CA, USA
- Monitor, Gagosian Gallery, New York, NY, USA
- Silliman University, Philippines
- Passion, Ascan Crone, Hamburg, Germany
- Hypermental, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
- Race in Digital Space, MIT List Visual Art Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Loop, Kunsthalle der Hypo-kultursiftung, Munich & Germany and P.S.1, Long Island City, NY, USA
- Metropolis 2002, Istanbul, Turkey
- MIT List Visual Arts Center, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
- False Start, Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, USA         
- Cheekwood, Nashville, Tennessee
- American Art From the Goetz Collection, Galerie Rudolfinum, Prague, Czech Republic
                                                                                                                                       
2000               
- Metropolis Now, Borusan Art Gallery, Istanbul, Turkey
- The Whitney Biennial, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, USA
- Greater New York, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY, USA
- Hypermental, Kunsthaus Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland
- City Visions, media city_seoul 2000, Seoul, Korea
- Extraordinary Realities, Columbus Museum of Art, Columbus, OH, USA
- Scanner, Oliver Art Center, California College of Art & Culture, Oakland, CA, USA
- Refresh, Iris & B. Gerald Cantor Center for Visual Arts, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
 
1999               
- Tete de Turkois, The Project, New York, NY, USA
- Surface Tension, Art in General, New York, NY, USA
- A Place Called Lovely, Greene Naftali, New York, NY, USA
- Hocus Focus: New Video, Rare Gallery, New York, NY, USA
 
1998               
- Warming, The Project, New York, NY, USA
- At Home and Abroad: 21 Contemporary Filipino Artists, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, CA, USA
 
1997               
- Memories of Overdevelopment: Philippine Diaspora in Contemporary Art, Plug In Gallery, Winnipeg, Canada
- Travel Size, City College, New York, NY, USA
- Fermented, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY, USA
 
1996               
- Memories of Overdevelopment: Philippine Diaspora in Contemporary Art, UC Irvine Art Gallery, CA, USA
- Neighbors, Boom Gallery, Honolulu, HI, USA
 
1995               
- In a Different Light, University of California Berkeley Museum, Berkeley, CA, USA (catalogue)
- Pervert, University of California Irvine Art Gallery, CA, USA(catalogue)
- 14 Artists: Sugod sa Katapusan, End House Art Center, Dumaguete City, Philippines
 
1994               
- Extreme Unction Market Gallery, London, England: Curated by Shaheen Merali/Panchayat
- Reframing a Heritage, University of Hawaii, Manoa, HI, USA
- Stonewalls, 494 Gallery, New York, NY, USA
- Picturing Asia America: Communities, Cultures, Difference, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX, USA
- Kayamanggi Presence, Skyline College, San Bruno, CA, USA
- Beyond Borders, Skyline College, San Bruno, CA, USA
 
1993               
- DisMantling Invisibility, A Space, Toronto, Canada:
- The Curio Shop: collaborative installation by Godzilla: Asian American Artists Network, Artists Space, New York, NY, USA (catalogue)
- Kayumanggi Presence, Academy of Art, Honolulu, HI, USA
 
1992               
- Altars, Divinations and Icons, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Altars, Divinations and Icons, Guadalupe Cultural Center, San Antonio, TX , USA (catalogue)
- (en)Gendered Visions: Race, Gender and Sexuality in Asian American Art Injustice, Guadalupe Cultural Center, San Antonio, TX , USA (catalogue)
- Made in America: Remembering Vincent Chin, Art In General, New York, NY, USA
- Day Without Art, Lehman College Art Gallery, New York, NY; slide installation organized by Visual Aids and the Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS
 
1991   
- Dismantling Invisibility: Asian Americans Respond to the AIDS Crisis, Art In General, New York, NY, USA

public collections

- Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin, Germany
- The Artangel Collection, UK
- The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California, USA
- The Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA
- The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
- The Whitney Museum of American Art,New York, USA
- The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Illinois, USA
- The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, USA
- The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington DC, USA
- Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean (MUDAM_, Luxembourg
- The Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (MUSAC), León, Spain
- K21,Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany
- Museo d´arte contemporanea Castello di Rivoli, Turin, Italy
- Ellipse Foundation Contemporary Art Collection, Lisbon, Portugal
- Inhotim Museu de Arte Contemporanea, Brumadinho, Brazil
- Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary (T-BA21), Vienna, Austria
- The Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Germany
- The Broad Art Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, USA
- The D.Daskalopoulos Collection, Greece
- Sammlung Goetz, Munich, Germany
- The Zabludowicz Collection, London, England, UK
- The Vanhaerants Art Collection, Brussels, Belgium
- The François Pinault Foundation, Paris, France
- The Rubell Family Colection, Miami, Florida, USA
- The Julia Stoschek Collection, Düsseldorf, Germany
- The Bucksbaum Collection, Sharon, Connecticut, USA

awards

2015    
- USA Shari D. Behnke Fellow, Visual Arts

2011               
- American Academy in Berlin, Fellow, Berlin, Germany

2009               
- The Alpert Award in the Arts, Visual Arts

2003               
- Artpace Residency, San Antonio, TX, USA

2001-2002      
- MIT List Visual Arts Center Residency

2000               
- The Bucksbaum Award, The Whitney Museum, New York, NY, USA
- Travel Grant, Asian Cultural Council
- The Public Art Fund

1999               
- World Trade Center Residency, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, NY, USA

1994-1995      
- Fulbright-Hayes Fellowship to the Philippines

1994               
- Project Grant, Art Matters

1993               
- Travel Grant Pilot, National Endowment for the Arts and Arts International
 

Publications and Bibliography

PUBLICATIONS

2018               
Art in the Age of the Internet, 1989 to Today. Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, 2018.
 
2015               
Paul Pfeiffer: Vitruvian Figure. Museum of Contemporary Art and Design, Manila, 2015.
 
2011               
Paul Pfeiffer. Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz, 2011.
 
2010               
Paul Pfeiffer - The Saints. Berlin: Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof—Museum für Gegenwart, 2010.
A Decade in Conversation: A Ten-Year Celebration of The Bucksbaum Award, 2000-2010: Interviews With Paul Pfeiffer, Irit Batsry, Raymond Pettibon, Mark Bradford, and Omer Fast, Vol. 1. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2010.
I Want To See How You See: Julia Stoschek Collection.  Deichtorhallen Hamburg, 2010. 
Perez Rubio, Agustin, ed. Discursive Variants: MUSAC Collection III. León: Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (MUSAC), 2010.
 
2009               
Zaya, Octavio, ed. Paul Pfeiffer. León: Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (MUSAC), 2009.
Olivares, Rosa, ed. 100 Video Artists. EXIT Publications, 2009.
Hammer Projects 1999-2009. Los Angeles: UCLA Hammer Museum 2009. 
Waiting for Video: Works from the 1960s To Today. Tokyo: The National Museum of Modern Art, 2009. 
 Bradford, Christopher. Mixed Signals: Artists Consider Masculinity in Sports, exh. cat. New York: icI (Independent Curators International), 2009.
 
2008               
Contemporary Art at the Dodd: Paul Pfeiffer. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2008.
Ebersberger, Eva, and Zyman, Daniela, ed.  The Collection Book: Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary.  Cologne: Verlag Der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln, 2008.
 Whitney Museum of American Art. Independent Study Program: 40 Years. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2008.
 
2006               
Año Filipinas – España, 2006: Casa Asia = Taon Ng Pilipinas – Espanya, 2006, exh. Cat. Barcelona: Casa Asia, 2006.
 
2004               
Liebermann, Valeria. Paul Pfeiffer. Berlin: K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, 2004.
 
2003               
Dahlgren, Kari, ed. Paul Pfeiffer, exh. cat. Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art and Cambridge: MIT List Visual Arts Center, 2003. 
 
2002               
Startkapital, K21, Exh. cat. Dusseldorf: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen,2002.
 Gillings, Andrew, ed. Race In Digital Space, exh. cat.  New York: The Studio Museum in Harlem, 2002. 
 
2001               
Kastner, Jeffrey, ed. Paul Pfeiffer: Orpheus Descending, exh. cat. New York: Public Art Fund, 2001.
 
1999               
“Quod Nomen Mihi Est: Fragments from a Conversation with Satan.” Felix: A Journal of Media Arts and Communication, vol. 2 no. 2, 1999.

1998               
“Where The Stains Begin.” Image/text collaboration with Lawrence Chua for The Passionate Camera: Photography and Bodies of Desire. New York: Routledge, 1998.
 
1997               
Artist portfolio, MUAE II: Collapsing  New Buildings. New York: Kaya Production, 1997.
 
1992               
“Our Lady of Perpetual Health.” Lavender Godzilla: Voices of Gay Asian & Pacific             Islander Men (San Francisco, CA), Fall 1992.
 “Out In the 90s.” Godzilla: The Magazine of the Asian American Artists Network, vol. 2 no. 1 Summer 1992.
 “Is There An Asian American Aesthetic?” Artspiral  (Asian American Arts Center), Fall 1992.
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY
 
2017               
Paul Pfeiffer; Rules of the Game, VAULT, Issue 20, October 2017
Paul Pfeiffer Presents his Seminal, Pioneering Works from the Early
2000s at Thomas Dane Gallery, Art Daily, June 6, 2017
Estorick, Alex, Art in the Age of AR, Flash Art, Vol 50, January 2017, p. 44-49
Wattolik, Eva, Time and form: Modes of Reflection in Experimental Film and Video Art, Böhlau Köln, 2017
Brantley, Rebecca, Image, Identity & the Exorcist: Q&A with Paul Pfeiffer, Burnaway, March 22, 2017
Siquara, Carlos Andrei, Diálogos com as artes visuais, Otempo Magazine, July 10, 2017
Ferreira, Helder, MECAInhotim: Cultura pop, mídia e Donald Trump, por Paul Pfeiffer, MECA, July 9, 2017
Antunes, Pedro, Festival no Inhotim traz Paul Pfeiffer, o mago das imagens, Karol Conká e Jorge Ben Jor, Estadao, July 7, 2017
Wong, Vicky, Paul Pfeiffer at Thomas Dane Gallery, Intelligence Magazine, June 21, 2017
Proch, Renaud, Kayfabe, Affidavit, February 27, 2017
‘Paul Pfeiffer at Thomas Dane Gallery, London’, Blouin ArtInfo Online, 13 June 2017
‘Weekly Newswire’, Lux Newsletter Online, 1 June 2017
‘Paul Pfeiffer – Thomas Dane Gallery’, Medium  Online, June 2017
‘Erasure, Camouflage, and “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”’, Art21, March 2017
Gosling, Emily, ‘DESIGN DIARY: No. 146: A book of Genoan punks, a zine of Parisian architecture, celebrating LGBTQ history + more’, Eye on Design Online, 8 June 2017
‘Auction Highlights: Our London Day Sale Guide with Artsy’, Phillips Online, 25 June 2017
 
2016               
Pfeiffer, Paul, Not At Home In The World, Art Asia Pacific Magazine, Issue 99, July 2016
Yerebakan, Osman Can, The Loneliness of a Digitally Manipulated Boxing Match, Hyperallergic, November 24, 2016
Smith, Roberta, What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week, New York Times, December 8, 2016
Picariello, Damien and Amy Sadao, Boxing in Paul Pfeiffer’s Caryatids and Three Figures in a Room, INCITE Journal of Experimental Media, issue 7/8, 2016
Dickel, Hans, Nature in Contemporary Art, Verlag Silke Schreiber, München, 2016
Warren, Kate, Galerie-répétitions, Jeu De Paume Magazine, January 20, 2016
Vaughan, RM, In the Ring: Paul Pfeiffer at Carlier/Gebauer, Art F City, April 6, 2016
Griffith, Lesa, This New Boxing-Themed Installation at the Honolulu Museum of Art is a Knockout, Honolulu Magazine, June 13, 2016
King, Danny, Paul Pfeiffer, The Voice, November 2016
Molitor, Noemi, Schaut sich in Berlins Galerien um, Taz.Plan, 21 April 2016, p. 38
Goldberg, David A.M., At Paul Pfeiffer’s Video Installation, It Hurts to Watch, Star-Advertiser, 3 July 2016
Mason, Isabella, ‘Paul Pfeiffer at Paula Cooper Gallery New York’, Blouin Artinfo Online, 14 December 2016
‘Paul Pfeiffer in residence as the 2016–17 Dodd Chair’, Art & Education, 3 March 2016
Heibel, Amy McCabe, ‘Basketball Beyond Brackets’, LACMA Unframed Online, 22 March 2016
‘Goings on About Town – Galleries, Chelsea: Paul Pfeiffer’, The New Yorker, 29 October 2016
‘The top five New York art shows this week’, Time Out - New York, 18 October 2016
 
2015               
Miller, Dana, and Adam D. Weinberg. Whitney Museum of American Art: Handbook of the Collection, New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2015, p. 303; illus.
All the World’s a Stage; Works from the Goetz Collection, Sammlung Goetz and Foundation Banco Santander, 2015, p. 120-123
Open This End: Contemporary Art from the Collection of Blake Byrne, exhibition catalogue, Los Angeles: The Skylark Foundation, p. 74-75;illus.
Come As You Are: Art of the 1990s, exhibition catalogue, Montclair: Montclair Museum of Art, 2014, p. 61; illus.
HE: The Hergott Shepard Photography Collection, Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Museum of Art, 2015, pp. 36-39; illus.
Knott, Kylie, Rounds of applause: Paul Pfeiffer’s art brings home the visceral sounds of boxing, South China Morning Post, Nov. 21, 2015
Shaw, Catherine, Day of the fight: Paul Pfeiffer’s display of iconic boxing matches at Gallery Perrotin, Wallpaper, November 16, 2015
Cruz, Jasmine Agnes T., Questioning Images and Aesthetics, Business World Online, March 17, 2015
Albrecht, Elliat, Three Figures in a Room, Art Asia Pacific, 25 Dec. 2015
Melendez, Franklin, Critic’s Picks, Paul Pfeiffer, ArtForum, 16 Dec. 2015
Joselina Cruz in conversation with Paul Pfeiffer, High Life, January 2015
Betsky, Aaron, Joe Day, Paul Goldberger, Joanne Heyler, The Broad: An Art Museum Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Prestel Publishing, New York, September 2015
Roux, Caroline, Video art: Moving with the Times, The Financial Times, October 9, 2015
Chua, Kurvin Luigi G., Alive and Editable: Vitruvian Figure, The Benildean, February 18, 2015
Teng, Angelina, Art & the City: 7 Hong Kong exhibitions to check out this month, Lifestyle Asia, November 9, 2015
Sanchez-Kozyreva, Cristina, Third Time’s a Charm, Artforum, February 24, 2015
Tsui, Denise, ‘Paul Pfeiffer awarded 2015 United States Artist Fellowship’, Art Asia Pacific Online, 13 November 2015
 
2014               
The Twenty First Century Art Book, New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 2014, p. 207.
Sperling, Matthew, Deconstructing ‘Jerusalem’: Paul Pfeiffer revisits the1966 World Cup final, Apollo, July 11, 2014
Luke, Ben, Get digi with it: why digital artists are breaking into the mainstream, London Evening Standard, July 3, 2014
Forbes, Alexander, Paul Pfeiffer Debuts Online - Only Artwork for World Cup, Artnet, June 30, 2014
The Twenty First Century Art Book, New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 2014, p.207.
Mehretu, Julie. “Collectors: The Painters,” Aperture, Fall 2014, p. 19
Victoria Fu speaks with Paul Pfeiffer and Brad Troemel, Whitney Biennial 2014, March 2014
 
2013               
Wendl, Nora, Vitruvian Figure(s), Contemporary Art About Architecture: A Strange Utility, Edited by Isabelle Loring Wallace and Nora Wendl, 2013, p. 249-268
Group exhibition of video works, some shown for the first time in L.A. opens at Regen Projects, Art Daily, September 16, 2013
Weeks, Jonny, Beautiful Games: eerie basketball images by Paul Pfeiffer, Guardian.co.uk, June 30, 2013
Coxhead, Gabriel, Paul Pfeiffer: The Drives, Time Out, May 7, 2013
Paul Pfeiffer: The Drives, Aesthetica, April 27, 2013
Paul Pfeiffer in conversation with James Lingwood, April 26, 2013
Sherwin, Skye, Paul Pfeiffer, The Guardian, April 20, 2013
Dowda, Stephanie, Review: Paul Pfeiffer’s Morning After The Deluge at ATHICA, Burnaway, March 7, 2013
The International Review of African American Art. Vol. 24 No. 2 ed.
Hampton, Virginia: Hampton University Museum, 2013. Print.p. 61-63
‘Exhibitions – Paul Pfeiffer’, The Guardian Guide, 20 April 2013
Mathews, Jessica, ‘Paul Pfeiffer – The Blanton Museum of Art’, Might be good Online, 13 January 2013
‘Paul Pfeiffer: The Drives’, Time Out London, 7 May 2013
‘Group exhibition of video works, some shown for the first time in L.A. opens at Regen Projects’, Art Daily Online, September 2013
 
2012               
Wallace, Isabelle Loring, Rivalry, Retribution, and Religion: The Art of Paul Pfeiffer, Religion and the Arts 16, 2012, p. 231–262
Miller, Michael H., Back on Home Court: Paul Pfeiffer Rebounds in New York, Observer.com, November 9, 2012
Diaz, Eva, Paul Pfeiffer: Paula Cooper Gallery, Artforum, November 1, 2012
Rosenberg , Karen, Paul Pfeiffer: ‘Playroom’, The New York Times, October 4, 2012
Herbert, Martin, The Pursuit of Perfection: The Politics of Sport, Time Out, August 16, 2012
Pfeiffer, Paul, Alte Meister, von neuen Geliebt, Monopol, January 2012
“50 Most Collectible Artists,” Art + Auction, June 2012, illus.
Clark, Robert and Sherwin, Skye, ‘Exhibitionist: The week’s art shows in pictures’, The Guardian Online. 28 July 2012
Schraeder, Jordan, ‘Latest Blanton Exhibit Spotlights ‘Original Rules of Basketball’’, Alcalde Online, 26 September 2012
Tisdale, Jennifer, ‘Display highlights basketball photos in “Basketball: Power in Play”’, Cultural Compass Online, 18 September 2012
‘The Sports Show: Athletics as Image and Spectacle’, 2012, p. 47-52
 
2011               
The International Review of African American Art.. Vol. 24 No. 2 ed.
Hampton, Virginia: Hampton University Museum, 2013. Print.p. 61-63
Paul Pfeiffer – Munich, Sammlung Goetz, 2011
Foster, Hal, Rosalind Krauss, Yve-Alain Bois, Benjamin H.D. Buchloh, and David Joselit.
Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism, 2nd ed. London:  Thames & Hudson, 2011, pp. 700-1
Gockel, Cornelia, Schaumgeborenes Nichts, Art Online, May 9, 2011
Jacko Vertraut, Jacko Fremd, Stern, May 5, 2011, p. 139
Dattenberger, Simone, Der Star, Die Sensation und das Publikum, Münchner Merkur,  May 6, 2011
Gärtner, Barbara, Seufzend Schunkeln, Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 10, 2011, p. 13
Sigg, Christa, Die Story bleibt im Kopf, Abendzeitung, May 17, 2011, p.16
Paul Pfeiffer (Sammlung Goetz), Art Online, May 13, 2011
Probst, Carsten, Paul Pfeiffer, Kultiversum Online, May 23, 2011
Rauterberg, Hanno, Keiner foult schöner, Zeit Online, May 12, 2011
Magill, R.J, Bilder und Erinnerung, Der Tagesspiegel, September 9, 2011
Wallace, Isabelle Loring , Technology and the Landscape: Turner, Pfeiffer and Eliasson after the Deluge, Visual Culture in Britain, February 2011, p.57-65
‘Big Picture’, Kunstsammlung, 2011, p. 88-94
‘The Luminous Interval’, D.Daskalopoulos Collection, 2011, p. 175-179
‘Why I Never Became a Dancer’, Sammlung Goetz im Haus der Kunst, 2011, p. 78-85
 
2010               
Iles, Chrissie, Paul Pfeiffer, A Decade in Conversation: Interviews with Paul Pfeiffer, Irit Batsry, Raymond Pettibon, Mark Bradford, Omer Fast (Volume 1); Whitney Museum of American Art, 2010, p. 10-19       
Berg, Ronald, “Paul Pfeiffer – The Saints”, Kunstforum, March 2010. 
Hard Targets, exh. cat. Ohio: Wexner Center For The Arts, 2010.
Volk, Gregory. “Paul Pfeiffer at the Hamburger Bahnhof.” Art in America, no. 1 January 2010, 129.
“The Art of Leaping Off The Page.” Art Asia Pacific Almanac, Vol 5, 2010, 55, 237, 238.
Yao, Pauline J., ‘Best Of 2010’, Artforum, December 2010
Paul Pfeiffer sorgt im Hamburger Bahnhof für Wembley Gefühle, Kunstzeitung, February 2010
‘Anonyme Skulpturen’, Kunstmuseen Krefeld, Museum Haus Esters, 2010, p. 41-45, 111
‘Between Times’, La Fabrica, 2010, p. 58-65
‘Between Times. Instants, Intervals, Durations’, Guía Photo España, 2010, p. 76-77
‘Passages, Travels in Hyperspace’, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection, 2010, p.50-51
 
2009               
Galouchko, Ksenia, “Monroe, NBA Icons Vanish at Red October Chocolate Factory”, The Moscow Times, October 28, 2009
Curtin, Brian. “Accessing Other Dimensions: In the Hands of Digital Wizard Paul Pfeiffer, Images of professional athletes and celebrities get an uncanny makeover.” Art Asia Pacific, issue 64, July/August 2009, 62-63.
De Wachter, Ellen Mara and Neilson, Elizabeth, ed.  Pete and Repeat: Works from the Zabludowicz Collection, exh. cat. London: 2009.
Nedo, Kito, Die Einsamkeit im Hexenkessel, Berliner Zeitung, December 30, 2009
Kuhn, Nicola, Die Kunst des Jubelns, Tagesspiegel, October 11, 2009
“Baibakov Art Projects and Paul Pfeiffer Announce Project for Third Moscow Biennale,” Art Daily, November 20, 2009
Schmitt, Florian, ‘Hi-ReS’, Plus Eighty One, August 2009, p. 95
‘What’s On - Paul Pfeiffer: the Saints’, The Art Newspaper Online, 19 November 2009
Amerikana, Realismus-Studio NGBK, 2009, p.15
Flicks – The Cinematic In Art, exh. cat. Ireland: Highlanes Gallery, 2008.
Haye, Christian, The Machine in the Ghost, World Class Boxing, 2009
 
2008               
Volk, Gregory. “The Wheel is Turning.” Art in America, no. 10, November 2008, 63-69.
Del Río, Víctor. “Pfeiffer: “El Mal de las Imágenes.” El Cultural, October 2, 2008, 28-29.
Bennett, Jennifer, and Kim Shaw. “City of Art Sets Sail: Journey to Discovery to Heart of Art.” Central Sydney Magazine, Wednesday, June 25, 2008, 6-7.
Pfeiffer, Paul. “Paul Pfeiffer on Perspective.” Art Review, no. 22, May 2008, 40.
Luria, Aya and Nili Guren, eds. Depletion: Works from the Doron Sebbag Art Collection, exh.cat. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 2008, 98-99.
Aichinger, Eric, Von Schwalber und Menschen, Artnet, September 16, 2008
Ackermann, Tim, Was passiert, wenn sich das Individuelle Auflöst, demonstriert Paul Pfeiffer in Berlin, Monopol, October 2008
Curtin, Brian. "That Spectacular Object of Desire: On Paul Pfeiffer," Contemporary. January 1, 2008, pp. 58-59; illus.
"Under the Influence: Paul Pfeiffer on Perspective," Art Review, Spring 2008, p. 40, illus.
‘The Morning After’, Video works the Sammlung Goetz, 2008, p. 104-107
 
2007               
Chan, Yonina. “Society and Spectacle.” Imagine, Holiday, 2007, 228-230.
Sardo, Delfim. “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (12).” Unica, December 29, 2007, 12-13.
Sardo, Delfim. “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (12).” Courier Internacional, December 28, 2007, 40-41.
Zweig, Susan. “Idle Worship: Paul Pfeiffer’s Assessment of Us – And His Dealer’s Take on Pfeiffer Himself.” Clear Magazine, vol. VII no. 4, December 2007, 58-65.
Weintraub, Linda. “Paul Pfeiffer.” In EnvironMentalities: Twenty-Two Approaches to Eco-Art, 41-44. New York: Artnow Publications, 2007.
Morrison, Richard. “Fame Game: A New Show Makes Our Critic Question Sporting Adulation and Glory.” The Times, October 6, 2007.
Camhi, Leslie. “Art: What People Are Talking About, ‘Live from London’.” Vogue (USA), October 2007.
Moore, Susan. “Collecting: ‘It’s Amazing What Adrenaline Can Do’.” Financial Times, September 29, 2007.
Ward, Ossian. “Paul Pfeiffer Critic’s Choice.” Time Out London, no. 936, September 28, 2007.
“Erase Errata.” Modern Painters, September 2007, 34.
Art in America: Now, exh. cat. Shanghai: Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, 2007, 52-53.
Smith, Roberta. “Paul Pfeiffer: Live from Neverland.” New York Times, June 8, 2007.
“Paul Pfeiffer.” The New Yorker, June 11 -18, 2007, 24.
Rosenberg, Karen. “Paul Pfeiffer: Live From Neverland.” nymag.com, May 28, 2007.
Bedford, Christopher. “Paul Pfeiffer.” Tema Celeste, May/ June 2007, 76-77.
Kertess, Klaus, “A Velvet Glove Can Hold a Burning Issue.” Meditations in an Emergency, October 2006 – April 2007. 52-57.
Galleries, ArtAsiaPacific, Almanac 2007, 93.
Hebron, Micol, Paul Pfeiffer, Flash Art, No. 253, March-April 2007
Gronemeyer, Wiebke, Paul Pfeiffer: The Saints, Whitehot magazine of contemporary art, London, October 2007
Highlights Since 1980, MOMA, 2007, p. 188
‘Paul Pfeiffer’, Outset Contemporary Art Fund, 2007
The Saints, Wembley Stadium, Artangel, 2007
Ward, Ossian, ‘What’s the score?’, Time Out - London, 26 September 2007, p. 48
                       
2006               
Hebron, Micol.  “Paul Pfeiffer MC Kunst.” Flash Art, no. 253, March- April, 2006, 126.
Grison, Brian. “Fantastic Frameworks: Architectural Utopias + Designs for Life.” Focus, November 2006.
Cramm, Michael. 1x Art Now: Tear Off Calendar 2007, Taschen, Koln, August 2006. 
Boukobza, Julie. “Paul Pfeiffer.” L’Officiel Hommes, Summer 2006, 18-19; 48-51.
Fairley, Gina. “Manila 2006.” Art & Australia Journal, vol.44 no.2, Summer 2006,184-185.
Pollack, Barbara. “Spirited Away.” Time Out New York, no. 564, July 20-26, 2006, 24-25.
Scott, Andrea K. “Occluded Front.” Time Out New York, June 1-7, 2006, 75.
Cruz, Joselina.“Where.” In Home Productions. Singapore: Singapore Art Museum, 2006.
Cope, Lily. “Throngs of Praise.” Blueprint, no. 240, March 2006.
Lewison, Cedar. “A Perfect Match.” Art Review, vol.4 no. 2, February-March 2006, cover; 58 -63.
Schad, Ed, I Call It Oranges, Blogspot, December 16, 2006
 
2005               
“Paul Pfeiffer: Shadows and Specters.” The Blow Up, no. 3, Spring/Summer 2005, 22-23.
Clewing, Ulrich, Der Spielfeldforscher, Tagesspiegel, April 2, 2005
Cecchinato, Micaela, Paul Pfeiffer; Pirate Jenny, Exibart, March 2005        
“Paul Pfeiffer.” Modern Painters, February, 2005, 108. 
Dube, Ilene. “Bzzz.” Time Off, December 20, 2005
Auricchio, Laura. Art Papers, reviews, May/June 2005, 48-49
Smith, Roberta. “A Medium in the Making: Slicing Familiar Films Into Something New.” New York Times, July 29, 2005.
Lee, Nathan. “Work in Progress.” Film Comment, March-April, 2005, 17.
 
2004               
Smith, Roberta. “Paul Pfeiffer ‘Pirate Jenny’.” New York Times, December 17, 2004.
Halle, Howard. “Light Touch.” Time Out New York, December 2 – 8, 2004, 61.
Coomer, Martin. “Paul Pfeiffer.” Time Out London, no. 787, November 17 2004, 60.
Myers, Holly. “Human Behavior on Videotape.” The Los Angeles Times, November 5, 2004.
“Multimedia Paul Pfeiffer: Pirate Jenny.” Flavorpill, November 2004.
Gleeson, David. “Crowd-pleaser.” Art Review, October 2004.
“The Sun is God: Paul Pfeiffer on Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851).” Tate Etc., Autumn 2004, 90-93.
Lorch, Catrin. “Paul Pfeiffer im K21.” Kunst-Bulletin, September 2004.
Panaghiotaku, Afrodite. “Paul Pfeiffer.” Highlights, July-August 2004, 64.
Müller, Hans-Joachim. “Nichts, nur Killerschleim.” Die Zeit, 1 July 2004, 39.
Maak, Niklas. “Lehben ohne Marilyn.” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 26 June 2004, 35.
“Kleinvieh macht Kunst.” NRZ, 12 June 2004, 3.
Meister, Helga. “Die Kunst der Leerstellen.” WZ Düsseldorfer Kultur, June 12, 2004, 17.
Sebastian, Klaus. “Duschkabine ohne Grusel.” Düsseldorfer Feuilleton, June 12, 2004, LF.
Wei, Lilly. “The Cairo Effect.” Art in America, May 2004, 67-73.
Joselit, David. “Apocalypse Not.” Artforum, vol. XLII no. 9, May 2004, 172-3.
Makai, Mauka, “Artist Explores Influence of Technology.” Honolulu Star Bulletin, vol. 9 no. 25, Sunday, January 25, 2004, G8.
Morse, Marcia. “Challenging Comforts.” Honolulu Weekly, vol. 14 no. 3, January 2004, 21-27.
Gail-White, Victoria. “Pfeiffer's Provocative Images Not Meant to be Pretty.” The Honolulu Advertiser, January 18, 2004.
Mofokeng, Santu and, Thomas Wulffen. “Paul Pfeiffer.” Kunstforum, January-February 2004, 294.
Coxhead, Gabriel. “Paul Pfeiffer: The Morning after the Deluge.” Contemporary, November 2004, 71.
Joas, Hans. “Die zehn Gebote.” Exh. cat. Deutsche Hygiene-Museum, Dresden, June 2004-5.
9th Cairo International Biennale, Exh. cat. The Palace of Fine Art, Cairo, December 13, 2003-February 13, 2004.
Pfeiffer, Paul. “Private View: The Sun is God — Paul Pfeiffer on Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851).” Tate Etc., issue 3, 2004, p. 90-93
Hackworth, Nick. ‘Paul Pfeiffer’, Dazed & Confused, October 2004 p. 60
Olson, Marisa A., Pop_Remix, Camerawork, Vol. 31, No.1, Spring/ Summer 2004
 
2003               
Pahwa, Sonali. “Suggestions of the New.” Al-Ahram Weekly, 11-17 December 2003, 17.
Heuer, Megan. “Punchy Statements.” Art News, vol. 103 no. 7, Summer 2003.
Sellnow, Greg. “Put Up Your Dukes and Step Into ‘The Squared Circle’.” Post Bulletin, 26 July 2003.
Casciani, Stefano. “Are the Moderns Back?” Domus, June 2003.
Velez, Pedro. “Looking Good.” Artnet.com, June 12, 2003.
Pignatti, Lorenza. “The Art of Noise.” Kult, June 2003.
Cherubini, Laura. “Perche' non possiamo non dirci moderni.” il Giornale, 5 May 2003.
Moliterni, Rocco. “Giubbotti e scarpe fatti d'arte.” La Stampa, 15 April 2003.
Fanelli, Franco. “Moderni si', modaioli no: chi sono gli artisti della generazione post-Twin Towers’.” Il giornale dell'arte, April 2003.
“Castello di Rivoli.” Tema Celeste, March/April 2003.
McQuaid, Cate. “His Photographic Truth is the (Un)Real Thing.” The Boston Globe, February 23 2003.
Kennedy, Louise. “Visionary Video Artist is in the Loop.” The Boston Globe, Friday, February 7th 2003, C15; C19.
“Sun’s Gonna Rise: Paul Pfeiffer at MIT, and more.” The Boston Phoenix, January 31, 2003.
Gonzalez, Jennifer. “Paul Pfeiffer.” BOMB, no. 83, Spring 2003, 22-29.
Spector, Nancy, James Rondeau, and Michael Rush. Imperfect Innocence: The Dennis and Debra Scholl Collection. Contemporary Museum, Maryland and Palm Beach Institute of Contemporary Art, 2003.
Menin, Samuel, and Valentina Sansoni. “Focus Video and Film.” Flash Art, January/February 2003.
 
2002               
Lloyd, Anne Wilson. “Art is a Necessity Amongst Techies, Too.” The New York Times, Sunday, December 15, 2002.
"Final Exhibition in Center's Historic Fifth Street Space." The Cincinnati Herald, August 31-September 6, 2002.
Wampler, Liberty. "Feeding into the Loop." City Beat (Cincinnati), vol. 8 no. 49, October 17-23, 2002.
Stein, Jerry. "Art Experiments with Manipulating Time." The Cincinnati Post, Friday, November 8, 2002.
Cotter, Holland. “Art in Review.” The New York Times, January 18, 2002.
Halle, Howard. “Prize Fighter.” Time Out New York, no. 328, January 10-17, 2002.
Second Sight: Selections of Artwork by Hunter College Alumni 1991-2001, exh. cat. New York: Hunter College, 2002.
“K21”, Exh. cat. Sammlung Ackermans Collection, 2002. 
Grosenick, Uta, and Burkhard Riemschneider, eds. Art Now: 137 Artists at the Rise of the New Millenium. Köln: Taschen, 2002.
Basilio, Miriam, and  Roxana Marcoci. Tempo,  exh. cat. Edited by Paulo Herkenhoff. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2002.
Schumacher, Rainald, ed. American Art: From The Goetz Collection. Munich: Sammlung Goetz, 2002.
Melling, Frank. “Art at the Aldrich.” The News-Times, February 1, 2002.
Rosenblum, Robert. The Beach, Exh. cat. Vero Beach: The Gallery at Windsor, 2002.
Aquino, Belinda, A. “A Fillipino-American Winner”, January 02, 2002.
Basilico, Stefano. “A Conversation With Paul Pfeiffer.” Documents, no. 21, Fall 2001/Winter 2002.
Hough, Jessica, Ed. “Model World”, Exh. cat. The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, January 20- May 2002.
Lipsyte, Sam, “The Gear 100: The Hottest People, Places and Things on the Planet”, Gear, January-February 2002
 
2001               
Chua, Lawrence. “Blondage.” Jalouse, September 2001, 68.
Sport in Der Zeitgenossischen Kunst, exh. cat.  Nuremberg: Kunsthalle Nürnberg, 2001.
“Paul Pfeiffer The Long Count:, Exh. cat. MIT LIST Visual Arts Center.
Als, Hilton, “Paul Pfeiffer”, Exh. cat. UCLA Hammer Museum.
Derwent, Charles. “The Americans. New Art”, The Independent Reviews.
Yablonsky, Linda. “Making Microart That Can Suggest Macrotruths.” The New York Times, Sunday, December 9, 2001.
Miles, Christopher. “Paul Pfeiffer.” Tema Celeste, November-December, 2001.
Scott,  Andrea. “Bitstreams.” Frieze, no. 61, September, 2001.
Gopnik, Blake. “Whatever Floats Your Boat.” The Washington Post , June 10, 2001.
“Lastbyte.” Artbyte,  vol. 4 no. 1, May - June, 2001, cover image; 96.
Saltz, Jerry. “Byte Lite”, Village Voice (Bitstreams).
Morsiani, Paola. Subject Plural: Crowds in Contemporary Art, exh. cat. Houston: Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, 2001.
Segal, Katy. “Mediarealities”, KW Magazine, Vol 02/01.
Greenberg-Rohatyn, Jeanne, et al. Casino 2001  exh. cat. Gent: Stedjelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst, 2001.
Hypermental, exh. cat. Zurich: Kunsthaus Zurich, 2001.
Art Journal, College Arts Association, Fall Issue. 
McQuaid, Cate. “Film’s Intelligence Fits Museum.” The Boston Globe, April 2001.
Sherman, Mary. “Visual Arts.” Boston Sunday Herald, May 6, 2001.
Pollack, Barbara. “Back to the Future With Bitstreams.” Art in America, September 2001.
Wilson, Michael. “The Technology is Already Inside Us.” Untitled, Spring 2001, 22-23.
Basilico, Stefano. “Just Another Day on the Farm.” Time Out New York,  June 7-14, 58.
Knight, Christopher. “Voyeurism and Ghostly Visions From Paul Pfeiffer.” Los Angeles Times,  October 5, 2001.
Griffin, Tim. “Technical Knockout.” Time Out New York, no. 275, December 28 - January 4, 2001, 61.
Kee, Joan. “Processes of Erasure.” Art Asia Pacific, no. 32, October-December, 2001.
Biesenbach, Klaus. Loop – Alles auf Anfang, exh. cat. Munich: Kunsthalle der Hypo-kultursiftung, 2001.
Pietromarchi, Bartolomeo, and Maria Grazia Tolomeo. Gravità Zero, exh. cat. Rome: Palazzo delle Esposizioni Editions, 2001.
Coxhead, Gabriel. “Exhibitions.” Contemporary Visual Arts, vol. 33 no. 60, 2001, 60-61.
The Americans, exh. cat.  London: Barbican Art Center, 2001.
Richard, Frances. “Paul Pfeiffer – The Project.”  Art Forum,  March 2001.
Pagel, David. “Paul Pfeiffer.” ArtNews, October/November 2001.
Kimmelman, Michael. “Critics Notebook- The 49th Venice Biennale.” The New York Times, June 20, 2001.
Gioni, Massimiliano, New York Cut Up, Flash Art, January-February 2001, p. 67
Berwick, Carly, Paul Pfeiffer, Hommes Vogue International, Fall-Winter 2001-2002
 
2000               
Smith, Roberta. “Art in Review; Paul Pfeiffer.” The New York Times, December 15, 2000.
Pedersen, Victoria. “Gallery Go 'Round.” Paper Guide, November 2000, 132.
Sarkozy, Charlotte. “D' Honolulu a Harlem.” Jalouse, October 2000, 90.
Starker, Melissa. “Reality, What a Concept.” Columbus Alive, September14, 2000.
Gowans, Scott. “Extraordinary Realities.” The Advocate, September 2000, 272.
Piene, Chloe. “Paul Pfeiffer, Eating and Excreting.” Flash Art, October 2000.
Sheets, Hilarie M. “Making DeMille Dance.  Whether Messing with Muhammad Ali or staging a scene from the Exorcist, Paul Pfeiffer uses digital tricks to make his subjects do his bidding.”  Flash Art, 84-86, October 2000. 
Mayr, Bill. “Jeepers, They' re Keepers.” The Columbus Dispatch, August 17, 2000, E8.
Agan, Sheila. “Abstract Contemporary Art Comes to Life With ‘Extraordinary Realities’ Exhibition.” The Ohio State Lantern, August 10, 2000, 8.
Lehnart, Ilona. “Berliner Seiten.” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, July 4, 2000.
Rush, Michael. “New Media Rampant.” Art In America, July 2000.
Whitney Biennial: 2000 Exhibition, Exh. cat. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 2000.
“Greater New York: New Art In New York Now”, Exh. cat. PS1/MOMA, New York. 
Hazoume, Romuald, Pfeiffer, Paul.  Brochure, Durham, NC: Duke Univ. Museum of Art.
Gilbert, Andrea, “Art in New York: Everything Goes,” Kathimerini, 25 June 2000, 50. 
Saltz, Jerry. “Greater Expectations.” Artnet.com, March 9, 2000.
Romuald Hazoume, Paul Pfeiffer, exh. brochure. Durham, NC: Duke University Museum of Art.
Hunt, David. “Man Trap.” Frieze, no. 53, June-August, 2000.
Siegel, Katy. “Openings: Paul Pfeiffer.” Artforum, Summer 2000.
“Maybe Race Has”, FEED Magazine, 2000.
Berwick, Carly. “Maybe Race Has Nothing To Do With It.” FEED Magazine, April 24, 2000.
“Kunst.” Berliner Morgenpost, May 30, 2000.
Feuilleton, Berliner Zeitung, May 25, 2000.
Feuilleton, Suddeutsche Zeitung, May 25, 2000.
Quedenbaum, Sebastian. “Metrolpolitan  Ausg.” Die Welt, May 24, 2000.
Plagens, Peter. “Art in the Fast Lane.” Newsweek, April 10, 2000.
Schjeldahl, Peter. “Pragmatic Hedonism.” The New Yorker, April 3, 2000.
Solomon, Deborah. “A Roll Call of Fresh Names and Faces.” The New York Times, April 16, 2000.
Vogel, Carol. “Inside Art: Whitney Prize.” The New York Times, April 14, 2000.
Halle, Howard. “2000 and None.” Time Out New York, no. 237, April 6-13, 2000, 72.
Saltz, Jerry. “My Sixth Sense.” Village Voice, April 4, 2000.
Kimmelman, Michael. “A New Whitney Team Makes Its Biennial Pitch.” The New York Times, March 24, 2000.
Gopnik, Blake. “Window Shopping At The Whitney.” The Globe Online, March 22, 2000.
Halle, Howard. “State of the Art.” Time Out New York, no. 234, March 16-23, 2000, 80.
Saltz, Jerry. “Greater Expectations.” Village Voice, March 14, 2000.
Cotter, Holland. “Greater New York.” The New York Times, March 1, 2000.
Siegel, Katy. “The Max Factor: Whitney Biennial 2000.” Artforum, March 2000.
Siegel, Katy. “Openings: Paul Pfeiffer.” Artforum, Summer 2000, 174-175.
 
1999               
Adelman, Shonagh. “Paul Pfeiffer The Project, NY.” Frieze, no. 45, March/April 1999.
Rush, Michael. “Hocus Focus.” Review, February 1, 1999.
Turner, Grady. “Abstracted Flesh.” Flash Art,  vol. 32 no. 204, January-February, 1999.
Chattopadhyay, Collette. “At Home And Abroad.” Art Asia Pacific, no. 22, Fall, 1999.
Johnson, P. “Review.” Houston Chronicle, January 12, 1999.
“Quod Nomen Mihi Est: Fragments from a Conversation with Satan,” Felix: A Journal of Media Arts and Communication, vol. 2 no. 2, 1999
 
1998               
Sirmans, Franklin. “Get a ittle Closer.” Artnet.com, December 17, 1998.
Bliss, Kimberly. “Crazy.” Dutch Magazine, no. 18, 1998.
Turner, Grady. “Paul Pfeiffer and Nader.” The Review, November 1, 1998.
Cotter, Holland. “Paul Pfeiffer and Nader.” The New York Times, November 13, 1998.
Baker, Kenneth. “Modern Art Redefined.” San Francisco Chronicle, July 11, 1998.
Friis-Hanson, Dana, Alice Guillermo, and Jeff Baysa. At Home And Abroad: 20 Contemporary Filipino Artists, exh. cat. San Francisco: Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, 1998.
 
1997               
Memories of Overdevelopment, exh. cat. Canada: Plug In Gallery, 1997
Chua, Lawrence, Ed. “Vitruvian Figure / Plan (After Palladio).” Muai 2: Collapsing New Buildings, New York, 1997, 168-171.
 
1995               
In A Different Light, exh. cat. Berkeley: University of California Museum/ City Lights, 1995.
Art In General Annual Catalogue, exh. cat. New York: Art In General, 1995.
Pervert, exh. cat. Irvine: University of California Gallery, 1995.
 
1994               
Extreme Unction, exh. cat. London: Panchayat, 1994.
Hirsh, David. “Christian Iconography.” New York Native, April 4, 1994.
“Scene & Heard” (reproduction) Village Voice,  March 22, 1994.
 
1993               
“1991 In Review: Alternative Spaces.” Art In America, August 1993.
Consul, Wilma. “The Agony and the Apostasy.” Filipinas Magazine, June 1993.
Ty-Tomkins, Nikki. “Philippines International.” Honolulu Weekly, October 13, 1993.
 
1992               
Asian American Arts Dialogue (cover reproduction),  vol. 11 no. 1, January/February 1992.
Altars, Divinations and Icons, Exh. cat. Philadelphia: Painted Bride Gallery, 1992.
(En)Gendered Visions: Race, Gender and Sexuality in Asian American Art, exh. cat.  San Antonio: Guadalupe Cultural Center, 1992.
Nelson, Nels. “Artists Find Their Own Religions.” The Philadelphia Daily News, September 24, 1992.

1989               
Bernstein, Neil.  “Portrait of the Artists.” San Francisco Bay Guardian, October 11, 1989.

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Paul Pfeiffer: Erasure, Camouflage, and "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"

by Art021

ART21: Can you talk about the photographic sequence, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?

PFEIFFER: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is the title of an ongoing series of photographs. It started with five images that were material drawn from publicity stills of Marilyn Monroe, with the central figure removed. And at this point, it’s kind of morphed into something else. Now, I’m raiding the archives of the NBA and finding photographs that I’m manipulating to, generally speaking, remove a lot of contextual detail, to leave a kind of solitary figure in the setting of a crowd of people.

The series started with research that I was doing into, at the time, images of Marilyn Monroe. Why Marilyn? At that point, I thought, “This has got to be one of the most famous human bodies in the archive. It conjures up so much; it’s such a legend.” And so, I went through these images and ended up selecting a few of them and then going in and erasing Marilyn Monroe from the image. One of the things that really interested me was that, in the process, really what was going on was not so much erasure—and it never really is. It’s actually more like camouflage, in the sense that you are taking pieces of the background from around the image and very slowly applying these pieces over the body. So that, in the end, you’re presenting the illusion that you are seeing through to the background. But in fact, you are inventing background material that wasn’t there before.

What I found out, or what I ended up with, which I didn’t really expect, was in some ways the most abstract images that I’ve made so far. Unless you know that Marilyn was there, you wouldn’t otherwise know that there was a figure there, much less that it was specifically Marilyn. At the time, I was really quite focused on the process itself and the historical resonance and the emotional resonance that I felt working on these images. I’ve been asked after the fact how I would describe that, and I’ve thought that it’s a bit like what people describe as far as ghost limbs among soldiers. In a war, people lose a limb and will have this continuing feeling, like they still have that limb, like a ghost limb. Another kind of dramatic example is when the World Trade Center went down. For long afterwards, you sort of looked up and expected to see something there. Although it’s literally taking the figure away, in some ways it’s also intensifying something about the figure that used to be there.

Now, this year and late last year, I’ve been continuing this series under the same title, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but taking a very different approach. Now I’m starting from images that I’m drawing from the online archive of the NBA. These are images that you can pull up on your screen and then order for something like twenty or thirty bucks a pop, and some of them are quite amazing. They go back to the 1950s and are some of the most striking images of sports legends, in the environment of the stadium or the arena with the crowds in the background. And so, I’ve been selectively appropriating these images and manipulating them to remove all the contextual detail—so that what remains is not an absent figure but an intensified figure, by virtue of the fact that you are lacking some aspects of a context to place it in.

In the last of these images that I completed, for example, I started from an image taken from a game in which Wilt Chamberlain is putting the ball in the basket, and there’s three or four figures around him, all trying to prevent him from doing that. And the figure that remains is not Wilt Chamberlain. It’s actually one of the minor figures from the margins of the image. All the others were removed, and this sideline image was moved to the center. So for me, it’s quite striking because, by virtue of being in the margins—I suppose the person who composed the shot wasn’t too concerned with what the figure on the side was doing: He’s reaching up to stop the ball and is in this position that’s so foreshortened that his shoulders almost completely cover his head. His head is thrown far back and his legs are extended out in a kind of extreme way.

Moving this figure to the center makes sense if you see him on the margins. It’s an odd contradiction that you’re left with, because now it seems the shot was composed completely around him. And it’s breaking every rule of composition. It looks like his head is chopped off; all of his limbs look awkward. To me, it almost resembles the figure in a photograph of a lynching. At any rate, there’s a strange kind of inconsistency to the composition of the image. At the same time, this awkwardly composed person is standing dead center in an arena, surrounded by thousands of people who are watching—and there is no ball, no basket, no reason for him to be jumping or floating in this way. It is the sense of not just a lack of context but, in a way, it looks like this figure has somehow been frozen into this frame. It looks quite airless and almost like a stain on the image.

ART21: Where does the title come from?

PFEIFFER: Well, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is an art historical reference in that it refers back to the woodcuts of Albrecht Dürer, who in some ways was really an innovator in the field of the representation of the figure and was a naturalist and sort of a scientist in himself. He was really involved in defining the building blocks of the figure study and the representation of people during his time. And simultaneously it’s a biblical reference, since the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are precisely the figures that appear at the point when the world comes to the end, at Armageddon. It’s very dramatic—none of which appears in any way in the photographs. There aren’t even four. At this point, there are eight of these figures in the series. But I really like the combination of a title that conjures up the history of the evolution of the figure study and at the same time a suggestion of a kind of larger epic occurring, having to do with some kind of dramatic ending or shifting.

ART21: How does the process of erasing or camouflaging the figure in photography translate into your video works? What is that process like?

PFEIFFER: The editing process that I use is very slow and ultimately very manual and requires going frame by frame even though, to a degree, the process is somewhat automated through software tools. It’s like—the computer can only think so much, and then the human hand and eye really have to do the rest of the refining work. It’s partially because this kind of editing software is really meant to be used in tandem with other shooting techniques and framing techniques. So that, for example, if you really wanted to remove a figure in an efficient way, you should start by shooting the figure against a blue background, which is standard practice in the special effects world. Then it becomes very easy. But in my case, I’m using found imagery and (often) archival imagery, which to begin with is not even very high quality. It’s already degraded from age. And I’m often taking an image that’s at its ninth or tenth generation by the time it reaches the shelf at a video store, and I pull it of the shelf.

So, what it means is: when I get to the editing, I have to go very slowly. A certain amount of the automated tools in the software I can’t use. I just simply have to go and do it manually. I’ve already started to work with other people and build a team to work with me on this. I’ve gone back to my oldest friends in art school who I know are amazing craftsmen because I hung out with people who had the same kind of love for doing this kind of work that I had. To edit a three-minute piece like the Long Count pieces, it would take me and two or three other people roughly two or three months. And that’s now that we’ve gotten better at it, to do three minutes worth of finished footage.

And what’s curious to me is it’s actually a process that I enjoy. If I had my way and there were no other added complications to renting a studio, I would happily sit in my room and do this work all day. It’s a bit like meditation. I also feel like it’s a bit like painting or drawing, in the sense that you leave your everyday consciousness of the world and achieve a certain focus. People would call it right-brain focus, but at any rate, it draws you in and can be quite relaxing and enjoyable, especially if you don’t have some horrendous deadline to meet. At the same time, this kind of process predates the computer and goes back to the way animation was done in Hollywood early on, where you would find practically a room full of what amounts to animation factory workers overseen by a foreman, who makes the important decisions about what the figures are doing. Ultimately you have a large team of people who are paid less! (LAUGHS)

Paul Pfeiffer at work during a residency at ArtPace, San Antonio, TX, 2003. Production still from the "Art in the Twenty-First Century" Season 2 episode, "Time," 2003. © Art21, Inc. 2003.
Paul Pfeiffer at work during a residency at ArtPace, San Antonio, TX, 2003. Production still from the "Art in the Twenty-First Century" Season 2 episode, "Time," 2003. © Art21, Inc. 2003.

ART21: Let’s talk about the NBA in San Antonio, where the process of obtaining your source material is quite different from dipping into an archive of images. The filming process with the Spurs—what were you trying to do there?

PFEIFFER: I started out in this process thinking, “I’ve spent the last couple of years trying to accumulate footage from commercially available tapes and off the TV, and wouldn’t it be great to take it one step further, or one step closer to the source and try to get exactly the images I want, on the spot?” Especially because I’m working with special effects software to do a lot of the manipulations that I am doing. And what I have or what I can generally afford is a consumer-level version of much more expensive machines and software that only Hollywood can use. So, I’m really interested in trying to figure out how to move past the consumer level. Not necessarily to do something more Hollywood, but to my mind, kind of, it’s a way of getting deeper into the material.

Ultimately, if you look at how the images are made, that leads back to Hollywood and back to professional sports. It’s these places that the tools were really made for. The consumer tools are a secondary output. Everything is really tailored for a much bigger industry. I find it really an interesting possibility to work somehow closer to that, even though I know that with copyright issues and all the money that’s involved, there’s plenty of reasons not to.

When I was developing a plan for the Artpace residency in Texas, I found out that the Spurs—the basketball team in San Antonio—and the owners of the Spurs are quite friendly to artists, and they are patrons of the arts in Texas. So, through Artpace, I approached them and, lo and behold, they were like, “Sure, you can come and shoot as much footage as you want at the game.” I approached it as kind of an experiment. Wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to do and how I was going to do it, but thought, “Let’s just go in there and try something out and discover a few things.” One was that, after a few days of shooting, it became clear that what I could shoot—and actually they gave me a cameraman to work with, they were so generous—what I could shoot and what I could tell the cameraman to shoot, in the end, wasn’t necessarily more interesting than the kind of stuff that I could pull of the television, in a way. The television broadcast crew has ten cameras instead of just one, with fancy track systems that allow for really smooth motion shots.

The footage that I could get off the TV is of a much higher quality than what I could actually shoot myself on the court, without my duplicating the infrastructure and having ten cameras myself and doing what they were doing precisely. The other thing that I discovered is that there’s an enormous amount of activity happening in the stadium beyond the game itself, and that’s what I found myself really interested in and focusing on. At a certain point, I just stopped filming the game and turned my camera around and started filming the crew—Season Three! (LAUGHS) I mean the camera crew in the arena—and watching how the whole spectacle worked, which is quite amazing. The final effect is that it’s extremely difficult to sit in the arena as an artist with a camera and be dispassionate and be removed from the emotional intensity that’s going on. At a certain point, especially if it was a good game, I just wanted to put down the camera and just watch. How do they do that?

It’s a fascinating thing because I got to talk a bit with the people who produce the games—not the players but the audio-visual technicians who produce the games. And they are timing the bringing down of the lights and the bringing up of the lights at every moment, and where the cameramen are standing. It’s interesting to watch the cameramen because oftentimes you’ll have a row of three or four cameramen, and they are so well trained, in terms of following the game, that it’s like a ballet. Without even looking at each other, they move perfectly in tandem. The sight of four cameras all moving—it’s almost like a chorus line.

ART21: Do you think filming live events has generated a shift in your thinking?

PFEIFFER: Well, I guess it relates, to me, to the idea of a reduction of things to images. We have great power today to make images that are truly spectacular and to achieve a kind of perfection, and there is something terrifying, to me, about it as well, because maybe these images become so perfect that you forget everything else. So, in a way, there is like a shrinking possibility in the mind or in the imagination. It’s kind of like if you’re served literally five hundred channels on TV, why go out? There are obviously plenty of reasons to go out, but there’s something really seductive at the same time about the comfort of pre-digested images that are available. It makes me wonder if, ultimately, what we are talking about is not just the proliferation of images or a more distracted viewer or freedom of choice in terms of the consumption of images but really a shrinking of the imagination.

Paul Pfeiffer "Desiderata", Perrotin Paris

Paul Pfeiffer "Desiderata", Perrotin Paris

Paul PFEIFFER

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