Born in 1985 in Bonn, Germany
Lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany
Vivian Greven’s paintings are an exploration of interpersonal relationships. From romantic and familial kinship to classical mythologies, the artist transcends traditional depictions of intimacy by capturing the vulnerability of metamorphosis. Her vocabulary borrows from recognizable forms of Greco-Roman sculpture and aesthetic perfection of digital media to interrogate evolving representations of the body through time. In her atemporal spaces, fragmented body parts exist just out of reach: limbs extend out to one another, while lips linger on the canvas. Oscillating between figuration and abstraction, Greven's smooth figures are often punctuated by uneven framing, erupting color fields, or what appear to be technological glitches, which highlight existing tension between her figures. Greven’s paintings become microcosms where digital-age detachment is overcome by the innate human desire for connection.
education
2015 MFA Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Germany
2013 English Studies, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Germany
solo shows
2024
-Vivian Greven in Dialogue with Paula Modersohn Becker, Paula Modersohn Becker Museum, Bremen, Germany (forthcoming)
-When the Sun Hits the Moon, Perrotin, New York, NY
-EGOSTATE, collaboration with Vivian Greven & Benjamin Houlihan, G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig, Germany
2023
-Water, Neue Galerie Gladbeck, Gladbeck, Germany
2021
-CLOSE, Kadel Willborn, Düsseldorf, Germany
-Nabel, Heidelberger Kunstverein Heidelberg, Germany
-Kunstmuseum Langmatt, Baden, Switzerland
-The Negatives, Gallery Vacancy, Shanghai, China
2020
-Apple, Kunstpalais Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
2019
-Elefant, ak Raum, Cologne, Germany
-0 V, Kadel Willborn, Düsseldorf, Germany
-air, Galerie Thomas Fuchs, Stuttgart, Germany
2018
-amore, Aurel Scheibler, Berlin, Germany
2017
-GRAZIA, Aurel Scheibler, Berlin, Germany
-Eyes Wide Shut, STRABAG Kunstforum, Vienna, Austria
-BUDUMN, Setareh Gallery, Düsseldorf, Germany
group shows
2025
- PERIPHERIE WANDERUNG, New Presentation of the Collection, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn Germany (forthcoming)
2024
-Bathers, Museum MORE, Gorssel, Netherlands (forthcoming)
-Zwischen Pixel und Pigment. Hybride Malerei in postdigitalen Zeiten, Museum Marta Herford, Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Herford Bielefeld, Germany (forthcoming)
-Wiedereröffnung, Kunstmuseum Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany (forthcoming)
-The Infinite Woman, Fondation Carmignac, Paris, France
-A Small Land of Watery Light, Vacancy, Shanghai, China
2023
-The New Kunstpalast, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
-NEW ACQUISITIONS II, G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig, Germany
-MATERNITY LEAVE: NONE OF WOMEN BORN, Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas,TX
-Octobre+, Perrotin, Paris, France
2022
-Johann Gottfried Schadow – Berührende Formen, Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany
-I'm stepping high, I'm drifting, and there I go leaping, Xiao Museum of Contemporary Art, Rizhao, China
-VIERMALVIER / FOURTIMESFOUR, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
-Neun Positionen der jungen Malerei, Lippisches Landesmuseum Detmold, Germany
-FACE TO FACE – Porträts aus der Sammlung Frank Brabant und Gäste, Museum Haus Opherdicke, Holzwickede, Germany
-Happiness is a State of Mind, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
-Something Between Us, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany
-MIXED FEELINGS, G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig, Germany
-Finger Bang, curated by Genesis Belagner & GaHee Park, Perrotin, Paris, France
-Girl Meets Girl, Vestfossen Kunstlaboratorium, Vestfossen, Norway
2021
-High Voltage Two, Nassima Landau Foundation, Tel Aviv, Israel
-Sweet Lies, Ludwig Forum für Internationalw Kunst, Aachen, Germany
-21/21. Neue Malerei in der Sammlung, Kunsthaus NRW, Aachen Germany
-Art History Selects, Providence College Galleries, Providence, RI
-Something Between Us, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany
2020
-Magnet: Fleeting Forces in Forms, Gallery Vacancy, Shanghai, China
-Something Between Us, KAI 10 I Arthena Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany
-Jetzt! Junge Malerei in Deutschland, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, Germany
-Berührend, Paula Modersohn Becker Museum, Bremen, Germany
-In aller Munde. Von Pieter Brugel bis Cindy Cherman, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg, Germany
-Poisonous Kiss. Lovely Venom., TICK TACK, Antwerp, Belgium
2019
-Image Vision, Philipp Pflug Contemporary, Frankfurt, Germany
-Jetzt! Junge Malerei in Deutschland, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Kunstsammlung Chemnitz – Museum Gunzenhauer, Museum Wiesbaden, Germany
-Shaped Figure, Kunstverein Krefeld, MMIII Kunstverein Mönchengladbach, Germany
-Touch Knows You Before Language. Vivian Greven, Erica Mahinay, Lauren Seiden, Lyles & King, New York, NY
-TO MAKE THE STONE STONY, Golsa, Oslo, Norway
-ON REPEAT, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, United Kingdom
-Ladies Only, Galerie Vallois, Paris, France
2018
-The Space Between, (with Sterling Lawrence), Practice, Chicago, IL
-Classic Beauty, Providence College Galleries, Providence, RI
-Dead Eden, Lyles & King, New York, NY
-L’esule e le Grazie, (with Wilhelm von Gloeden), Soyuz Project Space, Pescara, Italy
-Ekstase, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany
-Insane in the Membrane, Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf, Germany
2017
-LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY, Braunsfelder Family Collection, Cologne, Germany
-Akademie, KIT, Düsseldorf, Germany
-A Painter’s Doubt. Painting & Phenomenology, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, Austria
public collections
Kunsthaus Kollitsch, Klagenfurt, Austria
STRABAG Artcollection, Vienna, Austria
Li Lin Collection, Hangzhou, China
Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Xiao Museum, China
Braunsfelder Family Collection, Cologne, Germany
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburger, Germany
Hildebrand Collection, Leipzig, Germany
Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany
Kunstpalais Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany
Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
Sammlung Kunsthaus NRW, Aachen, Germany
Sammlung Philara, Düsseldorf, Germany
Fundación Medianoche, Spain
Providence College Galleries, Providence, USA
awards
2020
-Marianne-Defet-Painting-Award, Nürnberg
2018
-Artist in residence, Providence College Galleries, Providence, USA
2017
-Artist in Residence, STRABAG, Vienna
2016
-STRABAG Artaward International 2016, Recognition Award
2013
-Academy Scholarship for Painting, Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
2011
-Artist in Residence, Bow Arts Trust, London