Thomas Geiger
Thomas Geiger (*1983, lives and works in Vienna) creates works that take detours through history, imagine alternative presents, and project retrospective visions of the future. Through these temporal shifts, he exposes the fragility of memory, responsibility, and historical narratives. His practice gives rise to unexpected encounters: he enters into dialogue with statues (Bust Talks), embarks on time journeys into the future of the past (25 Years Too Late), questions darkness about concealment and responsibility (Darkness), and turns our attention to the networks of power and memory through complex sociograms (A Cartography of Theft).
Works
Bust Talk Turnvater Jahn, 2026, commissioned and produced by Kunstmuseum Bochum, DE
Bust Talk Franz Stelzhamer, 2025, commissioned and produced by Festival der Regionen, AT
Bust Talks (Sphinx), 2023, Belvedere, Vienna, performance + video installation, 18:39 min
Bust Talks (Kifwebe), 2019, performance + video installation, 18:52 min
Thomas Geiger, A Cartography of Grace, 2026, wall drawing at Einraumhaus, Mannheim, DE, 10 × 5 m
Thomas Geiger, A Cartography of Grace, 2026, study on paper, 29.7 × 42cm
Thomas Geiger, Darkness, 2025, Commissioned and produced by Salzburger Kunstverein
Thomas Geiger, Darkness, 2025, Commissioned and produced by Salzburger Kunstverein
Thomas Geiger, Darkness, 2025, Commissioned and produced by Salzburger Kunstverein
Thomas Geiger, You Seem to Have a Critical View of Seeing, 2026, 42 × 29.7 cm, 9 + 2 monotypes
Thomas Geiger, Review Sonata, part of Various Others – The Uncoverence at the Bayerischer Hof, Munich, 2025, Christina Harslem (soprano), Volker Karioth (videography)
Thomas Geiger, A Cartography of Theft, 2025, wall drawing, in: The Museum of (Non) Restitution, Salzburger Kunstverein, AT
Thomas Geiger, A Cartography of Theft, 2025, study on paper, 29.7 × 42cm
Thomas Geiger, I want to become a millionaire - Maxi Sheets, 2024, paper, stamped, numbered, signed, each 38,5 × 29 × 2,5 cm
25 Jahre zu spät, 2025, Kunstverein Hannover
25 Jahre zu spät, 2025, Kunstverein Hannover
25 Jahre zu spät, 2025, Kunstverein Hannover
Slumbering Souvereigns, Catharine the Great, 2024
Slumbering Souvereigns, Fidel Castro, 2024
Some Great Europeans (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), 2019 C-Print, 30 × 45 cm
Some Great Europeans (Cristiano Ronaldo), 2019 C-Print, 30 × 45 cm
Some Great Europeans (Winston Churchill), 2019, C-Print, 30 × 45 cm
Le Pigeon, 2022, CAC Brétigny, performance + video installation, 18:18min
Güvercin, 2023, Goethe Institut Istanbul, performance + video installation, 15:48min
Die Taube, 2023, Kunstverein Siegen, performance + video installation, 13:03 min
Falling (Peter Paul Rubens, The Fall of Icarus, 1636), video, 2:06min, 2020
Falling (Bas Jan Ader, Broken Fall Geometric, 1971), video, 2:06min, 2020
Falling (Peter Land, Step Ladder Blues, 1990), video, 2:06min, 2020
I want to become a millionaire, since 2010, performance + sign + signed and numbered sheets, 10.5 × 14.5 cm. Since 2010, Thomas Geiger is selling stamped and signed sheets with a sequential number for 1€ each. What started as a street performance, became a private funding system that supports his collabora- tive projects which are dedicated to public space and publishing. To date, he has raised more than 35.000€.
Corners for Relief (No. 5, Back), 2019
Corners for Relief (No. 5), 2019, Sculpting Clay, Filth, 16 × 12 × 11 cm. These small corner-shaped sculptures are modelled forms of popular peeing corners from public space and can be considered anti-monuments to this topic: Peeing corners may be a result of the lack of public toilets, but they still owe to the fact that ‘men can’ and are a demonstration of male privilege within the public sphere.
Private Monuments (A stage for your self-enchancement), 2017, concrete pavement tiles, adhesive letters, 95,5 × 80 × 8 cm
Private Monuments (A stage for your self-enchancement), 2017, concrete pavement tiles, adhesive letters, 95,5 × 80 × 8 cm
Private Monuments (A stage for heels only), 2017, concrete pavement tiles, adhesive letters, 35,5 × 41 × 8 cm
Skulptuerchen, 2015/16, stolen doorstops, dimensions variable
Skulptuerchen, 2015/16, stolen doorstops, dimensions variable
Jardín Land Art de La Tigra (La Tigra Land Art Garten), performance + 13 photographies, 2018. In the secluded nature of the Hondurian La Tigra forest, a garden was created that follows the idea of miniature gardens reflecting the secular and the high culture: During the Réunion Performance Festival Geiger gave an iconic photography of a famous Land Art work to each participant and invited them to recreate the work within this new environment. Photo: Sandino Scheidegger
Jardín Land Art de La Tigra (Joseph Beuys - 500 Oaks), 2018 C-Print, 30 × 45 cm
Jardín Land Art de La Tigra (Michael Heizer, Rift), 2018 C-Print, 30 × 45 cm
Jardín Land Art de La Tigra (Udo Rondinone, Seven Magic Mountains), 2018 C-Print, 30 × 45 cm
Das Brett, 2014, video, 1:15 min. Three kids trying to kick through a blank which leans against a house wall.
A valve for a spontaneous aggression (Basel), 2014 Broken plank, dimensions variable. This series of broken planks is a result of an action Geiger executed at various places: He leaned planks against house walls. Some time later, he returned to these spots and found most of the planks kicked through and broken
A valve for a spontaneous aggression (Lucerne), 2014, broken plank, dimensions variable
Exhibitions
A Cartography of Grace, Einraumhaus, Mannheim, DE 2026
A Cartography of Grace, Einraumhaus, Mannheim, DE 2026
A Cartography of Grace, Einraumhaus, Mannheim, DE 2026
Temporal Detours, Sperling, Munich, DE 2026
Temporal Detours, Sperling, Munich, DE 2026
Temporal Detours, Sperling, Munich, DE 2026
The Museum of (Non) Restitution, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, AT 2025
The Museum of (Non) Restitution, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, AT 2025
The Museum of (Non) Restitution, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, AT 2025
Happiest Places, Kunstverein Siegen 2023
Happiest Places, Kunstverein Siegen 2023
Happiest Places, Kunstverein Siegen 2023
Dreams that money can buy, Sperling, Munich 2022
Dreams that money can buy, Sperling, Munich 2022
El masestar en un espacio sin gravedad (Thomas Geiger and Javier Gonzalez Pesce), MAC, Santiago de Chile (CL) 2019
El masestar en un espacio sin gravedad (Thomas Geiger and Javier Gonzalez Pesce), MAC, Santiago de Chile (CL) 2019
Festival of Minimal Actions, Despacio, San Jose (CR) performance project, 2014/15 & 2018
Festival of Minimal Actions, Despacio, San Jose (CR) performance project, 2014/15 & 2018
Private Monuments, Sperling, Munich, DE 2017
Private Monuments, Sperling, Munich, DE 2017
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- A Cartography of Grace, Einraumhaus, Mannheim, DE
2026
- 25 Jahre zu spät (Performance), Kunstverein Hannover, DE
2025
- Being Kunsthalle Wien (Performance), Kunsthalle, Vienna, AT
- Dreams that money can buy, ANNA, Leipzig, DE
2022
- The Ghost is Present, Sperling, DE
2021
- Mutter, Ausstellungsraum Klingental, Basel, CH
2020
- Kunsthalle3000 – A fragment of your public space, one-year project, Kunstverein Langenhagen, DE
- El masestar en un espacio sin gravedad, with Javier Pesce, MAC, Santiago de Chile, CL
2019
Selected Group Exhibitions
- Das öffentliche Grün, Kunstmuseum Bochum, DE
2026
- The Museum of (Non)Restitution, Salzburger Kunstverein & Salzburg Museum, AT
- Festival der Regionen, Braunau, AT
2025
- 50 ans de CAPC, Bordeaux, FR
- Public Matters, Belvedere, Vienna, AT
- Happiest Places, Kunstverein Siegen, DE
2023
- Locus Solos, Arter, Istanbul, TUR
- The Real Show, CAC Brétigny, FR
2022
- What can be shown, cannot be said, LE CAP, Lyon, FR
- Kiss, Kunsthalle Wien, AT
2020
- Hauptsache Kopf, Kunsthalle Emden, DE
- Nature\nature, Kunstraum Niederösterreich, AT
2019
Publications
- Salzburg Museum & Salzburger Kunstverein: The Museum of Non(Restitution), (exh.cat.), 2025 ↗
- Thomas Geiger: The Dematerialization of the Arts (for Kids) , 2020 ↗
- Thomas Geiger: Peeing in Public, 2020 ↗
- Thomas Geiger: Die Moderatorin, 2019
- Thomas Geiger: The Collection for the poor Collector, 2018 ↗
- Thomas Geiger: Bricks to Perform , 2017 ↗
- Thomas Geiger: Bilder aus der Denkmaschine / Images from the Thinking Machine , 2013 ↗
Press
- stir world: 'Kunsthalle3000' and Thomas Geiger’s artistic interventions in public, Vidur Sethi, 2022 ↗
- Monopol Magazin: Küss mich: In Wien untersucht Künstler Thomas Geiger die Intimität, by Miriam Hinternesch, 2020 ↗
- POPP: Interview with Thomas Geiger, by Julia Moebus, 2020 ↗
- Artline: Der in Wien lebende Künstler bringt Statuen zum Sprechen, by Leon Hösl, 2020 ↗
- Monopol Magazin: Ephemere Erinnerungsräume, Christoph Sehl, 2017 ↗
- Artline: Thomas Geiger – Die Arbeiten des Wiener Künstlers sind Bühnen für Koinzidenzen, Anette Hoffmann, 2017 ↗
Thomas Geiger, 25 Jahre zu spät, 2026
Thomas Geiger, Dunkelheit, 2025
Thomas Geiger, Bust Talks, excerpts, 2019–2026