Norbert
Bisky
Norbert Bisky's provocative paintings combine elements of Socialist Realism with pop culture, crafting a critical commentary on contemporary society. If you're looking for original Norbert Bisky original prints and editions for sale or would like to sell, request a complimentary valuation and explore our network's most in-demand pieces.
Norbert Bisky art for sale
Discover Norbert Bisky prints for sale, exclusively available through our private network of collectors. Explore signed and unsigned screenprints, lithographs, digital prints, and rare editioned proof prints by era-defining blue chip artists.
Sell Your Art
with Us
with Us
Join Our Network of Collectors. Buy, Sell and Track Demand
Biography
Norbert Bisky is s a prominent voice in Contemporary Art, using his paintings to navigate the complex intersection of identity, sexuality, communism. Born in 1970 in Leipzig, East Germany, Bisky’s formative years were shaped by the sociopolitical landscape of a divided Germany. This tumultuous discourse profoundly influences his work, which is characterised by vibrant, dramatic compositions that juxtapose realism with abstraction.
Educated at the Leipzig Academy of Visual Arts and later at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, Bisky’s art is a dialogue between personal and political worlds, often reflecting on the remnants of Socialist Realism while engaging with contemporary artistic practices.
Bisky collaborated with artist Jim Dine during a summer academy in Salzburg from 1994 to 1995. In 1995, he was awarded the Erasmus Scholarship, which allowed him to spend a year studying at Complutense University in Madrid. Bisky then returned to Berlin in 1999 to complete his Master's degree under the mentorship of Georg Baselitz, whom he credits as a major influence on his artistic development.
Early exposure to the rigid aesthetics of Socialist Realism is evident in Bisky's initial works, which depicted utopian scenes laced with subtle critiques of the ideology. As Germany underwent reunification, Bisky's style evolved, incorporating more chaotic and fragmented elements that reflect the fast-paced complexities of contemporary life.
The artist finds inspiration in significant events that have deeply affected him. For instance, his series Aesthetics of Violence (2009) was shaped by the terror attack at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai, an event Bisky survived. Similarly, after witnessing political turmoil in Tel Aviv, he created the Balagan auf Bötzow exhibition, his largest paintings to date. Bisky's large-scale canvases, featuring idealised male figures drawn from magazines and Polaroids, juxtapose utopian, dream-like settings with scenes of violence, using bright colours and gestural brushstrokes.
Printmaking is an important part of Bisky's broader artistic practise. His 2022 digital print Heterotopia employs vibrant, energetic colours to depict nude figures in a seemingly idyllic landscape, capturing a moment of freedom and escape. The dreamlike quality of the composition contrasts with the title, a term coined by Michel Foucault describing spaces of otherness that are both physical and mental. This duality reflects Bisky's broader practice of exploring contradictions within society, identity, and personal experience.
Throughout his career, Bisky has showcased his work in numerous cities, including Walküren-Basislager (2022) at Staatsoper Stuttgart in Germany, Mirror Society (2022) at SCAD Museum of Art in Savannah, USA, and DISINFOTAINMENT at G2 Kunsthalle, Leipzig, Germany. Additionally, from 2016 to 2018, Bisky served as a guest professor at HBK Braunschweig.
