Key Points
Conceptual Provocateur: Trockel uses unconventional media, such as machine-knitted textiles and ceramics, to critique gender norms, power, and visual culture.
Symbolic Language: Her work often incorporates politically charged icons—Playboy Bunny, hammer and sickle, corporate logos—to question ideologies and consumerism.
Feminist Legacy: A prominent figure in the feminist art movement of the 1980s, Trockel contributed to Eau de Cologne, a groundbreaking magazine supporting women artists.
Public Memory: Creator of Frankfurter Engel, the first monument in Germany honoring LGBTQ+ victims of the Holocaust.
Educational Impact: As a professor at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, she has shaped the careers of significant younger artists.
International Recognition: Represented Germany at the Venice Biennale (1999), awarded the Wolf Prize (2011), and exhibited globally in prestigious institutions.
Market Presence: Represented by Sprüth Magers and Gladstone Gallery.
Rosemarie Trockel, born on November 13, 1952, is a renowned German conceptual artist. Her diverse body of work spans drawing, painting, sculpture, video, and installation, often blending various media. Beginning in 1985, she became particularly known for her innovative use of knitting machines to create textile-based artworks. Trockel currently serves as a professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, located in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Radical Art of Rosemarie Trockel
Rosemarie Trockel, born on November 13, 1952, in Schwerte, West Germany, is a prominent German conceptual artist celebrated for her wide-ranging and experimental approach to contemporary art. Her work encompasses a variety of forms including drawing, painting, sculpture, video, and installation, often merging these disciplines into innovative mixed-media pieces. In the mid-1980s, she gained recognition for her groundbreaking use of industrial knitting machines to produce visually striking textile works—an ironic and powerful commentary on traditional gender roles in art and labor.
Trockel holds a professorship at the prestigious Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, where she continues to shape new generations of artists.
Trockel pursued a diverse academic path, studying anthropology, mathematics, sociology, and theology between 1974 and 1978, all while attending the Werkkunstschule in Cologne. During this period, the influence of Joseph Beuys loomed large in the German art scene, and his conceptual approach deeply informed her artistic development.
In the early 1980s, Trockel became associated with the Mülheimer Freiheit collective, a group of avant-garde artists led by Jiří Georg Dokoupil and Walter Dahn. She also began exhibiting her work at Monika Sprüth’s pioneering gallery in Cologne, which focused exclusively on promoting female artists. These early connections laid the foundation for Trockel’s critical and feminist perspective, which continues to define her practice today.
Unraveling Power: Rosemarie Trockel’s Subversive Threads
Creative Defiance
Rosemarie Trockel has long challenged conventions—both artistic and cultural. In the mid-1980s, she began crafting striking works using industrial knitting machines, a deliberate inversion of traditional painting and a nod to “women’s work.” Her textiles featured provocative symbols like the Playboy Bunny, the hammer and sickle, or the phrase “Made in West Germany”, blending irony, critique, and feminist commentary. Around the same time, she contributed to the influential feminist art magazine Eau de Cologne, amplifying the voices of women artists.
Sculpting Memory, Shaping Spaces
In 1994, Trockel created Frankfurter Engel, a cast-iron memorial honoring LGBTQ+ victims of Nazi persecution—an emotionally resonant public work located in Klaus Mann Platz, Frankfurt. For Documenta X in 1997, she partnered with Carsten Höller to produce a bold installation that pushed the boundaries of collaborative conceptual art.
As her practice evolved, she turned to ceramics and continued to produce both hand-crafted and machine-knitted “paintings.” These hybrid works formed the centerpiece of her 2005 retrospective Post-Menopause at Museum Ludwig in Cologne, where her unique approach to media and meaning was celebrated.
From Art to Fashion
In 2021, amid the global pandemic, Trockel merged art and fashion by collaborating with designer Daniel Lee on a campaign for Bottega Veneta, illustrating her ability to remain contemporary and cross-disciplinary.
Accolades and Recognition
Trockel's boundary-breaking work has earned her some of the art world’s top honors:
2011 – Wolf Prize in the Arts
2011 – Goslar Kaiserring
2004 – Wolfgang Hahn Prize
Major Exhibitions
Her work has captivated audiences at major international venues, including:
1999: Represented Germany at the Venice Biennale
2005: Post-Menopause, Museum Ludwig, Cologne
2009: Rebelle: Art & Feminism 1969–2009, Arnhem
2012–2013: A Cosmos – toured Madrid, New York, London, and Bonn
2015: Märzôschnee ûnd Wiebôrweh..., Kunsthaus Bregenz
2018: The Same Different, Moderna Museet, Malmö
Influence, Legacy, and Market
As a professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, Trockel has mentored a new generation of artists, including Tea Jorjadze, Michail Pirgelis, and Bettina Pousttchi. Her impact extends beyond her own practice, shaping contemporary art discourse and pedagogy alike.
Rosemarie Trockel is represented by prominent international galleries such as Sprüth Magers and Gladstone Gallery, confirming her enduring relevance in both institutional and commercial art spheres.
FAQ
What is Rosemarie Trockel best known for?
She is renowned for her conceptual knitted works using industrial machines, as well as her feminist critique of cultural symbols and institutions.
Why did she use knitting machines?
Trockel chose knitting—traditionally viewed as “women’s work”—to challenge gender roles in the art world and redefine what constitutes painting.
Is she still active today?
Yes, she remains active in the art world, most recently collaborating with fashion house Bottega Veneta in 2021.
Where can I see her work?
Her work has been shown at major museums worldwide including Museum Ludwig (Cologne), New Museum (New York), Reina Sofia (Madrid), and the Venice Biennale.
What topics does she explore in her work?
Trockel addresses themes like identity, consumerism, gender politics, memory, and the power structures embedded in visual culture.
Is she a teacher as well as an artist?
Yes. She is a professor at Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where she has influenced a new generation of contemporary artists.
Selena Mattei
| ArtMajeur Magazine