Thierry Geoffroy / Colonel

Thierry Geoffroy / Colonel (born 1961 in Nancy) is a French artist who has lived in Copenhagen since 1982 and is known for his "emergency art formats", in particular "Emergency Room", "Critical Run" and "Biennalist". His practice, which takes the form of photographs, videos, sculptures, tents, paintings, texts and conceptual contracts, can be described as an artistic response to globalisation. Using a restricted formal vocabulary, he questions the issues at stake in an intensified, everyday present. War, racism, the refugee crisis, news items and everyday mundane gestures become the subject of collective exhibitions and performances in institutions that are partitioned by outdated classification systems. An enthusiastic hitchhiker, he packs an international network of personalities in his suitcase, creating ephemeral communities like artistic precipitates that are reified in action. Inspired by advertising, agitprop, junk art, happenings and institutional criticism, his work has an acuity and graphic consistency that serves an emphatic vision of the world.
His work has been presented in various art institutions around the world: MoMA PS1 in New York, ZKM Museum in Karlsruhe, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Palazzo Delle Art in Naples and Kunsthalle Mannheim, Villa Stuck Museum among others. He has also participated in major artistic events such as the Venice Biennale, the Liverpool Biennale, the Manifesta Biennale, the Cairo Biennale and the Casablanca Biennale.