Christian Boltanski

Christian Boltanski (1944–2021) was an influential French conceptual artist, sculptor, and photographer whose multifaceted work was centred around themes such as the nature of human memory, mortality, and the inescapability of death. 

Boltanski was largely self-taught and began his career in the 1960s with painting before shifting his focus to photography, sculpture, and film.

In an impossible attempt to mould something perfectly round with his own two hands, he kneaded 3000 little balls of clay. Some of these clay balls were featured in our exhibition Species of Spaces and Other Pieces in a tin box with wire mesh (Untitled, 1969).

Christian Boltanski explored the topic of childhood throughout his artistic career. His interpretation of this subject echoes a central theme of the KinderKunstLabor programme: the connection between artistic activities and the lifeworlds of children.