For me it was always very beautiful that you can do something today, in the 21st century, which is not an imitation, but which has a connection to art which is 4,000 years old
— Wolfgang Laib
Born in 1950 in Metzingen, Germany, Wolfgang Laib initially studied medicine before turning decisively toward art in the early 1970s. Disenchanted with the limitations he perceived in Western medicine and scientific rationalism, Laib sought alternative forms of knowledge in Eastern philosophy, spiritual traditions, and pre-Renaissance thought. Since 1975, he has worked exclusively as an artist, developing a practice that stands apart from conventional art historical categories and has earned him sustained international recognition.
Laib’s work is defined not by traditional artistic media, but by elemental substances—pollen, beeswax, milk, rice, and stone—which he employs with ritual precision. His artistic breakthrough occurred in 1972 with the realization of Brahmanda (“Egg of the Universe”), a formative work that led him to abandon a medical career in favor of an artistic practice concerned with perception, contemplation, and transformation. His oeuvre bridges the material reduction of Western Minimalism with the spiritual depth of Eastern philosophy and pre-industrial traditions, producing works that function as vessels of archaic and universal knowledge.
Laib has been represented by Konrad Fischer Galerie since 1978 and has exhibited with the gallery consistently throughout his career. He represented Germany at the Venice Biennale in 1982 and participated in documenta 7 (1982) and documenta 8 (1987). In 2000, the American Federation of the Arts organized a major retrospective that traveled to institutions including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; the Dallas Museum of Art; the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; and Haus der Kunst, Munich (2000–03).
Subsequent solo exhibitions have been presented at the Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (2004); Fondation Beyeler, Basel (2005–06); MUAC, Mexico City (2009); The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (2009–10); MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2010); MASI Lugano (2017–18); and Museo Novecento, Florence, with installations across four historic sites including San Marco and Santa Croce (2019–20). More recent exhibitions include Wolfgang Laib: Crossing the River at Bündner Kunstmuseum (2022); The Beginning of Something Else at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart (2023); Passageway at Villa e Collezione Panza, Varese (2023–24); and A Mountain Not to Climb On. For Monet at the Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris (2024).
In 2013, Pollen from Hazelnut was presented at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the permanent Laib Wax Room opened at The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Additional permanent wax installations exist at the estate of Anselm Kiefer in Barjac, France. In recognition of his singular contribution to contemporary sculpture, Laib was awarded the Praemium Imperiale in 2015.
His works are held in major public and private collections worldwide, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Centre Pompidou, Paris; CAPC Musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux; Kunstmuseum Bonn; and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki.
Laib lives and works between Hochdorf, Germany, New York, and Ammayanayakkanur, India.