Abraham David Christian

Abraham David Christian (born 1952) is a German sculptor.

After his first inclusion in Documenta, in 1972, he went on to have one-person exhibitions at the Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld (1978), at the Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf (1983), at the Sprengel Museum, Hannover (1985, 1994), at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Calais (1988) and at the Tallinna Kunstihoone, Estonia (1998).

Christian's sculptures were included in Documenta 5, when he was only nineteen years old, and he had his first one-person show at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, in 1973.

Christian was invited to participate in documenta 6 in 1977, but rejected this invitation.

Book publications include Selbst (Museum Haus Lange, Krefeld, 1978); Abraham David Christian; Forty Years of Work (Sprengel Museum Hannover 1985), Abraham David Christian, Mississippi (Tallinna Kunstihoone, Tallinn, Estonia, 1998); 'Abraham David Christian, La Salle des Pieds Perdus': Drawing / Zeichnung (Edgewise Press, New York, April 1999); 'Abraham David Christian, Nebraska' (Kulturzentrum Sinsteden, Rommerskirchen, 2000); 'Abraham David Christian, THE WAYS OF THE WORLD' (Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum Duisburg, 2000) published by DuMont Verlag, Cologne,

His work was included again in Documenta 7 in 1982.

The Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg exhibited 2000 his drawings and sculptures in an international presentation.

This exhibition was accompanied by a book published by DuMont Verlag, Cologne.

The June 2001 issue of Art in America, featured an article by Janet Koplos on his work.

Christian has been described as an "international artist whose work cannot be confined to any one country or defined by any one culture. Geometrical and shape-of-life forms reference the traditions of Eastern, Western, African and American cultures, even as they remain perfectly unique unto themselves. His paper and bronze sculptures convene the spirits of Renaissance art (Donatello and Michelangelo), the Classical abstract art of the avantgarde in the twentieth century (Giacometti, Brancusi, and David Smith), the most (so-called) ‘primitive’ objects from the smallest villages in Africa, and the most (so-called) ‘refined’ goddess or Buddha from India, Southeast Asia, or Japan. It is work that is both irrepressible and restrained, libidinal and Minimal, fragile and, of late, monumental. Before the term ‘multicultural’ ever existed, Christian's sculptures and drawings took for their most basic premises the ‘language [or languages] of man’ and the ‘ways of the world.’

Exhibitions at the Weserburg Museum für moderne Kunst Bremen and at the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal followed in 2003/2004.

Kehrer Verlag in Heidelberg published a book for these exhibitions.

'Abraham David Christian, Bronze Sculptures' (Kehrer, Heidelberg, 2003).

Another monograph on his work was published by Kehrer in 2003, in conjunction with his museum exhibition, 'Abraham David Christian.

The Language of Man', at the Neues Museum Weserburg Bremen and Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal in 2004, with essays by Thomas Deecke, Peter Friese, Hans-Jürgen Heinrichs and Richard Milazzo.

In 2006, Christian published "Along the Hudson", a book of drawings, with Tokyo Publishing House.

An extensive collection of works by the artist were shown in the exhibition 'Abraham David Christian – 道 – The Way' 2010 at the Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art, Museum Küppersmühle Duisburg.

The book for this exhibition was published by Kerber Verlag (Bielefeld-Leipzig-Berlin).

(Abraham David Christian in a conversation with Helga Meister, Kunstforum, Volume 204, 2010, Conversations with Artists, p. 240)

2010 the book for the exhibition 'Abraham David Christian – 道 – The Way' 2010 at the Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art, Museum Küppersmühle Duisburg was published by Kerber Verlag (Bielefeld-Leipzig-Berlin).

'Abraham David Christian, SchwarzWald' was published by Tokyo Publishing House in 2015.

'Abraham David Christian, Silva Nigra' was published by Kehrer, Heidelberg, 2016.

2023/2024,the Bündner Kunstmuseum Chur showed an overview of the work of the sculptor in a concentrated presentation in the exhibition 'Abraham David Christian Oltre il linguaggio/Da i'autra vart da la lingua', in rooms of the Villa Planta, designed by Peter Zumthor were designed.

The exhibition was accompanied by a publication with photographs by Gaudenz Signorell.

As part of the Bündner Kunstmuseum exhibition, sculptures by Abraham David Christian were precisely placed outdoors at selected locations in Graubünden: just as if the sculptures had been there for a long time.

These included the 'Reformed Church of Avers-Cresta', the Saint John Abbey, Müstair, the Church of St. Peter Mistail, the church ruins of San Gaudenzio and Bondo GR in Bergell.

2020 the Kunstmuseum Bochum showed earth sculptures from the 1970s in the solo exhibition 'Abraham David Christian ERDE'.

"Earth is available everywhere, it costs nothing. We took them straight from the field, seven tons, and cleaned them. The slush was poured into the containers, squeezing outward, creating bulges. I was very interested in this organic principle."

In 2020 Abraham's work 'Interconnected Sculpture' was exhibited at Art Dü sseldorf.

Christian lives and works in New York City, Düsseldorf, Graubunden and Hayama, Japan.