Jan Kopp was born in 1970 in Frankfurt, Germany.  He now lives in Berlin, having been based in Paris from 1991 to 2009.  He is currently working on a project supported by a research grant from the Ministry of Culture: the realization of an animated film which will focus on the metamorphoses of Berlin that have shaped the course of history.

 

Jan Kopp studied Philosophy at the Université Paris-Sorbonne/Paris IV, earned a degree in 1996 from the School of Fine Arts in Paris, and went on to be awarded several residencies, including one by the PS1 International Program in New York City.

 

He very quickly received recognition for his public space projects which involved taking over lots left vacant by administrative land use plans, and led him to work in conjunction with architects and city planners.  His work uses a wide range of mediums (sound, video, drawing, sculpture, performance), and finds broad scope of expression, from vast, site-specific installations to smaller, more understated work.  

 

His most recent solo shows were held at the abbaye de Maubuisson, the contemporary art site of the General Council of Val-d’Oise (2011), at the Kunstraum Dornbirn in Austria (2010), at the FRAC Alsace (2008), at the Centre d’Art de la Bastille in Grenoble (2008), and at the Martos Gallery in New York (2008).

 

Jan Kopp has participated in many international group shows, including Architecture, Utopies, Dessin at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucarest (Romania, 2011), Res Publica at the Moscow Museum of Art (MMOMA) (Russia, 2010), Fragile, Terres d’Empathie at the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Saint-Etienne Metropole (France, 2009), Translation at the MMOMA in Moscow (Russia, 2008), Crisi at the Angels Barcelona gallery (Spain, 2008), Singuliers at the Guangdong Museum of Art in Canton (China, 2005), I need you at the Pasqu’Art Arts Center in Bienne (Switzerland, 2004), Traversée at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (France, 2002), Connivence, at the sixth Biennale de Lyon (France, 2001), and Clockwork 2000, PS1 International Studio Program of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York City (United States, 2000).

 

His latest catalog Das Endlose Spiel - Le Jeu sans fin (The Endless Game), was published by Verlag für modern Kunst in Nuremberg in 2010.

 

Jan Kopp is represented by the Marion Meyer Contemporain gallery in Paris.