Klaus vom Bruch

Klaus vom Bruch, born 1952 in Cologne is a German media artist who is considered a pioneer of European video art. 1975-76 studied at the Californian Institute of the Arts, Valencia (USA), then studied Philosophy at the Cologne University. Since 1975, work with video, initially as video tape, since the mid-1980s especially in installations. From 1992 Professor for Media Art, Staatliche Hochschule für Gestaltung, Karlsruhe, later at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich. Vom Bruch belongs to a generation of artists who became known in the 1970s with their video works without exploring other artistic genres first. His close friendship with Ulrike Rosenbach and Marcel Odenbach helped to develop a «video scene,» in Cologne that was exemplary for Germany, documented in their ATV-Studio. His topics refer to the relationship with the post-war German society, with its past as well as present, by recycling «found footage» from the «televised archive.» Since 1985 he has mainly worked with video installations.