Bill Bollinger
Bill Bollinger (b. 1939, Brooklyn, New York; d. 1988, Pine Plains, New York) examined the relationships among natural forces such as gravity, pressure, and structural tension, often using only minimally altered industrial materials, imposed systems, and serial forms. After studying aeronautical engineering, Bollinger returned to New York City in 1961 to take painting classes at the Art Students League. He quickly pivoted primarily to sculpture and installation, while also expanding his exploration of the picture plane in his two-dimensional works. Between 1966 and ’77, he showed alongside a cohort of artists including Eva Hesse, Richard Serra, and Richard Tuttle. While his spare compositions often evoked the Minimalism of his peers, Bollinger embraced a spontaneity of process akin to that of the Abstract Expressionists. Early exhibitions at New York’s Bianchini and Bykert galleries featured site-responsive sculptures and installations using materials as far-ranging as aluminum piping, wire mesh, spray paint, and sweeping compound. In 1970, he filled an entire floor of Chelsea’s Starrett-Lehigh Building with sculptures composed of rubber tubing, steel barrels, wood, and—most importantly—water, among other elements. This major exhibition presented works entirely dependent on their interconnected material relationships. Bollinger’s constructions were, in his words, “not primarily expressive through form but declarative through state.”
Though he only showed between 1966 and 1976, Bollinger was included in several now-canonical exhibitions, including Live in Your Head: When Attitudes Become Form at Kunsthalle Bern, 1969; Anti-Illusion: Procedures/Materials at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 1969; 9 at Leo Castelli at Castelli Warehouse, New York, 1969; and Information at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1970; as well as the 1970 Whitney Annual and the 1973 Whitney Biennial. During his lifetime, Bollinger was represented by Bykert Gallery in New York and Galerie Rolf Ricke in Cologne, Germany; his work was presented widely in both America and Europe. In 2011, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, and ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany, presented the artist’s first retrospective; the exhibition traveled to New York’s SculptureCenter the following year. Bollinger’s work is in the collections of Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Whitney Museum of American Art, among others.
Born 1939, Brooklyn, New York
Died 1988, Pine Plains, New York
Education
1961
BA, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
Solo Exhibitions
2026
Karma, New York, I Am Gravity
2021
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Funde aus dem Nachlass
2012
SculptureCenter, Queens, New York, Bill Bollinger: The Retrospective
Algus Greenspon, New York, Bill Bollinger
2011
ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany, and Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Bill Bollinger—Die Retrospektive
2008
Häusler Contemporary, Zürich, Kölner Stücke 1968–1970
1976
Fine Arts Center, University of Rhode Island, Kingston
1975
West Bank Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
1974
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York
1973
O.K. Harris Gallery, New York
Bard College, Procter Art Center, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York
Bennington College, Vermont, Bill Bollinger, Seven Year Survey: 1967–73
1972
O.K. Harris Gallery
Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
1970
Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
Galerie Ernst, Hanover, Germany
Galleria Sperone, Turin, Italy, Bill Bollinger. Water is life and like art it finds its own level.
Starrett-Lehigh Building, New York, Bill Bollinger. Sculpture
1968
Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
1966
Bianchini Gallery, New York, Bill Bollinger
Group Exhibitions
2025
Fanta, Milan, Bollinger, Longhi, Michael
2024
Konrad Fischer Galerie, Dusseldorf, Germany, esprit
2022
David Nolan Gallery, New York, A Tribute to Klaus Kertess Bykert Gallery 1966–75, Part II
2018
Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, 50 Years: An Anniversary—A Benefit Exhibition for March For Our Lives
Mitchell Algus Gallery, New York, 25 Years—Part 2: Abstraction
2017
Häusler Contemporary, Zurich, A Line Between the Morning Sun and the Evening Sun
356 Mission, Los Angeles, Sunlight arrives only at its proper hour
Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Primary Structures: Meisterwerke der Minimal Art
2016
Häusler Contemporary, Zurich, Another Spray
2015
Häusler Contemporary, Zurich, Collector’s Choice: Andy Jllien | “My Shoes Are Your Shoes”
Schaulager, Münchenstein, Switzerland, Future Present
Bischoff Projects, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz, Nice to See You! 160 Works from the Collection
2014
Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York, Bill Bollinger, John Divola, Magali Reus
Galerie Stadtpark Krems, Austria, Concrete Deviation—Bill Bollinger, Mary Ellen Carroll
Kunstmuseum St.Gallen, Switzerland, Post / Postminimal
2013
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Germany, Serial Attitudes – Repetition as an artistic method since the 1960s
Häusler Contemporary, Zurich, When Attitudes Become Icons
Häusler Contemporary, Zurich, Temperamente auf Papier
Fondazione Prada, Venice, Re-Making When Attitudes Become Form
2012
Museum Wiesbaden, Germany, Der Raum der Linie
2011
Häusler Contemporary, Zurich, Energies, unplugged and reloaded
Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, Der Raum der Linie
2010
Häusler Contemporary, Munich, Form
2009
Kunsthalle zu Kiel, Germany, Heavy Metal. Die unerklärbare Leichtigkeit eines Materials
2008
Zacheta National Gallery, Warsaw, Revolutions 1968
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland, Arbeiten mit der Sammlung Rolf Ricke
Villa Merkel, Esslingen, Germany, Sammlung Rolf Ricke
2007
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Das Kapital—Blue Chips & Masterpieces
2005
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland, Sweet Temptations
2002
Neues Museum Nürnberg, Germany, Einfach Kunst. Sammlung Rolf Ricke
1973
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Whitney Biennial 1973
Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, New York, In Spaces
111 East Wacker Drive, Chicago, New York to Chicago
Storm King Art Center, Mountainville, New York, Sculpture in the Fields
1972
10 Bleeker Street, New York, Six Sculptures/7000 Square Feet
Galerie Ricke, Cologne, Germany, Programm V
1971
Galerie Ricke, Cologne, Germany, Programm IV
Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut, Sculpture and Shape of the Last Decade
1970
Felix Handschin Galerie, Basel, Switzerland, Manhattan Scene
Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris, American Drawings
112 Greene Street, New York, Inaugural Group Show
Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland, Die Sammlung Der Emanuel Hoffmann-Stiftung
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Sculpture
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Massachusetts, Earth, Air, Water: Elements of Art
Vassar College Art Gallery, Poughkeepsie, New York, Twenty-six by twenty-six
Brooklyn Bridge, New York, Brooklyn Bridge Event
Museum of Modern Art, New York, Information
Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, Germany, Sammlung Etzold
Jewish Museum, New York, Using Walls (Indoors)
Galerie Ricke, Cologne, Germany, Zeichnungen amerikanischer Künstler
Austin Arts Center, Trinity College, Harford, Connecticut, New Materials. Procedures in Sculpture
Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York, Hanging/Learning
Sydney Janis Gallery, New York, String and Rope
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Annual Exhibition: Contemporary American Sculpture
Vancouver Art Gallery, 955,000 (organized by Lucy Lippard)
1969
Finch College Museum of Art, New York, Art in Process IV
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, Anti-Illusion: Procedures | Materials
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Op Losse Schroeven
Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland, Live in Your Head: When Attitudes become Form
Seattle Art Museum, Washington, 557,087 (organized by Lucy Lippard)
Galerie Mickery, Loenersloot/Amsterdam, Bill Bollinger, Michael Buthe
Wide White Space Gallery, Antwerp, Young American Artists
Galerie Ricke, Cologne, Germany, 6 Künstler der Galerie Rick.
Galerie Mickery, Loenersloot, Netherlands, (pr)o(b)ject
Roberson Center, Binghamton, New York, New Media: New Methods
Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Between Object and Environment: Sculpture in an Extended Format
Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, Number 7
Galerie Ricke, Cologne, Germany, Programm II. Zeichnungen, Skulpturen
Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts & Sciences, New Jersey, Letters
Galerie Plus-Kern, Ghent, Belgium, 233m^2
Ace Gallery, Los Angeles, Wall Show—Part 1
Felix Handschin Galerie, Basel, Switzerland, Attituden
Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan, Other Ideas
Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland, Plane und Projekte als Kunst/Plans and Projects as Art
Finch College Museum of Art, New York, Art in Process IV
1968
Clemson University School of Architecture, South Carolina, Rejective Art
Bykert Gallery, New York, Bill Bollinger, Gordon Hart, Brice Marden, Alan Saret, Richard Tuttle, Ian Wilson. Painting and Sculpture
Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut, Cool-Art 1967
Gallerie René Block, Berlin, Germany, Minimal Art USA.
Galerie Ricke, Kassel, Germany, Primary Structure, Minimal Art, Pop Art, Anti Form
Paula Cooper Gallery, New York, Exhibition to Benefit Student Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam
Leo Castelli Warehouse, New York, Nine at Leo Castelli
Findlay College, Ohio, New York Now
1967
Fine Arts Division, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Decade 7. Contemporary American Art
University of Omaha, Nebraska, Rejective Art (traveled to Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas)
1966
Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, Sound, Light, Silence: Art that Performs
Bykert Gallery, New York, Ben Berns, Bill Bollinger, Clark Murray
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut
Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, Germany
Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede, Netherlands
Schaulager, Münchenstein, Switzerland
Dennos Museum Center, Traverse City, Michigan
Castello di Rivoli Museo d’Arte Contemporanea, Turin, Italy
Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein, Vaduz
Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany
Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
Museum of Modern Art, New York
RISD Museum, Providence, Rhode Island
Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede, Netherlands
Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Kunstmuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
PUBLICATIONS
2011
Bill Bollinger
Walther König, Cologne, Germany
