Christian Megert

Christian Megert is a key figure in the ZERO movement, renowned for his work in light and concrete art.

Biography of Christian Megert

Christian Megert was born in 1936 in Bern, Switzerland. He attended the Kunstgewerbeschule in Bern from 1952 to 1956. Following his education, Megert lived in Berlin, Stockholm, and Paris.

In 1956, he held his first exhibition at Galerie Portgasse in Bern, showcasing monochrome collages and diagrams. By the late 1950s, he began integrating light and mirrors into his work, leading to notable projects such as the light-themed environment for the NUL exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam in 1962 and a mirror-architecture piece for the Swiss Land Exhibition in Lausanne in 1964.

In 1972, Megert moved to Düsseldorf, where he was appointed Professor of Integrated Visual Arts and Architecture at the Kunstakademie. He also contributed to public art, designing installations for a sports school in Magglingen and creating mirror labyrinths, cube sculptures, and well sites.

Megert's works have been exhibited widely with solo shows held at various galleries worldwide, including SETAREH in Düsseldorf, Galleria San Fedele in Milan, Galerie Volker Diehl in Berlin, Galerie Edith Wahlandt in Stuttgart, Galerie Geiger in Konstanz, maab gallery in Milan, among others.

Currently, the artist lives and works in Düsseldorf, Germany. 

Christian Megert’s Art Style

Christian Megert is a sculptor, installation, and object artist. With his structural, material, and frottage works of the 1950s – both informal and monochrome – as well as his light box and mirror works, Christian Megert is an important representative of the ZERO movement through light and concrete art.

He employs mirrors to reflect light and movement, dissecting space to reveal monochrome realms of color. As an industrially manufactured material, mirrors serve as Megert's primary medium for altering, fragmenting, and multiplying shapes to create an expansive, almost infinite space. He animates the mirrors through cutting, collaging, coloring, and glazing. In his installations, often housed in plexiglass boxes, he incorporates foils and light sources such as fluorescent tubes to craft diverse light and color environments.