Omer Fast

Omer Fast’s narrative does not allow many fixed parameters. The rhythmic structure of recurring protagonists, scenes and lines, creates a treacherous, fictive space for the spectator. We are forced to regain our foothold, in scenes like clips from an absorbing genre movie. But then the illusion is crushed again – familiar characters and settings recur, but with crucial differences. As in Continuity (2012), where a German couple welcomes their deceased son home from the war in Afghanistan, over and over again, with different male escorts playing the part. Omer Fast allows us to follow the work as though it were still in the idea phase, when all possibilities are still open. And yet, the story is done, set in balanced images and exact cuts.

Omer Fast was born in Jerusalem, Israel, 1972, and lives and works in Berlin.He studied at Tufts University, School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Hunter College until 2000. He was the recipient of the 2009 Preis der Nationalgalerie für Junge Kunst and the 2008 Bucksbaum Award from the Whitney Museum of American Art. His work is represented at the Guggenheim Museum of Art, Hamburger Bahnhof, Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Hirshhorn Museum.

Selected solo exhibitions: Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus 2012; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2010; Museum Moderner Kunst, Vienna, 2007; Carnegie Museum, Pittsburgh, 2005; Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, 2004.

Selected group exhibitions: dOCUMENTA (13), Kassel 2012; ILLUMInazioni, La Biennale di Venezia2011; Found in Translation, Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2011; The Whitney Biennial, New York, 2008.