David Behrens
David Behrens (*1990) is a visual artist working at the intersection of textiles, painting, and sculpture. His works radically address emotional isolation, physical intimacy, and the commodification of the male body within late-capitalist structures. He works with industrial raw materials such as denim and steel tubing, as well as repurposed mass-produced goods, which he transforms through mechanical and chemical processes into series of works ranging from textile to painting, printmaking, and sculpture. Behrens studied Fashion Design (B.A. 2014) at AMD Hamburg, followed by Media Art and Painting/Printmaking at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, where he completed his diploma in 2024 under Anne Speier and Franziska Reinbothe.
His works have been exhibited at the Zentrum für Aktuelle Kunst Berlin, Kunstverein Wolfenbüttel, and Leipziger Baumwollspinnerei, among others. Since 2018, he has also been active as a co-curator and will curate two duo exhibitions at Kunstverein Lüneburg in 2026.
Work
career
2017–2024
Diploma, Painting/Printmaking, Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig
2021–2024
Painting Class: Anne Speier and Franziska Reinbothe
2019–2021
Painting Class: Ingo Meller and Franziska Reinbothe
2019–2021
Fine Arts Class: Helmut Mark and Kilian Schellbach
2017–2019
Media Art/Foundation Studies, Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig
2010–2014
B.A., Fashion Design, AMD Akademie Mode & Design, Hamburg
solo exhibition
2024
Hand Job, BSMNT Gallery, Leipzig
2019
the graphic image, Kombinat e. V., Leipzig
Exhibitions
2025
We Exist and We Remain, Galerie der GlogauAIR, Berlin
Until It Hurts, Kunstverein Wolfenbüttel e. V., Wolfenbüttel
casual collaborations and the conditions of belonging, Forum Kunst & Architektur, Essen
A-Z: Language as an (Un)safe Tool, Haus 10, Fürstenfeldbruck
2024
Monomentum, Werkschau (Halle 12), Leipzig
SPOONING, a&o Kunsthalle, Leipzig
SPACES – Leipzig Art Spaces in Focus, Werkschau (Halle 12), Leipzig
CODA, BSMNT Gallery, Leipzig
24h Bistro, Bistro21, Leipzig
2023
Wear a Tipico Jersey, Q18 Quartier am Hafen, Cologne
Festival of Museums and Galleries, Kunst im Speicher II, Münster (Westphalia)
minus (II), Minus, Leipzig
SNOT, Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, Leipzig
2022
Annual Gifts, Förderverein Aktuelle Kunst e. V., Münster (Westphalia)
meet me in the hallway, Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig, Leipzig
2021
Seasonal Black, Werkschau (Halle 12), Leipzig
2020
Running Athens – Spaces (III), Phoenix Athens Gallery, Athens/GR
B.Y.O.A., Department of Art and Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA
Vulnerable Subjects, Zentrum für aktuelle Kunst, Berlin
publications
2020
Published in: Robin Kirchner "BUST A NUT: I, II, III", edition 400
Fairs
2024
Academy Positions, POSITIONS Art Fair, Tempelhof Airport, Berlin
