Kai Althoff: And Then Leave Me to the Common Swifts

Kai Althoff is an internationally-known German artist who lives in Cologne and New York. Laura Hoptman is Curator in the Department of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Kai Althoff (b. 1966, Germany) is one of the most consummate and unpredictable artists of his generation. A painter and a draftsman, he has experimented since the mid-1990s with combinations of unconventional mediums and exhibition formats to create all-encompassing environments that might include finely detailed drawings; collage; woven textiles, knitted fabric; soft sculpture; paintings; writing; video; fragrance; and song. Published in conjunction with a major exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, this publication presents Althoffs work in all mediums created over a 25-year career, and is the most comprehensive publication on the artist to date. Created in close collaboration with the artist in the model of old master catalogues from the period after the Second World War, the book features lavish colour reproductions of Althoffs most significant works. Contributions by art historians, curators, a critic, a rabbi, a professor of psychology and a close friend of the artist offer multiple perspectives on Althoffs iconographically rich work.