Lars Koepsel
Lars Koepsel (b. Bingen am Rhein, lives in Munich) is an artist whose practice interweaves artisanal precision, historical references, and philosophical inquiry. Trained in art history, philosophy, and as a gilder and church painter, Koepsel places handwriting at the core of his conceptual work. Through layered transcriptions of seminal texts—from Dante and Plato to Hannah Arendt, Erasmus, and Marx—his works transform legible writing into dense visual textures that oscillate between language, text and image.
Recurring stays in Taiwan since 1993 and his engagement with the Chinese concept script have deeply influenced his visual language, which bridges Western and Eastern traditions. He works on handmade papers, old historically charged maps and globes and large-scale site-specific wall pieces.
Koepsel has exhibited internationally and has lectured and participated in discussions at documenta 15 (Kassel, 2022), the Goethe-Institut Taipei, and universities in Australia and Taiwan.
In 2012 he founded Apartment der Kunst in Munich and initiated a residency exchange between Taiwan and Munich. His works are held in public and private collections including the Bavarian State Library, the Lyrik Kabinett Munich and the Haeusgen Collection.
ARTWORKS
Selbstporträt mit Jeff Koons, 2020
Acrylic and ink on handmade paper
98 x 81 cm
Copyright Lars Koepsel
Manifesto, 2017
Ink and blue ball pen on handmade paper
184 x 122 cm
Copyright Lars Koepsel
Die drei Ringe (nach Lessing), 2016/17
Ink and white pigment on paper
190 x 190 cm
Copyright Lars Koepsel
Damn (nach Gustav Lebon), 2022
Ink, pigment, Acrylic, gold leaf on map
209 x 200 cm
Copyright Lars Koepsel
Die Kunst des Liebens (nach Erich Fromm), 2015
Ink and oil on handmade paper
24 x 30 x 42 cm
Copyright Lars Koepsel
Die Wolke des Nichtwissens, 2015
Ink on handmade paper
180 x 240 cm
Copyright Lars Koepsel
They, 2025
Ink, white Pigment, gold leaf on map
∅90 cm
Copyright Lars Koepsel
Xerxes Kontinium (nach Aischylos)/23, 2022
Pigment, gold leaf, Acrylic on map
140 x 120 cm
Copyright Lars Koepsel
EXHIBITIONS
GOLD
Group Exhibition
21th November 2024 - 8th February 2025
BIOGRAPHY
Born in Bingen am Rhein, Germany
1983–1985 Studied art history at the University of Mainz
1985–1988 Trained as a gilder and church painter
1998–2001 Studied philosophy at LMU Munich
Lives in Munich
Selected Exhibitions and Performances
2025 They, Lars Koepsel and Vernon Ah Kee, boutwell schabrowsky, Munich
2024 Gold, boutwell schabrowsky, Munich
2023 imagine..., Matsu Biennial, Matsu Island, Taiwan
2023 you can take (Taipei edition), VT Artsalon, Taipei, Taiwan, solo exhibition
2022 you can take (Munich edition), DG Kunstraum, Munich
2021 shelter, Apartment der Kunst, Munich, catalogue, solo exhibition
2020 Wieder und Wieder (Again and Again), DG Kunstraum Munich, catalogue
2019 ICOMEFROMABEAUTIFULPLACE, Artionale 2019, St. Lukas Church, Munich,
solo exhibition, catalogue
2019 VECTOR Munich, Kunstverein München, edited by Birthe Blauth and Peter Gregorio,
catalogue
2018 Am Anfang war das Wort AM, Galerie Renate Bender, Munich
2018 Labyrinth konkret...mit Nebenwegen, Museum im Kulturspeicher, Würzburg, catalogue
2014 Exercises of Emptiness, VT Artsalon, Taipei, Taiwan, solo exhibition
2013 Founding of Apartment der Kunst , Munich
2012 The Killerrabbitranchrodeo, Nationalgalerie Berlin
2010 iAart at ITPark, with Vernon Ah Kee, Taipei, Taiwan
2007 Rainbow Soldier Liquid Heart / Die Ästhetik des Reisens in der zeitgenössischen Fotografie,
Tiroler Künstlerschaft, Innsbruck, Austria
2006 The golden people, Pingtung Peninsula Art, Artist in Residence, Kenting, Taiwan, catalogue
2004 Game over, Künstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria, Cinema, Premiere
2000 Moon event/Kurt Johannessen, Bergen Museum of Art, Europäische Kulturhauptstadt,
with Kurt Johannessen, Norway, catalogue
2000 The second generation, Da-An Park Taipei, Taiwan, solo exhibition
2000 lai, Public Art Project, Song Zhuang, Peking, solo exhibition
1999 lai (COME), Kunst im öffentlichen Raum, DEoA- Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan,
solo exhibition, catalogue
Review
Damian Lentini: DAS UNSICHTBARE IN BEWEGUNG über Lars Koepsels „Handschriften“,
catalogue „Wieder und Wieder“, DG Kunstraum, Munich 2020
Collections
Bavarian State Library, Munich
Aareal Bank Collection, Wiesbaden
Lyrik Kabinett, Munich
Häusler Collection
Private collections in Germany, Taiwan and Australia