Biography and Curriculum Vitae

Biography

Klaus Thymann started working as a photographer at the age of fourteen photographing tourists in Copenhagen for the Canal Tour, after which he began working for various newspapers and publications during his teenage years. In 1996 he was the youngest ever winner of the Scandinavian Kodak Gold Award, numerous awards and honours have followed since.

In 1997 he co-founded a magazine, Virus, a biannual publication with in-depth features. Virus was the first magazine to uncover Echelon (the popular name to describe a signal intelligence system capable of interception and content inspection of telephone calls, fax, e-mail and other data traffic globally). The feature ultimately led to an investigation by a committee of the European Parliament with a report published in 2001.

Having established himself in Denmark as a creative force, Thymann began working with various international clients and publications and in 2000 he moved to London. Currently he is a contributor to publications such as i-D, New York Times, Wired and V. Thymann has photographed global advertising campaigns for Nike, Levi’s and Nokia amongst others. He has directed short films, music promos and exhibited moving image pieces. He has exhibited his work in numerous solo exhibitions and group shows at places like Institute of Contemporary Art, London; Museum Centro Arti Visive Pescheria, Italy; Torrance Art Museum, USA and Paul Smith’s Space Gallery, Tokyo. Thymann art work have been endorsed in form of grants from Danish Arts Council.

Coinciding with the release of his first book Hybrids, he had solo shows in New York, London and Copenhagen. Hybrids was produced over a period of four years when Thymann documented peculiar hybrid cultures around the planet, such as Snow Polo in St. Mortiz, Gay Rodeo in LA, Underwater Striptease in Chile, Underground Gardening in Tokyo. The limited edition book has introductory drawings by Tate resident artist David Shrigley – see www.hybrids-project.com.

Thymann’s most recent project is Project Pressure, documenting the world’s retreating glaciers from every relevant continent on the planet. The not-for-profit organisation has official collaborations with the World Glacier Monitoring Service, NASA and is recognized as an official contributor to Global Terrestrial Network for Glaciers. The project will be launched on multiple platforms; an international touring exhibition curated by Neville Wakefield of P.S.1 Museum of Modern Art, New York. A Glacier Atlas publication endorsed by UNESCO. Open source online dissemination, where the entire archive will be available royalty free for future generations to use for scientific, educational and all other non-commercial use. Prestigious include Arts Council England the Queen of Denmark amongst others. Thymann’s devotion and passion for this project has encouraged him to embark on a degree in Environmental Studies at The Open University to further his knowledge in this field.

Through out his career Thymann has directed films and undertaken pro bono assignments for charities and NGOs such as The World Health Organization and UNICEF, Red Cross, London Cycling Campaign, The Homeless World Cup, Teenage Cancer Trust and more.

Curriculum Vitae

Born in Copenhagen in 1974.

Education
1993 Finishes Marie Kruse gymnasium (college) in Denmark
2009 Embarking on a BSc, Environmental Studies, Open University, UK

Career Profile
2011-current: Board Member of Design and Artists Copyright Society
2008-current: Artistic Director Project Pressure

Solo Exhibitions
2010 ‘Klaus Thymann for i-D’ at BBlessing, New York
2008 HYBRIDS, Exposure, London
2007 HYBRIDS book launch and solo exhibition at DreamBag Jaguar shoes, London
2007 HYBRIDS book launch and solo exhibition at V1 Gallery, Copenhagen
2007 HYBRIDS book launch and solo exhibition at Wild Project, New York
2006 ‘I can’t see what you are saying’ at B&B Premium in conjunction with ArtMBassy, Berlin
2006 no.one Gallery, London
2005 r-s-v-p Gallery, Munich
2004 ‘Because my phone is not a camera’ at Viaux Gallery, Hamburg

Group Exhibitions
2012 Featured artist in Contemporary Art Society Leap! Gala
2011 Menonsyne public screening at Big Screen Project, New York
2011 CITIES: visionary places at Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles
2011 After the crash at Orto Botanico UNESCO heritage site (with catalogue), Rome
2010 Copenhagen Photofestival, large prints installed in public spaces, Copenhagen
2010 ‘Haiti FOTORELIEF’ at Milk Gallery, New York
2009 Museum Centro Arti Visive Pescheria, Pesaro, Italy – ‘Mnenosyne’, video installation and prints
2009 Seven Star Gallery, Berlin
2007 Group show at Paul Smith’s Space Gallery, Tokyo
2004 Onedotzero at Institute of Contemporary Art, London

Distinctions, Awards and Grants
2011 Arts Council England, grant for Project Pressure
2011 Danish Arts Council, production grant
2010 Danish Arts Council, production grant
2011 Winner Timed to Perfection competition hosted by Wired
2010 Gold Award finalist, Campaign Photo Award
2010 Winner D&AD, best use of photography (Contributing to EXIT Magazine AW09)
2009 Merit at Fujifilm Distinctions Awards 2008
2008 Winner of production grant for a short film sponsored by Sony Playstation
2008 In book for Orgreen campaign at the Association of Photographers Awards
2008 Winner ‘Best Out-Door’ Danish Advertising Awards for Coca Cola
2003 Winner of ‘Best Photographer’ at the Danish Advertising Awards
2002 Winner of Clio Silver Award for Nikewomen.com
2002 Shortlisted at Cannes Lion Advertising Festival
2000 Winner of Best Music Video at the Danish Grammy Awards
1999 Nominated for ‘Best Music Video’ at the Danish Grammy Awards
1998 Winner of ‘Music Photo of the Year’, a prize given out by the Danish Musicians Society
1996 Youngest ever winner of the Scandinavian Kodak Gold Award

Hardback
The European Project Immersion in Scientific Words Through Arts (ISWA , 2011)
‘50 top contemporary fashion photographers’ (DAAB, 2009)
‘Association of Photographers Awards’ book (AoP, 2008)
‘HYBRIDS by Klaus Thymann’ introductory drawings by David Shrigley (SQUASH’EM, 2007)
‘New Face of Portraiture’ (IdN, 2007)
‘History of Danish Photography’ (Kunstbogklubben, 2004)
‘Modeleksikon’ (Politiken 2002)

Publications and Broadcast (selected)
i-D, New York Times, POP, V Magazine, Vman, Details, Dazed & Confused, Wired, L'Officiel Hommes, EXIT, The Face, Un-titled project, Black Book, GQ, Vs, The Fader, Big Magazine, Tank, Flaunt, British Journal of Photography, 125 Magazine, Financial Times, Danish Broadcast, BBC, CNN

Lectures and Panels
2011 Lecture at Sapenzia, University of Rome
2011 Panel debate at World Copyright Summit
2011 Talk ‘Extreme Island Exploration’ by Klaus Thymann hosted by i-D Magazine and Diesel
2011 Panel discussion ‘Artists’ Futures’ chaired by Paul Hobson, Director, Contemporary Art Society
2010 Artist talk hosted by British Journal of Photography and The Photographers' Gallery
2008 Lecture at Central St. Martins
2007 Lecture at Central St. Martins
1997 Main speaker ‘Danish Advertising Now’ hosted by Creative Circle
1994-1997 Annual workshop at Kolding School of Design

Pro Bono and Charitable Work
2011 Donating edition print for charity auction benefitting Japan Rising
2010 Donating edition print for charity auction benefiting ROSE Charities
2009 Creating images for use by London Cycling Campaign
2009 Donating edition print for charity auction benefiting Kids Company
2009 Donating edition print for charity auction benefiting Teenage Cancer Trust
2006 Directing a short documentary film for The Homeless World Cup, following a South African
player in the lead up and during the tournament
2005 Donating edition print for charity auction benefiting Tsunami Fotorelief
2004 Special assignment for Dazed publishing to benefit Cancer Research UK
2002 In Kenya directing a TVC for The World Health Organization and UNICEF, featuring the
Kenya long distance running Olympic medalists
1999 Print advertising campaign for Red Cross

Commissioned Work
Hayward Gallery London, Levi's, Nike, Jordan, Adidas, Johnny Walker, Dr Martens, Nokia, Reebok, Speedo, Umbro, Canon, Selfridges, Asics, Garnier, Lenovo, T-Mobile, SonyEricsson, Vodafone, Evian, Target, BMW Motorcycles, Nieman Marcus, Carlsberg, Ellesse, Orgreen, Coca-Cola, Sony Playstation, PS2, SAS, Bogner, Jaguar, Audi

Portraiture
Depeche Mode, Coldplay, Green Day, David Bowie, Linkin Park, The Kills, The Gossip, Liam Gallagher (Oasis), The Hives, Supergrass, Prodigy, The Cardigans, Suede, Elvis Costello, The Raveonettes, Neon Neon, Craig David, Robyn