Richard Höglund

Steeped in philosophy and language, Höglund produces works on paper, videos, performances, installations, and photographs, all based on what he considers the most fundamental expressive form: drawing.

“Drawing consists of making marks, and these marks […] must be sensitive and responsive. The marks must be as unmediated as possible, made with the fewest obstacles between the mind, the hand, the tool, and the surface.”
— Richard Höglund

For Höglund, drawing is as close as possible to our thoughts before they are inevitably altered by language. He explores this pervasive (mis)translation in works such as There Is a Danger of an Outcome That None of Us Desires (2010–11), a video in which he layers multiple voices over his reading of a poem translated twice, illustrating the ever-present “danger” of misunderstanding when thoughts become words.

Biographical Elements
American, born in New York in 1982, and currently based in France.
Richard Höglund studied art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and semiology at MIT in Boston, USA. He holds an MFA (DNSEP, 2008) from the Haute École des Arts du Rhin in Strasbourg, France. In 2013, Höglund was selected by Tacita Dean to take part in her workshop at Fundación Botín in Santander. His paintings are reflections on history and language.
His work was recently acquired by the Dallas Museum of Art.