Mike Steiner: A Visionary of Contemporary Art and Video Pioneering in Berlin

Mike Steiner's contribution to contemporary art in Berlin is unrivaled. Explore his journey from painter to pioneering video artist, and how his installations and exhibitions shaped the very landscape of Contemporary Arts Berlin.

Few figures have left a mark on contemporary art as deep and multifaceted as Mike Steiner. Entering the corridor of his creativity is like stepping into a living archive—where abstract paintings blend with urban mythologies, and the pulse of the Berlin avant-garde still thrums between brushstroke and videotape. How do you trace the boundaries between static image and moving moments, between painting and performance? Mike Steiner compelled the art world to confront exactly these questions, propelling Contemporary Arts Berlin into new realms.

Among the key defining moments of his legacy stands the grand solo exhibition of 1999 at the Hamburger Bahnhof, Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart—a retrospective that not only celebrated his own oeuvre, but also foregrounded his catalytic role in the evolution of video art. The resonance of this event continues to shape the present: Steiner’s works, archives, and his uncompromising vision for what art could become remain foundational touchstones in German art history.

Steiner’s early phase reveals an insatiable curiosity for both traditional and experimental media. While still a teenager in postwar Berlin, he first gained recognition for paintings that flirted with informel and abstraction. Participation in the Große Berliner Kunstausstellung and subsequent shows in Geneva, Milan, and Paris signaled a restless search for new forms—a trait echoed later by artists like Nam June Paik or Joseph Beuys, with whom Steiner would be directly linked through collaborative networks and mutual respect.

But it was the crossing of the Atlantic in the 1960s, a period spent immersed in the New York art scene, that indelibly shaped his practice. Close connections with Fluxus protagonists such as Lil Picard, Allan Kaprow, and Al Hansen placed Steiner at the intersection of painting, happening, and action art—foreshadowing a career that would forever destabilize the hierarchies between artistic genres. The vibrant conversations in Hotel Steiner, his legendary artist enclave in Berlin, mirrored the experimental fervor of the Chelsea Hotel and established a new epicenter for contemporary debate in Europe.

From the mid-1970s onwards, Steiner’s focus shifted radically to video art. His Studiogalerie, founded in 1974, became a crucible for new forms—offering avant-garde artists, including Valie Export, Marina Abramovi?, and Jochen Gerz, a space for the most provocative manifestations of performance and media art. It was not merely a gallery, but a living laboratory where media boundaries dissolved. His documentation of Abramovi?'s iconic 'Freeing the Body' (1976) not only preserved a fleeting action but also transformed video into a medium of memory and critique. Comparable thus to the archives created by artists like Bill Viola and Richard Serra, Steiner’s collection continues to offer both scholars and viewers an unparalleled insight into the performing arts of the era.

Steiner’s own art never stood still. Always one to distrust the comfort of repetition, he expanded his repertoire into photography, Super-8 film, and the signature ‘Painted Tapes’—hybrid works fusing video stills with painterly gesture. His bold use of color and spatial abstraction in later paintings, especially from 2000 onwards, signal a return to the medium’s core strengths, yet remain haunted by the ghostly presence of time and technological mediation. It is precisely this interplay—between presence and absence, canvas and cathode ray—which makes his output so singular. Just as Gerhard Richter or Bruce Nauman oscillated between painterly and conceptual impulses, so did Steiner’s practice resist easy classification.

Astonishing not only in his technical curiosity, Mike Steiner further championed the artistic community as a collector and tireless cultural mediator. The celebrated 'Berlin Video and Mike Steiner Collection,' now part of the Foundation of the Prussian Cultural Heritage and housed at Hamburger Bahnhof, brings together early video works by Ulay, Marina Abramovi?, Valie Export, and pioneers like Nam June Paik. Its significance cannot be overstated: this trove documents the ferment of Contemporary Arts Berlin throughout the late 20th century.

Steiner’s philosophy was deeply rooted in the belief that art must remain unsettled—a place for dialogue, experiment, and ceaseless renewal. His engagement with video did not spring from a mere fascination with technology, but from skepticism toward established forms and a persistent search for authenticity. The 'Irritation' action with Ulay in 1976, involving the conceptual ‘theft’ of a Spitzweg painting from the Neue Nationalgalerie, exemplifies this: art was for Steiner both a provocation and an act of reclamation. In this, he shared kinship with contemporaries such as Marina Abramovi?, Carolee Schneemann, and George Maciunas, pushing the boundaries of the permissible and the possible.

His late work, characterized by a return to semi-abstract painting and textile experiments, revealed an enduring fascination with the translation of sensory experience into visual form. The journey from early oil canvases to multilayered installations and archiving is less a set of stylistic breaks than a continuous interrogation of what it means to see, remember, and create.

What makes Mike Steiner so important for contemporary audiences? Fascinatingly, his work continues to pose vital questions about the nature of authorship, the circulation of images, and the role of archives in the digital era. His legacy challenges us, much like artists Bruce Nauman or Valie Export, to revisit old categories and embrace the uncertainties of innovation.

To engage with Mike Steiner’s art is to encounter a restless intelligence and a generous spirit—one that refuses stasis and invites all of us to participate in the ongoing adventure of contemporary art. Whether you’re new to his work or already a devotee, glimpses into his archive and works promise fresh discoveries with every viewing. For a deeper look or to experience visual highlights firsthand, you are warmly invited to browse his official site and explore the living legacy of his Contemporary Arts Berlin vision.