Mike Steiner and the Boundaries of Contemporary Art: Visionary in Video and Abstraction

To step into the artistic universe of Mike Steiner is to experience the electric edge where forms, media, and moments collide. Renowned for his restless vision, Steiner was not content with painting alone, nor with the conventions of traditional Contemporary Art. His life's work reads as a vivid interrogation of the boundaries—between color and movement, between the poised abstraction of the canvas and the urgent reality of video, between the artist as creator and as curator of international dialogue. How does one define the artistic boundary where painting ends and the moving image begins? Mike Steiner spent decades spelling out new answers to precisely this question.

Discover Mike Steiner’s contemporary artworks and video innovations here

Steiner’s biography is a chronicle of artistic rebellion woven tightly into the fabric of Berlin’s avant-garde. From his earliest forays into painting, making his public debut at just 17 with “Stillleben mit Krug” at the legendary Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung (1959), to his radical turn toward video art in the 1970s, Steiner’s trajectory mirrors the story of Contemporary Arts Berlin in the latter half of the twentieth century. His works—whether abstract paintings, tense video experiments, or genre-defying Art Installations—carry an unflagging energy, marked by a unique tension between analytical detachment and lived immediacy.

Fascinating here is Steiner’s relentless drive for technical and conceptual innovation. In the 1960s, he absorbed the influences of Pop Art and Informalism, as seen during his scholarship stay in New York. The city’s feverish art scene and encounters with trailblazers such as Al Hansen, Allan Kaprow (father of the Happening), and Lil Picard catalyzed his embrace of Fluxus—a movement championing performative, ephemeral art. Steiner became not only a creator but also a facilitator of cutting-edge exchange: his famous Hotel Steiner on the Kurfürstendamm provided what one might call the Berlin answer to New York’s Chelsea Hotel, drawing the likes of Joseph Beuys, Arthur Köpcke, and guest artists from around the world.

The defining moment arrived in the 1970s, when Mike Steiner began systematically exploring the untapped world of video. Berlin, at the time, was not known for its video scene—unlike Cologne, where Wulf Herzogenrath was nurturing a vibrant network. Steiner’s Studiogalerie (established 1974) changed the dynamic. Here, artists like Marina Abramovi?, VALIE EXPORT, Carolee Schneemann, and Jochen Gerz crossed paths—not merely as guests, but as creators actively pushing the envelope of the Performing Arts and video documentation. Steiner made sure these transitory performances survived their own fleetingness, capturing them on tape with an obsessive sense for archival detail. The Studiogalerie became a crucible for both radical events and long-lasting works, an engine for what would soon define contemporary video art practice.

Of all his collaborations, the notorious performance “Irritation – Da ist eine kriminelle Berührung in der Kunst” with Ulay in 1976 stands out. This staged ‘art theft’—the temporary removal of Spitzweg’s “Der arme Poet” from the Neue Nationalgalerie—was both a provocation and a meditation on art’s place in society. Steiner, as producer and videographer, orchestrated the event’s documentation and subsequent public controversy. It is emblematic of his belief in art’s disruptive, transformative potential—a belief that defined his position as much more than a Video Artist or a gallerist, but as an instigator in Berlin’s artistic evolution, akin in spirit to figures like Nam June Paik or Bill Viola in the international scene.

Yet Steiner never abandoned painting. Throughout the 1980s and increasingly after 2000, he returned to the medium with fresh vigor, investing his abstract canvases with lessons gleaned from video—an ongoing dialogue between static and moving image. His "Painted Tapes" series, a true fusion of abstraction and recorded motion, stands as testament to his ambition to dissolve the borders between media. Steiner’s art effortlessly traverses the realms of color field painting and Minimal Art, offering a visual language that is both formally stringent and emotionally charged.

Perhaps most impressive is Steiner’s legacy as collector and archivist. His systematic amassing of video works—starting in 1974 with a tape by Reiner Ruthenbeck—evolved into one of the most significant collections of video art in Germany. In 1999, the prestigious Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart hosted his major solo exhibition "Color Works," celebrating not only his gattungsübergreifendes (genre-spanning) artistry but also cementing his position among the great European Artists of his era. Today, the archive, now part of the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, contains early pieces by legends such as Gary Hill, George Maciunas, and Richard Serra. Its impact on the understanding of contemporary multimedia art can hardly be overstated, even if much of the collection remains to be digitized and explored.

Mastering a spectrum from abstract, analytically sharp paintings to raw, unfiltered video performances, Mike Steiner’s oeuvre is as multifaceted as it is demanding. His works challenge the viewer to cross boundaries—intellectually and emotionally. When compared with other titans of contemporary art, such as Marina Abramovi?, Joseph Beuys, or even international figures like Bruce Nauman and Dan Graham, Steiner stands out for the way he interlinks art practice, curatorship, and activism with rare coherence. Where Bruce Nauman investigates body in space and linguistic paradox, and Dan Graham explores voyeurism and architecture, Steiner crafts a uniquely Berlin-inflected synthesis: at once personal archive and platform for the new.

The arc of his life—from the Kreuzberg art circles, via the experimental field of New York, back to the epicenter of Berlin’s performance and video arts—was marked by constant movement: between media, between roles (painter, performer, archivist), between continents and communities. His major later exhibitions—such as "Live to Tape" (Hamburger Bahnhof, 2011/12) and "AUFENFUTTER BILDERFRESSER" (Galvano Art Gallery, Leipzig, 2023)—demonstrate both the consistent reinvention at work and the staying power of his vision amid the shifting tides of German and international contemporary art.

Looking back, one appreciates Steiner’s determination to document not just his own evolution, but that of an entire field. His presence shaped not only his own exhibitions but also the artistic lives of so many: from hosting early Fluxus actions to orchestrating citywide debates on the scope of video art. Even after a stroke in 2006, he continued to work in his Berlin atelier, often returning to abstract painting that reflected decades of experiment and reflection.

What, then, makes the work of Mike Steiner essential for today’s art lover? It is the sense that nothing is ever settled—that each medium, each format remains open to revision and redefinition. Kenner schätzen besonders Steiner’s fearless approach to format and context; newcomers are often startled by the energy with which his installations and videos cut through the expected. Exploring Steiner’s practice, one encounters not a closed oeuvre, but an open-ended invitation: to think anew about what art can be.

For those seeking a deeper engagement with his artistic cosmos, a visit to his official website – further projects, archive, and biographical insights can be found here. Whether you are drawn to abstract paintings, performance documentation, or the tightrope walk between painting and video, Mike Steiner’s artistic legacy is an inexhaustible resource—both for scholars and for those simply hungry for the unexpected.