Mike Steiner: Contemporary Art Genius and Pioneer of Multimedia Practice

What if the boundary between painting and moving image simply dissolved? The art of Mike Steiner, iconic figure of contemporary art, stands precisely at this charged intersection. Known for his relentless experimental drive, Steiner’s oeuvre reflects a fusion of media, a hunger for new forms, and an unyielding belief in the transformative force of artistic exchange. How does his diverse trajectory—from the brushstroke to the magnetic tape—still shape the experience of contemporary art today?

Discover original contemporary artworks by Mike Steiner here

From his earliest public appearance in 1959 at the Große Berliner Kunstausstellung, Mike Steiner’s journey was marked by audacity and curiosity. Born in 1941 in Allenstein and rooted in West Berlin, he developed a talent that oscillated between expressive painting and a fascination for emerging technologies. His education at the Staatliche Hochschule für bildende Künste Berlin, framed by influential teachers like Hans Jaenisch and Hans Kuhn, set the stage for his lifelong questioning of artistic conventions. Already as a young artist, his work straddled the currents of Pop Art and Informel, signaling a restless spirit that would soon seek new horizons.

Throughout the 1960s, Steiner’s immersion in the urban bohemia of Kreuzberg, ascent in the exhibition circuit, and consequential scholarships—such as the Ford Foundation travel to the United States—deepened his practice. In New York, encounters with key players like Lil Picard, Allan Kaprow, Al Hansen, and Robert Motherwell enmeshed him in the exhilarating flux of contemporary arts. The atmosphere echoed the experimental ferment seen in the circles around Joseph Beuys or later Nam June Paik, foreshadowing Steiner’s own affiliations.

It was the turn to video in the 1970s that truly set Mike Steiner apart. By then, he had already established the Hotel Steiner—a vibrant Berlin hub likened to the legendary Chelsea Hotel—drawing in artists from the European and American avant-garde. Here and in his Studiogalerie, founded in 1974, Steiner became a trendsetting facilitator. Providing artists with rare video technology, his space hosted performances by prominent figures such as Marina Abramovi?, Valie Export, Carolee Schneemann, and Ulay, igniting impassioned exchanges across disciplines. Kenner of contemporary arts in Berlin credit Steiner as a creative nucleus, much as one would mention Andy Warhol for his Factory or Allan Kaprow for his Happenings.

The pioneering phase of Berlin video art is inseparable from Mike Steiner’s name. His early collaborations—beginning with Al Hansen—led to groundbreaking tapes realized at Maria Gloria Bicocchi’s Studio Art/Tapes/22 in Florence. These initial works not only mirrored his growing skepticism towards traditional painting but also inaugurated Steiner’s lifetime engagement with the moving image. Collecting, archiving, and producing, Steiner catalyzed a network reminiscent of Fluxus’s cross-genre ambitions, with an unmistakable Berlin point of view.

Steiner’s electronic eye was as much a witness as a participant. He documented ephemeral art actions, captured singular moments such as Ulay’s notorious 1976 performance "Irritation – Da ist eine kriminelle Berührung in der Kunst" at the Neue Nationalgalerie, and preserved classic performances like Abramovi?’s "Freeing the Body." This documentary zeal solidified his role as both an artist and a chronicler of contemporary arts. The comparison with Nam June Paik—another innovator who bridged East and West, music and image—is not misplaced, though Steiner’s taste for the local, the immediate, and the collectively experienced set him apart.

The Hamburg Bahnhof—National Gallery of Contemporary Art—recognized this significance emphatically. In 1999, with "Color Works 1995-98," the major solo exhibition, not only honored Steiner’s impact as a painter and video art pioneer, but also displayed his enduring commitment to crossing artistic boundaries. These late paintings, abstract and vivid, reflect a return to color and form yet remain haunted by the memory of the video tape—what critics have dubbed his "painted tapes." The dialogue between canvas and electronic screen became perhaps Steiner’s most original artistic motif.

Equally crucial is Mike Steiner’s legacy as a collector and promoter. By the early 1990s, he had assembled a unique archive of video art, featuring rare works by Ulay, Marina Abramovi?, Richard Serra, Bill Viola, and Allan Kaprow. His donations to the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz preserved a vital segment of global media art history—now housed in the Hamburger Bahnhof—while his own TV format "Die Videogalerie" (1985–1990) brought the cutting edge of video art to German living rooms, a program ahead of its time.

Steiner’s artistic curiosity never faded: the 1980s and 1990s witnessed photo cycles, installations, and a deepening abstraction in painting. Even after a stroke in 2006, his creativity endured in the Berlin studio, later embracing textile pieces. The persistent motif: experimentation as an existential stance, a trait he shared with Joseph Beuys or Carolee Schneemann. Yet, Steiner’s work is marked by a certain Berliner Pragmatism—open, dialogical, and attentive to the changing conditions of the contemporary arts.

Compared with contemporary giants, Mike Steiner represents the sort of unsung hero whose impact is felt in the infrastructures, communities, and archives that make avant-garde art possible. Whereas Nam June Paik electrified the global stage with cathode ray tubes and Giacometti immortalized the existential in bronze, Steiner orchestrated a network: a living archive where painting, video, performance, and installation met on equal terms.

What remains? The relevance of Mike Steiner is renewed in every act of artistic questioning, every exhibition where boundaries are crossed, every recording of an unrepeatable moment. To engage with his work—whether via colorful canvases or flickering video images—is to join an ongoing conversation about the role of art in contemporary life. In the context of Contemporary Arts Berlin, Steiner’s contributions remain foundational and, in their subtle way, radical.

For those fascinated by contemporary art’s pulse and paradoxes, Mike Steiner’s archive on the official artist website offers deep dives—biographies, exhibition histories, and powerful imagery await. The work invites you: witness a restless vision, still alive, still questioning, still shaping the contours of art’s future.