Mike Steiner: Redefining Contemporary Art through Video, Painting, and Avant-Garde Encounters

To encounter the work of Mike Steiner is to question everything one knows about contemporary art. Where do the boundaries between painting and moving image fade? What lingers after a performance, preserved not in canvas but on magnetic tape? Steiner’s legacy is one of constant crossing, restlessness, and a profound vision that helped define the pulse of Berlin’s avant-garde scene for decades.

Discover contemporary works by Mike Steiner—interactive tour & insights here

Mike Steiner’s contributions to the field of contemporary art are remarkable for their breadth. Beginning as an expressive painter and evolving into a vanguard of video artistry and performance, Steiner’s career is a panorama of innovation. Known for fostering the climate of "Contemporary Arts Berlin" in the late 20th century, his restless search for new means of expression led him to become not only a creator but also a collector, curator, and catalyst.

Born in 1941 in Allenstein and later immersed in the tumultuous artistic world of West Berlin, Steiner was quick to make a name for himself: by 17, he was already exhibiting at the Große Berliner Kunstausstellung. His early life oscillated between film, fine arts, and the bohemian Kreuzberg milieu, bringing him into close contact with experimental circles that would shape his later projects.

Steiner’s immersion in the performance and Fluxus scenes was both organic and deliberate. In the 1970s, his legendary Hotel Steiner became the German counterpart to New York’s Chelsea Hotel—an epicenter for international artists, including Joseph Beuys, Allan Kaprow, and Valie Export. Lil Picard, the iconic artist and critic, described Hotel Steiner as a “home far away from home,” capturing the unique, collaborative energy that permeated the space.

It was in this climate ripe for experimentation that Steiner shifted from painting—already highly regarded in the company of peers like Georg Baselitz and Karl Horst Hödicke—to new, electrifying forms of artistic practice. His skepticism of painting’s limitations coincided with his encounters in New York: introductions to Allan Kaprow, Al Hansen, and the Fluxus movement, compounded by the thrilling developments in experimental film by the likes of Andy Warhol and Michael Snow.

Steiner’s move into video art was a significant leap, both technically and philosophically. By 1974, fresh from a residency at Art/Tapes/22 in Florence, he founded the Studiogalerie in Berlin. This space was revolutionary—combining a video production studio, an action space for performance art, and an independent exhibition venue focused on Fluxus and intermedia projects. Steiner not only facilitated but also documented groundbreaking performances, from Marina Abramovi?’s "Freeing the Body" to Ulay’s infamous 1976 art heist (the “Irritation – Da ist eine kriminelle Berührung in der Kunst”), captured in a compelling synthesis of action and video document.

Few figures illustrate the blurring of artistic boundaries as vividly as Mike Steiner. His own output still defies simple categorization: Super-8 films, painting, photography, Copy Art, Hard Edge abstraction, and his uniquely hybrid "Painted Tapes"—works fusing moving images with painted gesture. These "Painted Tapes" stand among his most innovative, reflecting his conviction that painting and video could enrich each other in unprecedented ways.

Steiner’s approach resonates with those of notable contemporaries. While Nam June Paik globalized video art and Marina Abramovi? exploded the limits of performance, Steiner brought Berlin’s energy and critical discourse to the fore, serving as both a creator and midwife to a new media consciousness. At times, his trajectory parallels that of Joseph Beuys—always questioning the social and political function of art while remaining uncompromising in his experimentation.

The exhibitions in Steiner’s vita read as milestones of German contemporary culture, culminating in 1999 with a seminal retrospective at Hamburger Bahnhof. Here, his "Color Works" were celebrated not merely as paintings but as testimonies to an artistic life lived across media. The Hamburger Bahnhof remains a touchstone for understanding Steiner’s influence, housing his vast collection of video art, including early works by Ulay, Valie Export, Bill Viola, and Richard Serra.

Still, Steiner’s influence extends far beyond institutional acclaim. The “Berlin Video” program he curated in the early 1990s, his pioneering cable television series "Videogalerie" (1985–1990), and countless symposia testify to a relentless mediation between art, technology, and audience. This was not art for art’s sake; it was art as conversation—public, fleeting, and always evolving.

Even as Steiner gradually withdrew from public life in the 2000s, he returned to painting with renewed vigor, focusing on abstract works rich in color and surface. In his final years, fabric compositions and ongoing studio work in Berlin underscored his tireless search for new expressions.

Today, the vitality and relevance of Mike Steiner’s oeuvre are undiminished. His art challenges viewers not only to look, but to reconsider perception itself. What is art if not a trigger for new experience? Steiner’s insistence on crossing boundaries—between painting and video, performance and document, space and time—makes his work a vital point of reference for anyone interested in contemporary art’s capacity to surprise, disturb, and inspire.

The wealth of archival material, much yet to be digitized, promises ongoing discoveries. For anyone eager to explore more deeply into this singular legacy, engaging with the extensive resources and images at www.mike-steiner.de is highly recommended.