Thomas Rentmeister (b. 1964, Germany) lives and works in Berlin. His practice is rooted in sculpture and installation, characterized by an engagement with everyday materials and consumer goods.By placing familiar substances in a fine art context, Rentmeister challenges traditional ideas of sculpture, value, and permanence. Combining food, mass-produced furniture, and products of everyday use with classical sculptural materials, he explores themes of consumption and materiality while allowing the original identity and cultural associations of these elements to shine through. Central to his work is the tension between order and excess, control and entropy, emphasized through meticulous arrangements, compositions, and the use of mass in relation to space. His works are never hermetic or self-contained; rather, they operate on emotional, physical, and intellectual registers simultaneously, creating a unique merge between life and art that has become a defining feature of his oeuvre.

Rentmeister has exhibited widely in Germany and internationally. Selected institutional solo exhibitions include among others d23 at Sprengel Museum (Hannover, DE, 2024), Considering the Matter at HDLU, (Zagreb, HR, 2014), Objects. Food. Rooms. at Kunstmuseum Bonn (Bonn, DE, 2011) as well as Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (Perth, AU, 2012), Denken in Werken at Centraal Museum Utrecht (Utrecht, NL, 2008), Mehr at Haus am Waldsee (Berlin, DE, 2007), Minimal Pop at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (Rotterdam, NL, 2005), Zwischenlandung at Kunsthalle Nürnberg (Nuremberg, DE, 2004), WerkRaum.10 at Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin, DE, 2002) and braun at Kölnischer Kunstverein (Cologne, DE, 2001).

Selected institutional group exhibitions include True Colors. AkzoNobel Art Foundation at Kunstmuseum Den Haag (Den Haag, NL, 2024), 5ta Bienal de Montevideo. El Resto del Mundo at Palacio Legislativo (Salón de los Pasos Perdidos) (Montevideo, UY, 2023), PRIÈRE de TOUCHER. Der Tastsinn der Kunst at Museum Tinguely (Basel, CH, 2016), Streamlines at Deichtorhallen (Hamburg, DE, 2015), Eat Art at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart (Stuttgart, DE, 2010), Das Kapital. Bluechips & Masterpieces at Museum für Moderne Kunst (Frankfurt am Main, DE, 2007), Lang Leve Beeldhouwkunst! at Middelheimmuseum (Antwerpen, BE, 2006), and O Momento Suspendido – Colección H&F at Museo de Arte Contemporánea de Vigo (Vigo, ES, 2006).

Most recent exhibitions include On Physical Grounds (solo) at Kunstverein Springhornhof (Neuenkirchen, DE, 2025), On the Quiet at Museo de Arte Contemporáneo (Santiago de Chile, CL, 2023), Sunset. Ein Hoch auf die sinkende Sonne at Kunsthalle Bremen (Bremen, DE, 2022), NOTHING TO SEE NESS. Leere/Weiß/Stille at Akademie der Künste (Hanseatenweg) (Berlin, DE, 2021) and Luftzaun (solo) at Stiftung Kunst und Natur (Bad Heilbrunn, DE, 2020).

His works are held in numerous public collections, including MMK Frankfurt am Main, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Museum Ludwig (Cologne), Lehmbruck-Museum (Duisburg), Museum Kunstpalast (Düsseldorf), Museum Boijmans van Beuningen (Rotterdam), Städtisches Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach, MARTa Herford, Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck Remagen, Kolumba Köln and Museum Ostwall Dortmund, among others.

Since 2009, he has served as a professor at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig.