"The most uncanny of contemporary artists" - this is how the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper commented on the nomination of Gregor Schneider as the German contribution to the Venice Biennale 2001. The artist, born in 1969, has been living in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt and has dedicated himself to the building of rooms since the eighties. The focus of Schneider's work is an ordinary tenement building that he calles Haus ur, which has been transformed into a place of great atmospheric density by continuous rebuilding. The artist has invested his time in the house by actually living there. He has built new walls, bricked in windows and opened doors leading to nowhere, he has lined certain parts with lead and drilled holes into the floor. Rare visitors to the house experienced their walks through the many labyrinthine outgrowths as oppressively claustrophobic. Gregor Schneider has created a work which completely evades the contemporary reception of art. The catalog - an artist's book and at the same time a note and work book - documents Schneider's work in and for Venice. The artist: Gregor Schneider, born 1969 in Mönchengladbach-Rheydt. From 1989- 1992 studies at the Düsseldorf, Münster and Hamburg academies. In 1985, beginning of the construction work at Haus ur, Rheydt. The editor: Udo Kittelmann, born 1958 in Düsseldorf. Since 1994, director of the Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne; in 2000, nomination for commissioner of the German Pavillon, Venice Biennale 2001. Exhibition Schedule: Venice Biennale 10.6.-4.11.2001