Markus Schinwald playfully combines sculptural objects, paintings, videos, theatrical installations and architectural interventions. His interests and knowledge are very diverse. The history of psychoanalysis in Austria slumbers through his work (with well-known figures such as Sigmund Freud), as does drama and performance, a result of his work in the theater and his training as a costumer and artist. These cultural and personal backgrounds have a lasting impact on his work.
His work is influenced by the cultural history of the body, psychoanalysis and technology but also by his love of dance and performance. He draws inspiration from archaic myths, surrealism, the fantastic literature of Italian novelist and poet Dino Buzzati (1906-1989) and the uniquely dark cinematic world of American film director David Lynch (1946).
Underwater scenes featuring hundreds of colourful fish, mechanical dolls in a diorama, furniture reminiscent of body parts, films and a mobile wall covered with paintings. At M, contemporary artist Markus Schinwald (°1973, Salzburg) has created a theatrical setting with moving artworks and characters. From 2.10.14 until 8.02.15, M is hosting the Austrian artist’s first retrospective exhibition in Belgium.
Markus Schinwald is a versatile artist. In each of the consecutive rooms at M, he reveals a different facet of his recent oeuvre. The artist selects his medium based on his ideas or on the intensity he wants the artwork to exude. Sometimes they are paintings or sculptures, but at other times they might be films or performances. This exhibition features several new works that have never been shown before.
In Markus Schinwald’s installations, films, paintings, sculptures and interactive work, he explores humanity’s place in the world. His leitmotif is a special interest in the human body and his investigation of the way we are physically or mentally constrained by our cultural context, our habits, our emotions or the space around us. Schinwald is also particularly interested in the way people look at art and the way this experience differs from other forms of perception. What do we expect? What excites us? What are the differences between looking at static objects and looking at moving bodies or fish in an aquarium?
Markus Schinwald
Markus Schinwald
Markus Schinwald (1973°), is an Austrian visual artist. He lives and works in Vienna and New York. He participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions. His work is in several museum and private collections. Schinwald represented Austria at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011. Recent monographic exhibitions include those at Kunstverein Hannover (2011), Kunsthaus Bregenz (2009), Mücsarnok Kunsthalle Budapest (2009), Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zurich (2008), Augarten Contemporary Vienna (2007), Aspen Art Museum (2006) and the Frankfurter Kunstverein (2004). In 2013 he exhibited at Palais de Tokyo Paris in preparation for his most recent solo show at CAPC Bordeaux (2013).
In Belgium he showed film work at argos in Brussels in 2006. He has twice taken part in the Playground festival for performance in leuven (STUK and M), where (among other things) he premièred a Stage Matrix 3. His performances have also been shown by, for instance, deSingel in Antwerp (2006). In 2013 he provided the artwork for a promotional campaign by the Brussels opera house la Monnaie. He is represented by the galleries gio’ Marconi in Milan and galerie Taddaeus Paris/ Salzburg.
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