Grow­ing up in a vil­lage in north­ern Aus­tria, I spent my child­hood dig­ging holes in my par­ents’ gar­den in search of hid­den trea­sures and look­ing after cows and pigs on the neigh­bors’ farm.
Today I deal with real and imag­i­nary holes in my work. It is the human exis­tence and its rela­tion­ship to the envi­ron­ment and nature that I am inter­est­ed in. A large area of research lies beneath the vis­i­ble sur­face, in the exten­sive and inter­con­nect­ed cave sys­tems that deter­mine our actions. For sev­er­al years now I have been show­ing such “worm­holes” as real objects in my sculp­tures and paintings.

For me, the moti­va­tion to cre­ate art is often relat­ed to emo­tions that arise from con­flict. I pay par­tic­u­lar atten­tion to such per­son­al or social dis­tor­tions. When some­thing rubs, press­es and push­es, it is a chal­lenge for me to address this imbal­ance. In my art I expose myself to sit­u­a­tions, even if they are inse­cure. It’s adven­tures that dri­ve me. Whether as a per­for­mance project in pub­lic space, as an exhi­bi­tion on ill­ness and death, or as a pho­to series in cold and snow. The rela­tion­ship between the inner and out­er world and the vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty of the indi­vid­ual are cru­cial to my artis­tic under­stand­ing. In my per­for­mances I address this ambiva­lence of human exis­tence. This is done using con­crete top­ics such as envi­ron­men­tal destruc­tion, escape, ill­ness, indi­vid­ual and social exploita­tion, etc. In my work I approach the absurd aspects of human action with a resis­tant atti­tude: I ironize, con­front and trans­form them. In this con­text, for me, art is also a tool for shap­ing soci­ety that can show new per­spec­tives and pos­si­bil­i­ties for change in view of cur­rent chal­lenges. It is a sharp knife that can touch, cut or stab.

One of the foun­da­tions of my work is that I think of it as mul­ti­di­men­sion­al and can there­fore explore the rela­tion­ships between objects, space and time. A body, no mat­ter what kind, liv­ing or non-liv­ing, exerts influ­ence on its sur­round­ings sim­ply by its mere pres­ence. I fol­low these often invis­i­ble con­nec­tions and make them tan­gi­ble in my art. In this sense, the artis­tic medi­um is not piv­otal. A flat pho­to­graph can also tell the sto­ry of mul­ti­di­men­sion­al­i­ty if it shows a rep­re­sen­ta­tion of real­i­ty and space or time is reflect­ed in it.

For my instal­la­tions, sculp­tures and pic­tures I use mate­ri­als such as soil, wood, plas­ter, con­crete, steel, plas­tics and paints. I am just as inter­est­ed in nat­ur­al objects that I find some­where in the land­scape on my hikes as in indus­tri­al­ly pro­duced ones. If things already bear the traces of time, such as rusty nails, then for me they are not waste, but rather car­ri­ers of infor­ma­tion. All of these objects and mate­ri­als can relate to each oth­er in my art.

The craft cre­ation process is always a process of knowl­edge and a phys­i­cal adven­ture. Often some­thing goes wrong; many ideas in your head, when they are trans­lat­ed into real­i­ty, become bor­ing or mon­strous struc­tures that are lat­er either trans­formed into oth­er objects or destroyed. Cre­at­ing art is a con­stant strug­gle between assem­bling and tear­ing down, between mov­ing for­ward and failing.

In 2021, I found­ed the “Black Ferk Stu­dio” with my part­ner Judith Schoss­böck, an art and sci­ence col­lec­tive that deals with seri­ous chron­ic dis­eases of the ner­vous and immune sys­tem, and in par­tic­u­lar with the mul­ti­sys­tem dis­ease ME/CFS. The rea­son for this project was my partner’s ill­ness, which revealed to us a dark side of human exis­tence. Since then, we have been deal­ing with the hor­ror of this dis­ease and the social and polit­i­cal igno­rance that sur­rounds issues like this. Here I am sim­i­lar­ly inter­est­ed in trac­ing, reveal­ing and trans­form­ing. The works cre­at­ed in the “Black Ferk Stu­dio” address an often invis­i­ble world under extreme con­di­tions, but which is part of real­i­ty and requires me as an artist to take a close look.

2025

• “Das unsicht­bare Lei­den mit ME/CFS” (The unseen suf­fer­ing of ME/CFS). Group exhi­bi­tion (curat­ed by Matthias Mollner/Black Ferk Stu­dio). Instal­la­tion and pho­tos. Land­tag Nor­drhein-West­falen, Dues­sel­dorf (DE)
• “Par­al­lel Vien­na”. Group show at the art fair Par­al­lel (curat­ed by Black Ferk Stu­dio). Sculp­tures and pho­tos. Otto-Wag­n­er-Are­al, Vien­na (AT)
• “Buried Alive feat. Black Ferk Stu­dio”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Pho­tos and sculp­ture. Sym­po­sion Lindabrunn (AT)
• “Liq­uid Anthro­pocene”. Solo exhi­bi­tion. Paint­ings and sculp­tures. UZ Labor Unterzögers­dorf (AT)
• “head_flix”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures. Kün­stler­haus Fac­to­ry Vien­na (AT)

2024

• “Par­al­lel Vien­na”. Group exhi­bi­tion at the art fair Par­al­lel (curat­ed by Black Ferk Stu­dio). Sculp­tures and pho­tos. Otto-Wag­n­er-Are­al, Vien­na (AT)
• “Pain Por­traits”. Solo exhi­bi­tion (Black Ferk Stu­dio). Paint­ings and video. Lutherische Stadtkirche Vien­na (AT)

2023

• “Heim­suchen II”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­ture. Bob­bin Fab­rik Gmünd (AT)
• “Crash!”. Exhi­bi­tion with works by Black Ferk Stu­dio (Matthias Moll­ner and Judith Schoss­böck) as well as 21 invit­ed artists and activists. Kün­stler­haus Fac­to­ry Vien­na (AT)
• Sym­po­sium “Crash!”. Sym­po­sium organ­ised by Black Ferk Stu­dio and live per­for­mance. Kün­stler­haus Fac­to­ry Vien­na (AT)
• “Demedarts”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Pho­tog­ra­phy. Kün­stler­haus Fac­to­ry Vien­na (AT)
• “Ground Body Reflec­tion”. Solo exhi­bi­tion and per­for­mance. Bil­draum 07, Vien­na (AT)

2022

• “Can any­body hear me”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­ture. ip.forum, Vien­na (AT)
• “Kongress der Wis­senden” (Con­gress of the Know­ing). Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­ture and instal­la­tion. Pub­lic space under the Lentos Art Muse­um, Linz/Donau (AT)
• “Leere und Dichte” (Empti­ness and den­si­ty). Group exhi­bi­tion. Doku­men­ta­tion­szen­trum für mod­erne Kun­st Niederöster­re­ich, Sankt Pöl­ten (AT)

2021

• “The Hole House”. Per­for­mance at the Live Art Vari­eté. Cen­tral, Linz/Donau (AT)
• “Play­ing in a hole”. Solo exhi­bi­tion (objects and pho­tographs). Kun­stvere­in Kul­tur­drogerie, Vien­na (AT)
• “Querver­schiebung eines Wurm­lochs – Eine Raumkör­per­anatomie”. Per­for­mance and instal­la­tion. Domenig Stein­haus, Stein­dorf at Ossi­ach­er lake (AT)
• “flo­ra pondtem­po­rary”. Per­for­mance sculp­ture “Worm­hole”. Group exhi­bi­tion at the Stift­ste­iche St. Flo­ri­an (AT)
• “Natur ! PRO_dukt/”. Group exhi­bi­tion and per­for­mance with audi­ence par­tic­i­pa­tion. Pub­lic space and Trais­mauer cas­tle (AT)

2020

• “A bed is a seri­ous place”. 11 day long per­for­mance and instal­la­tion with audi­ence par­tic­i­pa­tion. Non­Stop­Schein­er, Graz. Insti­tut for Art in pub­lic space Styr­ia / Muse­um Joan­neum (AT)

2019

• Gallery Mod­u­lArt. Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures. Vien­na (AT)
• “Evo­lu­tion Rev­o­lu­tion Worm”. Solo exhi­bi­tion and per­for­mance. Sculp­ture and pho­tos. Sym­po­sion Lindabrunn (AT)
• “Worm­hole”. Sculp­ture and per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Sym­po­sion Lindabrunn (AT)
• “Kriech mit mir durch Wald und Flur”. Per­for­mance and instal­la­tion. Kun­stvere­in Urhof 20, Grün­bach am Schnee­berg (AT)

2018

• “FIFFI” (Fun­da­men­tal Impo­tence Fol­lows Fuck­ing Igno­rants). Per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Body and Free­dom Fes­ti­val, Zuerich (CH)
• “Abtauchen”. Per­for­mance. Alte Schmiede, Kun­stvere­in Vien­na (AT)
• “YOU where is your rev­o­lu­tion?!”. Solo exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures and pho­tos. Hör­nes­gasse 10 – Room for Con­tem­po­rary Art, Vien­na (AT)

2017

• “The Glasshouse”. Sculp­ture, 24-hour live per­for­mance and video. Pub­lic space Mis­tel­bach (AT)
• “Die Mück­en kreisen”. Per­for­mance. Kun­stvere­in Set­zkas­ten and Okto TV, Vien­na (AT)
• “The Glasshouse – Wolk­ers­dorf Objects”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Pub­lic space Wolk­ers­dorf (AT)

2016

• “The Carousel”. 7 day long per­for­mance in pub­lic space, instal­la­tion and video. (Landes)Museum Niederöster­re­ich and Kun­st- und Kul­turvere­in LAMES, Sankt Pöl­ten (AT)
• “lines”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Instal­la­tion and per­for­mance “Man in Cage (The way we go now or lat­er or nev­er)”. art­space spen­glerei, Vien­na (AT)

2015

• “Base Camp 22–25”. 4 Inter­ven­tions (per­for­mance expe­di­tions) in pub­lic space. Volk­sthe­ater, Josef­städter Straße, Donaukanal, Am Graben, Vien­na (AT)
• “The mon­key the­ater – First actions”. Solo exhi­bi­tion. Video and pho­tos. Kun­stvere­in Kul­tur­drogerie, Vien­na (AT)
• “Folge der Ein­rich­tung”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­ture and per­for­mance „Matthias Mollner´s U”. Kun­straum Niederöster­re­ich and Kun­stvere­in Kul­tur­drogerie, Vien­na (AT)

2014

• “Time is Love.7”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Video. The Invis­i­ble Line Gallery – Lon­don (UK), Gallery Tal­mart – Paris (F), Pink Gallery, Seoul (KOR), Vovatanya Gallery – Kharkiv (UA), Pho­ton Gallery – Ljubl­jana (SLO)
• “El Toro”. Per­for­mance in two parts. Leopold Muse­um, Vien­na (AT)
• “The Run­ner”. Per­for­mance. Tanz*Hotel, Vien­na (AT)
• 30. Inter­na­tion­al Short­film Fes­ti­val Ham­burg (DE)
• “Oil rush”. Sculp­ture, per­for­mance and video. Pub­lic Space Langschlag (AT)
• “Hans in luck”. Group exhi­bi­tion and per­for­mance expe­di­tion „Glob­al Worm­ing in Par­adise”. Kun­straum Niederöster­re­ich, Vien­na (AT)
• “Base Camp 20”. Inter­ven­tion (per­for­mance expe­di­tion) in pub­lic space and instal­la­tion at the Galerie 3, Kla­gen­furt (AT)
• “The Run­ner – Lev­el 2”. Per­for­mance. Tanz*Hotel, Vien­na (AT)
• “Base­camp 21”. Inter­ven­tion (per­for­mance expe­di­tion) in pub­lic space. Mari­ahil­fer Straße, Vien­na (AT)

2013

• Art Fair “Art Aus­tria”. Exhi­bi­tion at the booth of Gallery Ruberl. Leopold Muse­um, Vien­na (AT)
• “REIGEN.im.Park”. Group exhi­bi­tion in pub­lic space. Instal­la­tion and per­for­mance “Wet earth 3”. Arthur Schnit­zler Park Baden (AT)
• “Base Camp 18”. Inter­ven­tion (per­for­mance expe­di­tion) in pub­lic space. Ottakringer Straße, Vien­na (AT)
• “Base Camp 19 / Rolling Balls”. Inter­ven­tion (per­for­mance expe­di­tion) in pub­lic space. Mari­ahil­fer Straße, Vien­na (AT)

2010: For­ma­tion of the artist duo MOLLNER & SCHORSCH by Matthias Moll­ner and the dancer and per­for­mance artist Ger­da Schorsch.

2012: Ger­da Schorsch die in April after a short and heavy disease.

2012 (MOLLNER & SCHORSCH)

• “Cross­breeds”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Video instal­la­tion “Wet earth”. Kabel­w­erk, Vien­na (AT)
• “WERK.zeug.SCHAU”. Solo exhi­bi­tion with the works of MOLLNER & SCHORSCH. Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts (AT)

2012 (Matthias Mollner)

• “Unplugged Ses­sion”. Video “Nie­mand­s­land” and per­for­mance. Kul­turvere­in Schikaned­er, Vien­na (AT)
• “The Giant”. Sculp­ture in pub­lic space. Muck­enko­gel, Lilien­feld (AT)
• “Base Camp 14–17”. 4 inter­ven­tions (per­for­mance expe­di­tions) in pub­lic space. Rathaus, Freyung, Augustin­erkirche and The­seustem­pel, Vien­na (AT)

2011 (MOLLNER & SCHORSCH)

• “Base Camp 1–10”. 13 inter­ven­tions (per­for­mance expe­di­tions) in pub­lic space. Am Graben, Alberti­na Muse­um, Stephansplatz, Kohlmarkt, Staat­sop­er, Stadt­park­steg, Kärnt­ner Straße, Karl­splatz and Helden­tor, Vien­na (AT)
• “Das Dorf” (The Vil­lage). Sculp­ture and per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Sym­po­sion Lindabrunn (AT)
• Art Walk Groß Siegharts. Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures and video. Project space for young art. Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts (AT)
• Sym­po­sion Lindabrunn. Per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Lindabrunn (AT)
• “Base Camp 11–13 / The Untam­able”. Exhi­bi­tion with pigs in the art­space “umraum.stadtbureau” and three inter­ven­tions (per­for­mance expe­di­tions) in pub­lic space as part of Vien­na Art Week. Naschmarkt, Fritz Grün­baum Platz und Mari­ahil­fer Straße, Vien­na (AT)

2010 (MOLLNER & SCHORSCH)

• “Elix­i­er”. Per­for­mance and instal­la­tion. Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts (AT)

2010 (Matthias Mollner)

• “Das Dorf” (The Vil­lage). Sculp­ture in pub­lic space. Groß Siegharts (AT)
• “respekt, text, objekt”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Instal­la­tion. Art space “Peters­burg”, Raabs/Thaya (AT)
• Gallery Kun­stvere­in lin­da. Group exhi­bi­tion. Video. Ham­burg (DE)
  “Angst” (Fear). Group exhi­bi­tion. Pho­tos, per­for­mance and instal­la­tion. Kul­turkeller und Schloss­saal Dobers­berg (AT)

2009

• “WARGAMES – The trans­sex­u­al liv­ing room”. Solo exhi­bi­tion. Per­for­mance and instal­la­tion. Kun­stvere­in sube­tasch, Gmünd (AT)
• “translo­ca­tion 09”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Instal­la­tion. Grafen­schlag (AT)
• Gallery Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts. Group exhi­bi­tion. Instal­la­tion. Groß Siegharts (AT)
• 18. Kunst­woche Grafen­schlag. Group exhi­bi­tion. Instal­la­tion. Grafen­schlag (AT)
• “The MATTHIAS MOLLNER Per­for­mance Show”. 4 per­for­mances and instal­la­tions. Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts (AT)
• “Reviervertei­di­gungsstrate­gien”. Per­for­mance. Audi­max, Uni­ver­si­ty of Vien­na (AT)
• “Nebel­geis­ter”. Lec­ture and per­for­mance. Gallery blaugelbe Zwet­tl (AT)

2008

• Kun­stvere­in sube­tasch. Solo exhi­bi­tion. Pic­tures and per­for­mance. Gmünd (AT)
• “Design­land­schaften”. Solo exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures, pho­tos and draw­ings. Galerie im alten G´richt, Groß Gerungs (AT)
• “Schnaps und Heli­um”. Solo exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures, pho­tos and draw­ings. Brauhaus­ga­lerie, Freis­tadt (AT)
• “Ich bin ein Patri­ot”. Solo exhi­bi­tion. Videos, pho­tos, draw­ings and per­for­mance. Gallery Kun­stvere­in lin­da, Ham­burg (DE)
• “translo­ca­tion 08”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures and draw­ings. Exhi­bi­tion space “Peters­burg”, Raabs (AT)
• 17. Kunst­woche Grafen­schlag. Group exhi­bi­tion. Instal­la­tion and per­for­mance. Grafen­schlag (AT)
• “Ice Age”. 7 day long per­for­mance and instal­la­tion in pub­lic space. Muse­um­squarti­er Vien­na (AT)
• “Lange Nacht des Films”. Video show. Galerie blaugelbe, Zwet­tl (AT)

2007

• “Nord Art”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Video. Carl­shütte Büdels­dorf (DE)
• 16. Grafen­schlager Kunst­woche. Group exhi­bi­tion. Instal­la­tion and per­for­mance. Grafen­schlag (AT)
• Galerie 42. Group exhi­bi­tion. Pho­tos, instal­la­tion and per­for­mance. Allentsteig (AT)
• “Maß­nah­men zur Eindäm­mung der Seuchenge­fahr im großstädtis­chen Raum”. Per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Linz/Donau (AT)
• “Boom!!!!”. Per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Litschau (AT)
• “Lange Nacht des Films”. Video show. Galerie blaugelbe Zwet­tl (AT)

2006

• “Die Schere”. Instal­la­tion and per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Groß Gerungs (AT)
• “Translo­ca­tion”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures, instal­la­tions and three per­for­mances. Stu­dios and emp­ty shops in Grafen­schlag, Allentsteig and Litschau (AT)
• 15. Grafen­schlager Kunst­woche. Group exhi­bi­tion. Instal­la­tion and per­for­mance. Grafen­schlag (AT)
• Gallery Böh­n­er. Group exhi­bi­tion. Pho­tos. Mannheim (DE)
• Art Fair Salzburg. Group exhi­bi­tion. Instal­la­tion and video. Salzburg (AT)
• “A beau­ti­ful day in sum­mer”. Per­for­mance. Kul­turvere­in Schikaned­er, Vien­na (AT)

2005

• “Crea­tures”. Solo exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures and paint­ings. Blues­Bak­ery, Steyr (AT)
• “Tech­nor­gan­ic”. Solo exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures, paint­ings and per­for­mance. Kul­turhaus Arbes­bach (AT)

2003

• “bild-objekt-kun­st”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures, paint­ings and draw­ings. Kul­turhaus Groß Gerungs (AT)

2025

• “Das unsicht­bare Lei­den mit ME/CFS” (The unseen suf­fer­ing of ME/CFS). Group exhi­bi­tion. Land­tag Nor­drhein-West­falen, Dues­sel­dorf (DE)
• “Par­al­lel Vien­na”. Group exhi­bi­tion at the art fair Par­al­lel. Otto-Wag­n­er-Are­al, Vien­na (AT)
• “head_flix”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Sculp­tures. Kün­stler­haus Fac­to­ry Vien­na (AT)

2024

• “Par­al­lel Vien­na”. Group exhi­bi­tion at the art fair Par­al­lel. Otto-Wag­n­er-Are­al, Vien­na (AT)

2023

• “Crash!”. Group exhi­bi­tion at Kün­stler­haus Fac­to­ry Vien­na (AT)

2021

• “Natur ! PRO_dukt/”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Trais­mauer cas­tle (AT)

2017

• “Wolk­ers­dorf Objects”. Group exhi­bi­tion with sculp­tures and instal­la­tions in pub­lic space. Wolk­ers­dorf (AT)

2010-11

• Cura­tor at “Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts, project room for young art” (AT)

2026

• „Matthias Moll­ner – Fight­ers in the Crash Zone“. Edi­tors: Matthias Moll­ner, Gün­ther Friesinger. Pub­lished by edi­tion mono/monochrom

2024

• Cat­a­logue „Demedarts – Demen­tia. Empa­thy. Edu­ca­tion. Arts. Artis­tic Research.“. Edi­tors: Ruth Mateus-Berr, Pia Scharler

2023

• Exhi­bi­tion cat­a­logue “Heim­suchen”, Pub­lished by Vere­in 4REST

2022

• “Pub­lic Art, Art in pub­lic space Stryr­ia”. Edi­tors: Elis­a­beth Fiedler and Jas­min Haselsteiner-Scharner
• Jour­nal “Vernissage”. Exhi­bi­tion „Leere und Dichte“

2021

• Exhi­bi­tion cat­a­logue “flo­ra pondtem­po­rary”. Pub­lished by Kun­stvere­in “Kul­tur­drogerie”

2020

• “Gren­zen­los?” (Anthol­o­gy). Lit­er­a­tured­i­tion Niederöster­re­ich. Edi­tor Wolf­gang Kühn

2019

• “Matthias Moll­ner. EVOLUTION REVOLUTION – The artis­tic work from 2008–2019” (Monog­ra­phy). Edi­tors: Matthias Moll­ner, Gün­ther Friesinger. Pub­lished by edi­tion mono/monochrom
• “A place to be — 50 years Vere­in Sym­po­sion Lindabrunn”. Pub­lished by edi­tion mono/monochrom

2018

• “wespennest — Zeitschrift für brauch­bare Texte und Bilder”, Nr. 174, “Idi­otie”

2014

• Exhi­bi­tion cat­a­logue “Hans in luck”. Kun­straum Niederösterreich

2013

• Exhi­bi­tion cat­a­logue “REIGEN.im.Park”
• Art fair cat­a­logue “Art Aus­tria”

2012

• “leben tanzen immer weit­er – The artis­tic work of Ger­da Schorsch and MOLLNER & SCHORSCH”. Pub­lished by Matthias Moll­ner and Hel­mut Neundlinger

2020

• Com­pe­ti­tion win­ner. “A bed is a seri­ous place”. Insti­tut for pub­lic space Styr­ia / Muse­um Joanneum
• Sec­ond prize. “Mein Abte­nauer Jung­brun­nen”. Fonds zur Förderung von Kun­st am Bau und Kun­st im öffentlichen Raum Salzburg

2024

• “Artist at Resort – Term 24”, Tanz*Hotel Vienna

2014

• “Artist at Resort – Term 9”, Tanz*Hotel Vienna
• “Artist at Resort – Term 10”, Tanz*Hotel Vienna

• State col­lec­tion of Low­er Austria
• Neue Galerie Graz / Muse­um Joanneum

2017

• “Medusa*Ode”. Per­for­mance (Chore­og­ra­phy: Bert Gstet­tner). Amer­i­can Dance Guild Per­for­mance Fes­ti­val. The Ailey Cit­i­group The­ater, New York City (US)

2014

• “Die Welt zer­fällt in Tat­sachen”. Per­for­mance (Direc­tor: Ulrich Kauf­mann). Kla­gen­furter Ensem­ble (AT)