Biography

Biography

Artist statement

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.

Exhibitions and projects

2024
・ “Pain Por­traits”. Solo show (“Black Ferk Stu­dio”) (Paint­ings and video). Lutherische Stadtkirche Vien­na (A)

2023
・ “Heim­suchen II”. Group exhi­bi­tion. Bob­bin Fab­rik Gmünd (A)
・ “Crash!”. Exhi­bi­tion with works by the Black Ferk Stu­dio (Matthias Moll­ner and Judith Schoss­böck) as well as invit­ed artists. Kün­stler­haus Fac­to­ry Vien­na (A)
・ Sym­po­sium “Crash!”. Sym­po­sium by the Black Ferk Stu­dio (orga­ni­za­tion, mod­er­a­tion) and per­for­mance. Kün­stler­haus Fac­to­ry Vien­na (A)
・ “Demedarts”. Group show (pho­to). Kün­stler­haus Fac­to­ry Vien­na (A)
・ “Ground Body Reflec­tion”. Solo show and per­for­mance. Bil­draum 07, Vien­na (A)

2022
・ “Can any­body hear me”. Group Show (object). ip.forum, Vien­na (A)
・ “Kongress der Wis­senden”. Sculp­ture, instal­la­tion. Pub­lic space under the Lentos Art Muse­um, Linz/Donau (A)
・ “Leere und Dichte”. Group show. Doku­men­ta­tion­szen­trum für mod­erne Kun­st Niederöster­re­ich, Sankt Pöl­ten (A)

2021
・ “The Hole House”. Per­for­mance at the Live Art Vari­eté. Cen­tral, Linz/Donau (A)
・ “Play­ing in a hole”. Solo show (objects and pho­tographs). Kun­stvere­in Kul­tur­drogerie, Wien
・ “Querver­schiebung eines Wurm­lochs – Eine Raumkör­per­anatomie”. Per­for­mance and instal­la­tion. Domenig Stein­haus, Stein­dorf at Ossi­ach­er lake (A)
・ “flo­ra pondtem­po­rary”. Per­for­mance sculp­ture “Worm­hole”. Group show at the Stift­ste­iche St. Flo­ri­an (A)
・ “Natur ! PRO_dukt/”. Group show and per­for­mance with audi­ence par­tic­i­pa­tion. Pub­lic space and Trais­mauer cas­tle (A)

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 (A)

2019
・ Gallery Mod­u­lArt, Vien­na. Group show (A)
・ “Evo­lu­tion Rev­o­lu­tion Worm”. Solo show and per­for­mance. Sym­po­sion Lindabrunn (A)
・ “Worm­hole”. Sculp­ture and per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Sym­po­sion Lindabrunn (A)
・ “Kriech mit mir durch Wald und Flur”. Per­for­mance and instal­la­tion. Kun­stvere­in Urhof 20, Grün­bach am Schnee­berg (A)

2018
・ “FIFFI (Fun­da­men­tal Impo­tence Fol­lows Fuck­ing Igno­rants)”. Per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Body and Free­dom Fes­ti­val, Zuerich (CH)
・ “Abtauchen”. Per­for­mance. Alte Schmiede, Kun­stvere­in Vien­na (A)
・ “YOU where is your rev­o­lu­tion?!”. Solo show (objects and pho­tos). Hör­nes­gasse 10 – Room for Con­tem­po­rary Art, Vien­na (A)

2017
・ “The Glasshouse”. Skulp­tur, 24-hour live per­for­mance in pub­lic space and video. Mis­tel­bach (A)
・ “Die Mück­en kreisen”. Per­for­mance. Kun­stvere­in Set­zkas­ten and Okto TV, Vien­na (A)
・ “The Glasshouse – Wolk­ers­dorf Objects”. Group show in pub­lic space. Wolk­ers­dorf (A)

2016
・ “The Carousel”. 7 day long per­for­mance in pub­lic space, instal­la­tion and video. (Landes)Museum Niederöster­re­ich and Kun­st- und Kul­turvere­in LAMES, Sankt Pöl­ten (A)
・ “lines”. Group Show. Instal­la­tion and per­for­mance “Man in Cage (The way we go now or lat­er or nev­er)”. off­space spen­glerei, Vien­na (A)

2015
・ “Base Camp 22–25”. 4 Inter­ven­tions (per­for­mance expe­di­tions) in pub­lic space. Volk­sthe­ater, Josef­städter Straße, Donaukanal, Am Graben, Vien­na (A)
・ “The mon­key the­ater – First actions”. Solo show (video, pho­tog­ra­phy). Kun­stvere­in Kul­tur­drogerie, Vien­na (A)
・ “Folge der Ein­rich­tung”. Group show. Sculp­ture and per­for­mance „Matthias Mollner´s U”. Kun­straum Niederöster­re­ich and Kun­stvere­in Kul­tur­drogerie, Vien­na (A)

2014
・ “Time is Love.7”. Group show (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 (A)
・ “The Run­ner”. Per­for­mance. Tanz*Hotel, Vien­na (A)
・ 30. Inter­na­tion­al Short­film Fes­ti­val Ham­burg (D)
・ “Oil rush”. Sculp­ture and per­for­mance in pub­lic space, video. Langschlag (A)
・ “Hans in luck”. Group show and per­for­mance expe­di­tion „Glob­al Worm­ing in Par­adise”. Kun­straum Niederöster­re­ich, Vien­na (A)
・ “Base Camp 20”. Inter­ven­tion (per­for­mance expe­di­tion) in pub­lic space and instal­la­tion at the Galerie 3, Kla­gen­furt (A)
・ “The Run­ner – Lev­el 2”. Per­for­mance. Tanz*Hotel, Vien­na (A)
・ “Base­camp 21”. Inter­ven­tion (per­for­mance expe­di­tion) in pub­lic space. Mari­ahil­fer Straße, Vien­na (A)

2013
・ Art Fair “Art Aus­tria”. Exhi­bi­tion at the booth of Gallery Ruberl. Leopold Muse­um, Vien­na (A)
・ “REIGEN.im.Park”. Group show in pub­lic space. Instal­la­tion and per­for­mance “Wet earth 3”. Arthur Schnit­zler Park Baden (A)
・ “Base Camp 18”. nter­ven­tion (per­for­mance expe­di­tion) in pub­lic space. Ottakringer Straße, Vien­na (A)
・ “Basis­lager 19 / Rolling Balls”. Per­for­mance im öffentlichen Raum. Mari­ahil­fer Straße, Vien­na (A)

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 show. Video instal­la­tion “Wet earth”. Kabel­w­erk, Vien­na (A)
・ “WERK.zeug.SCHAU”. Solo Show with the works of MOLLNER & SCHORSCH. Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts (A)

2012 (Matthias Moll­ner)
・ “Unplugged Ses­sion”. Video “Nie­mand­s­land” and per­for­mance. Kul­turvere­in Schikaned­er, Vien­na (A)
・ “The Giant”. Sculp­ture in pub­lic space. Muck­enko­gel, Lilien­feld (A)
・ “Base Camp 14–17”. 4 inter­ven­tions (per­for­mance expe­di­tions) in pub­lic space. Rathaus, Freyung, Augustin­erkirche and The­seustem­pel, Vien­na (A)

2011 (MOLLNER & SCHORSCH)
・ “Base Camp 1–13”. 13 inter­ven­tions (per­for­mance expe­di­tions) in pub­lic space. Am Graben, Alberti­na Muse­um, Stephansplatz, Kohlmarkt, Staat­sop­er, Stadt­park­steg, Kärnt­ner Straße, Karl­splatz und Helden­tor, Vien­na (A)
・ “The Vil­lage”. Sculp­ture and per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Sym­po­sion Lindabrunn (A)
・ Art Walk Groß Siegharts. Group Show (sculp­tures, video). Project space for young art. Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts (A)
・ Sym­po­sion Lindabrunn. Per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Lindabrunn (A)
・ “Base Camp / 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 (A)

2010 (MOLLNER & SCHORSCH)
・ “Elix­i­er”. Per­for­mance and instal­la­tion. Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts (A)

2010 (Matthias Moll­ner)
・ “Das Dorf”. Sculp­ture in pub­lic space. Groß Siegharts (A)
・ “respekt, text, objekt”. Group show (instal­la­tion). Exhi­bi­tion house “Peters­burg”, Raabs (A)
・ Gallery Kun­stvere­in lin­da. Group show (video). Ham­burg (D)
・ “Angst”. Group show (pho­tographs, per­for­mance and instal­la­tion). Kul­turkeller und Schloss­saal Dobers­berg (A)

2009
・ “WARGAMES – The trans­sex­u­al liv­ing room”. Per­for­mance and instal­la­tion. Kun­stvere­in sube­tasch, Gmünd (A)
・ “translo­ca­tion 09”. Group Show (instal­la­tion). Grafen­schlag (A)
・ Gallery Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts. Group Show (instal­la­tion). Groß Siegharts (A)
・ 18. Kunst­woche Grafen­schlag. Group Show (instal­la­tion). Grafen­schlag (A)
・ “The MATTHIAS MOLLNER Per­for­mance Show”. 4 per­for­mances and instal­la­tions. Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts (A)
・ “Reviervertei­di­gungsstrate­gien”. Per­for­mance. Audi­max, Uni­ver­si­ty of Vien­na (A)
・ “Nebel­geis­ter”. Lec­ture and per­for­mance. Gallery blaugelbe Zwet­tl (A)

2008
・ Kun­stvere­in sube­tasch. Solo show (pic­tures, per­for­mance). Gmünd (A)
・ “Design­land­schaften”. Solo Show (sculp­tures, pho­tographs, draw­ings). Galerie im alten G´richt, Groß Gerungs (A)
・ “Schnaps und Heli­um”. Solo show (sculp­tures, pho­tographs, draw­ings). Brauhaus­ga­lerie, Freis­tadt (A)
・ “Ich bin ein Patri­ot”. Solo show (videos, pho­tographs, draw­ings, per­for­mance). Gallery Kun­stvere­in lin­da, Ham­burg (D)
・ “translo­ca­tion 08”. Group show (sculp­tures, draw­ings). Exhi­bi­tion house “Peters­burg”, Raabs (A)
・ 17. Kunst­woche Grafen­schlag. Group show (instal­la­tion, per­for­mance). Grafen­schlag (A)
・ “Ice Age”. 7 day long per­for­mance and instal­la­tion in pub­lic space. Muse­um­squarti­er Vien­na (A)
・ Lange Nacht des Films. Video show. Galerie blaugelbe, Zwet­tl (A)

2007
・ Nord Art. Group show (video). Carl­shütte Büdels­dorf (D)
・ 16. Grafen­schlager Kunst­woche. Group show (instal­la­tion, per­for­mance). Grafen­schlag (A)
・ Galerie 42. Group show (pho­tographs, instal­la­tion, per­for­mance). Allentsteig (A)
・ “Maß­nah­men zur Eindäm­mung der Seuchenge­fahr im großstädtis­chen Raum”. Per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Linz/Donau (A)
・ “Boom!!!!”. Per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Litschau (A)
・ Lange Nacht des Films. Video show. Galerie blaugelbe Zwet­tl (A)

2006
・ “Die Schere”. Instal­la­tion and per­for­mance in pub­lic space. Groß Gerungs (A)
・ “Translo­ca­tion”. Group show (sculp­tures, instal­la­tions and three per­for­mances). Stu­dios and emp­ty shops in Grafen­schlag, Allentsteig und Litschau (A)
・ 15. Grafen­schlager Kunst­woche. Group show (instal­la­tion, per­for­mance). Grafen­schlag (A)
・ Gallery Böh­n­er. Group show (pho­tos). Mannheim (D)
・ Art Fair Salzburg. Group show (instal­la­tion, video). Salzburg (A)
・ “A beau­ti­ful day in sum­mer”. Per­for­mance. Kul­turvere­in Schikaned­er, Vien­na (A)

2005
・ “Crea­tures”. Solo show (sculp­tures, paint­ings). Blues­Bak­ery, Steyr (A)
・ “Tech­nor­gan­ic”. Solo show (sculp­tures, paint­ings, per­for­mance). Kul­turhaus Arbes­bach (A)

2003
・ “bild-objekt-kun­st”. Group show (sculp­tures, paint­ings, draw­ings). Kul­turhaus Groß Gerungs (A)

Catalogues and publications (selection)

2023
• Cat­a­logue “Heim­suchen”, Pub­lished by Vere­in 4REST

2022
• “Pub­lic Art, Art in pub­lic space Stryr­ia”. Pub­lished by Elis­a­beth Fiedler and Jas­min Hasel­stein­er-Scharn­er
• Jour­nal “Vernissage”. Exhi­bi­tion „Leere und Dichte“

2021
• Exhi­bi­tion cat­a­logue “flo­ra pondtem­po­rary”

2020
• “Gren­zen­los?” (Antholo­gie). Lit­er­a­tured­i­tion Niederöster­re­ich. Edi­tor Wolf­gang Kühn

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

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

Competitions

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

Public collections

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

 

Activities as a performer and curator

 

As a con­tribut­ing per­former:

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 (A)

 

Curat­ing exhi­bi­tions and art spaces:

2023
・ “Crash!”. Kün­stler­haus Fac­to­ry Vien­na (A)

2021
・ “Natur ! PRO_dukt/”. Group show. Trais­mauer cas­tle (A)

2017
・ “Wolk­ers­dorf Objects”. Group show with sculp­tures and instal­la­tions in pub­lic space. Wolk­ers­dorf (A)

2010-11
・  Cura­tor in the gallery “Kun­st­fab­rik Groß Siegharts, project room for young art” (A)

Deutsch