Biography of artists
Erwin Bohatsch (born in Mürzzuschlag in 1951). Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna from 1971–1976. Lives in Vienna and Beistein (Styria). Since the early ’eighties, Erwin Bohatsch has appeared at numerous Austrian and international exhibitions as a leading exponent of a new style of painting. Exhibitions (selec tive list): Berlin Zeitgeist show (1982); Trigon (1983 Steirischer Herbst festival) with the theme ”Myth, Eros, Irony”; Avantgarde of the Eighties (Los Angeles, 1987); Jahrzehnt der Malerei (Vienna 1992); the Elements exhibition of contemporary Austrian art (Dublin, 1996); major retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation (Palais Liechtenstein, 1999).
Herbert Brandl (born in Graz in 1959). Began his studies at the Academy of Applied Arts, Vienna in 1978. Lives in Vienna. A key representative of the new Austrian school of painting. First came into the limelight at the Vienna Secession and Graz Forum Stadtpark in 1981, and has since then he has appeared in numerous one man shows and group exhibitions in Austria and abroad.Exhibitions (selective list): Paris Biennale (1985); De pictura (Bruges, 1990); documenta IX (Kassel, 1992); Der zerbrochene Spiegel (Vienna, 1993). Major one-man show at the Kunsthalle Basel in 1999.
Peter Dressler (born in Kronstadt in 1942). Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1966–1971. Lives in Vienna.Peter Dressler has been taking photographs since the end of the ’sixties, using the medium for both conceptual and documentary works. Is both a practitioner and a theoretician. Has participated in numerous exhibitions since the start of the ’seventies.Exhibitions (selective list): 7 Wege des Sehens (Vienna, 1973); Geschichte der Fotograie in Österreich (Vienna, 1985); With Great Interest (Melbourne, 1990); Antagonismus (Paris, 1996); and Ich bin ein anderer (Graz, 1997). Publications:Das Wiental (1983); Ein Kaisergedanke (1988); Zwischenspiel (1989).
Michael Kienzer (born in Steyr in 1962). Attended the Ortweinschule higher technical college in Graz from 1977–1979. Lives in Graz and Vienna. Michael Kienzer is one of the most versatile artists of his generation. After several years as a set designer for the Westfälisches Landestheater Castrop he igured in a large number of exhibitions, mainly in his capacity as a sculptor who consistently breaks the bounds of this art form. Exhibitions (selective list): Neue Wege des plastischen Gestaltens in Österreich (Graz and Vienna, 1984); Trigon 85 (Graz); Museum des 21. Jahrhunderts (Vienna, 1989); Surface radical (Paris, 1992); Los Angeles Biennale 1999. Numerous projects for public spaces.
Tobias Pils (born in Linz in 1971). Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1990–1994. Lives in Vienna.Became the youngest artist ever to be awarded the coveted Otto Mauer Prize in 1994, and despite his youth can already boast an impressive oeuvre. Exhibitions (selective list): Cologne and Chicago art fairs; 4th Biennale Integraf Alpe-Adria (Udine, 1993); Kunst aus Österreich millennium show (Bonn, 1996); Form und Funktion der Zeichnung heute (Frankfurt, in 1997). Has illustrated several books, including publications in collaboration with Friederike Mayröcker.
Stefan Sandner (born in Vienna in 1968). Studied at the Vienna Academy of Applied Arts from 1988–1993. Lives in Vienna.Sandner is a painter in search of new possibilities. The artist has presented new solutions in his numerous exhibitions since the mid-‘nineties, taking painting to the limits of perception, yet at the same time always emphasising its two-dimensional character in his pictures and murals.
Franz Schachinger (born in Austria). Lives in Vienna. An avid photographer.
Hubert Schmalix (born in Graz in 1952). Studied at the Acade-my of Fine Arts, Vienna from 1971–1976. Lives in Los Angeles and Vienna. Like his fellow student Erwin Bohatsch, Hubert Schmalix is a prominent and unconventional exponent of the new painting of the ’eighties, which Neue Galerie in Graz and its then director Wilfreid Skreiner did much to encourage. Schmalix took part in gaperto at the Venice Biennale in 1980, and in 1981 was exhibited at the Neue Malerie in Österreich show in Graz, and at Trigon. In 1984 he was at the Sydney Biennale and at An International Survey of Recent Painting and Sculpture (New York), and in 1989 at the Istanbul Biennale. In 1993 he featured at Der zerbrochene Spiegel (Vienna) and La Coesistenza dell‘Arte (Venice). Major one-man show at the Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation in Vienna in 1994 (Palais Liechtenstein).
Thomas Stimm (born in Vienna in 1948). Studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna from 1966–1974. Lives in Vienna and Cologne. Thomas Stimm is a traveller between dimensions. Trained as a painter and graphic artist, Stimm has secured himself a unique position in Austrian art work since the beginning of the ’eighties as an exponent of a highly painterly form of sculpture. He has also created many work for public spaces. Exhibitions (selective list): Terrae motus (Naples, 1986 and Paris, 1987); Visionäre Architektur (Vienna, 1988); Sensualité Purismé (Paris, 1991); Wotruba und die Folgen (Vienna 1994); Kunst auf dem Laufsteg (Berlin 1998). Since 1978 numerous one-man shows in places far apart as Krems, Austria and New York.
Helmut Tezak (born in Graz in 1948). Studied architecture at the Technical University Graz. Lives in Graz. Helmut Tezak has devoted himself to photography since 1976, and favours the series approach in his work. Has shown his works at numerous exhibitions and presented them in a number of publications, which have established the photographer as an author in his own right. Exhibitions (selective list): Dakar (exhibition in Graz, 1983; book, 1984); Die südsteirische Weinstrasse (book, 1984); 3 Orte (exhibition in Graz, 1987); Chinesisch (exhibition in Graz, 1991, book 1992); Skulpturen im Park (book, 1993).
Gustav Troger (born in Kohlschwarz in 1951). Attended the Ortweinschule higher technical college in Graz from 1969–1973. Lives in Los Angeles and Graz. Gustav Troger is one of Austria‘s most proliic and versatile artists. Numerous works for public spaces. The Otto Mauer award winner in 1987, his multi-faceted work has been presented at many one man shows and group exhibitions, and is represented in the collection of Donald Hess (Napa Valley, California). Troger has worked on several projects in Europe and the USA under the pseudonym Clarence Anglin.
Christian Wachter (born in Oberwart in 1949). Studied at the Technical University Graz. Lives in Vienna. Christian Wachter‘s commitment to photography (since the beginning of the ‚eighties) has led to a many-sided and complex oeuvre which has been honoured by numerous prizes. Landscapes, portraits, still lifes, exhibition and architecture photography, and conceptual work bear witness to Wachter‘s thoughtful exploration of the issues raised by the reproducibility of reality by media. Exhibitions (selective list): He has had numerous individual and group exhibitions including: hier und da (Graz 1988), ABPOPA/AURORA (Graz 1990, Vienna 1991), Netz und Knoten (Graz 1995); surplus (Vienna 1999).
Siegrun Appelt (born in Bludenz in 1965). Lives and works in Vienna. One man shows and group exhibitions from 1996 on (selective list): Raum für aktuelle Kunst – Prosart (Lucerne,1996);Raumvorstellungen, Künstlerwerkstatt Lothringerstrasse 13 (Munich, 1999); Mailand – Europa 2000, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea (Milan, 2001); 38.028.797.018.963.968 (light installationat the Maag Areal, Zurich, 2004); Moderato cantabile, Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen; 68.719.476.736 (light installation
at the Museumsquartier, Vienna, 2004).
Gerold Tagwerker (born in Salzburg in 1965). Studied painting at the Mozarteum University, Salzburg. Lives and works in Vienna. Exhibitions (selective list): Galerie Lisi Hämmerle (Bregenz, 1996) PANORAMA, Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum (Graz, 1997); casino, Galerija SV.Toma - Rovinj Art Program (Rovinj, Croatia, 2000); special projects, ART Chicago (Chicago, 2001); urban studies – Friedrichshafen, Kunstverein Friedrichshafen (Friedrichshafen, 2003); Fine Words Butter No Cabbage, The Hyde Park Art Center Chicago (Chicago, 2004).
Dorothee Golz (born in Mühlheim an der Ruhr, Germany, in 1982). Studied Art History and Ethnology at Freiburg University from 1982–1985. Gained a Diplome National Supérieur d’Art Plastique at the École supérieure des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg in 1986. Lives in Vienna. Exhibitions (selective list): Wiener Secession (Vienna, 1996); Scientiic Analysis of an Unsuccessful Day (Essen,1997); Galerie Arndt & Partner (Berlin, 1998); Galerie Maier-Hahn (Düsseldorf, 1998); The Dream of the Great Red Patch (Köln, 1999); Yokohama Portside Gallery (Yokohama, 2001); Galerie Hohenlohe & Kalb (Vienna, 2002).
Michael Schuster (born in Graz in 1956). In a career that began in the ‘seventies, the Graz artist has been producing works that relect on the nature of media, and confront the problem of the perception and reproduction of reality. He conceptual approach has led not merely to a questioning of reality, but also to a critical exploration of the medium of photography.