Maria Anwander (born 1980)
is an Austrian
conceptual art
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
ist who specializes in
performance
A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.
Management science
In the work place ...
and
installation art
Installation art is an artistic genre of three-dimensional works that are often site-specific and designed to transform the perception of a space. Generally, the term is applied to interior spaces, whereas exterior interventions are often called ...
. Her work has been featured in multiple solo exhibitions in Europe and the United States since 2009.
Much of her work focuses on challenging art institutions and their conventions.
Biography
Anwander was born in
Bregenz
Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...
in 1980.
She studied Theater, Film, and Media Science at the
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...
, graduating in 2003.
She earned a degree from the
Academy of Fine Arts
The following is a list of notable art schools.
Accredited non-profit art and design colleges
* Adelaide Central School of Art
* Alberta College of Art and Design
* Art Academy of Cincinnati
* Art Center College of Design
* The Art Institute o ...
in Vienna in 2008.
In 2013, Anwander stated that "my work mainly questions authenticity of artworks and the gap between the
art-market and the artist as participator."
She adds that "my latest works deal with issues of
collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining items that are of interest to an individual ''collector''. Collections differ in a wide variety of respects, most obvio ...
,
ownership
Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...
and
authorship
An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states:
"''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...
. Hereby I'm highly interested in the creation of notional images by removing other already existing images. The
dematerialization and
deconstruction
The term deconstruction refers to approaches to understanding the relationship between text and meaning. It was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who defined it as a turn away from Platonism's ideas of "true" forms and essences w ...
of images into pure descriptions of themselves and vice versa is part of my deliberations."
Anwander currently lives and works in
Berlin, Germany.
Works
''My Most Favorite Art (2004–2011)''
Anwander created an
installation
Installation may refer to:
* Installation (computer programs)
* Installation, work of installation art
* Installation, military base
* Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian l ...
of the exhibition labels she had stolen from art galleries and museums.
The installation is also intended as a travel diary and Anwander states that its purpose is to give the viewer "access to my innermost, to the works accompanying my artistic career."
''The World's Leading Art Magazine (2009–2013)''
Anwander used tissues to remove the ink from the pages of an
art magazine
An art magazine is a publication whose main topic is art. They can be in print form, online, or both and may be aimed at different audiences, including galleries, buyers, amateur or professional artists and the general public. Art magazines can be ...
which purported to be the world's leading art magazine, leaving only the blank magazine and the ink from the pages on the tissues.
''Analyzing (2010)''
Anwander filmed a 32-minute video where she met with Adolfo Profumo, a
psychoanalyst
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: + . is a set of Theory, theories and Therapy, therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a bo ...
, in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
who attempts to tell her about her personality through looking through her portfolio.
''The Kiss (2010)''
In 2010, Anwander entered the
MoMA
Moma may refer to:
People
* Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist
* Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician
* Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher
Places
; Ang ...
as a regular visitor and, unauthorized, French-kissed a wall she had chosen.
She then affixed a label identical to the labels used by
MoMA
Moma may refer to:
People
* Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist
* Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician
* Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher
Places
; Ang ...
, explaining her rationale and explaining that she "uses art institutions as forums where hierarchical, social and economic models can be tested and reimagined. This piece is a part of a series of artworks and performances, which Anwander has developed since 2004, playing with the link between art institutions and market."
''Public Dancefloor (2012)''
Anwander staged an intervention in a public space where a public dance floor was installed in the middle of a
public park
An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...
in
Innsbruck, Austria
Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol and the fifth-largest city in Austria. On the River Inn, at its junction with the Wipp Valley, which provides access to the Brenner Pass to the south, it had a pop ...
.
A light switch, disco ball, loudspeaker, and lights were installed. When the light switch was pressed, lights turned on and music began to play for the duration of one song.
''The Present (2012)''
In 2012, Anwander staged an intervention and placed a block of limestone weighing two tons in the city centre of
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
.
''Untitled (2012), in collaboration with Ruben Aubrecht''
Anwander and Aubrecht created a 100 x 280 cm
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
which read, "JUST ANOTHER WORK OF ART WHICH WILL NOT GO DOWN IN HISTORY."
''Untitled (2012), in collaboration with Ruben Aubrecht''
In collaboration with Aubrecht, Anwander placed embroidered pillows with statistics about
poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...
,
malnutrition
Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is "a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients" which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...
or
wealth distribution
The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or heterogeneity in economics, economic heterogeneity.
The distribution of wealth differs from the i ...
on couches in luxury apartments, hotel lobbies and exclusive restaurants in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
.
The work was intended to be a response to the "increasing development of parallel societies."
References
External links
* http://www.maria-anwander.net/
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anwander, Maria
1980 births
Living people
Conceptual artists
Women conceptual artists
Austrian performance artists
People from Bregenz
University of Vienna alumni
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni
Artists from Berlin
21st-century Austrian women artists