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 ins ...

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 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 hi ...

, graduating in 2003. She earned a degree from the Academy of Fine Arts 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 obvi ...

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. 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 essen ...

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 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 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: + . is a set of theories and 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 body of knowledge. In what might ...

, 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 ; ...

as a regular visitor and, unauthorized, French-kissed a wall she had chosen. She then affixed a label identical to the labels used by

, 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 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 po ...

. 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 ...

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

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 ...

or wealth distribution 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