Michael Maschka (born 1962 in Augsburg) is a German painter, sculptor,

graphic artist A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography, or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, p ...

and designer. He is an artist of

Fantastic Realism The Vienna School of Fantastic Realism (german: Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus) is a group of artists founded in Vienna in 1946. It includes Ernst Fuchs, Maître Leherb (Helmut Leherb), Arik Brauer, Wolfgang Hutter and Anton Lehmd ...

Life

While growing up in Augsburg, Michael Maschka came into contact with Renaissance and

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

art at an early age. Although he hardly received artistic impulses from his middle-class family environment he soon discovered his passion for drawing and painting. After he completed his artistic education at the Staatliche Fachoberschule Augsburg (technical college), Maschka went to Berlin in 1983. He began to study

social pedagogy Social pedagogy describes a holistic and relationship-centred way of working in care and educational settings with people across the course of their lives. In many countries across Europe (and increasingly beyond), it has a long-standing tradition a ...

after he was rejected by the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK). This was his profession until 1993. At the same time he exhibited his works in Augsburg and Berlin. As a follower of

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

and Fantastic Realism he met his great idol the Austrian artist Ernst Fuchs, who was one of the founders of the Vienna School of Fantastic Realism, in 1994. Fuchs promoted Maschka. As his assistant Maschka worked with him on several projects such as the Fuchs' church in Thal near

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

.Gerhard Habarta: ''Lexikon der phantastischen Künstler.'' Books on Demand GmbH, Norderstedt 2010, p. 320, Since then he has participated in exhibitive projects in Europe and further afield. Until 2014 he was a member of "Dali's heirs", a group which was founded by Roger M. Erasmy in 2003, and celebrated successes in France and Germany with the Dali railway wagon.Roger M. Erasmy, see: :fr:Roger Michel Erasmy As one of the founders of Labyrinthe (Association for Phantastic and Visionary Arts, founded 2001), Michael Maschka has made it his goal to care for the life's work of Edgar Ende and to make it available to the public by means of exhibitions. In this framework he wants to bring young artists and promoters of Fantastic Realism together. Nowadays he lives in Nördlingen, Bavaria, Germany.

Work

Michael Maschka is a representative of

. The formal approach in his pictures is realistic and is influenced by the care that the

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

took. He meticulously applies the techniques of the Old Masters to underline the message in his pictures. The viewer should be beguiled by the puzzles that his fantastic pictures present and by the sensuality that is tangible. He uses the vocabulary of the visible reality to trace the invisible structures of a spiritual reality that he has perceived. The motif nudity which appears in many of his pictures does not represent a projection surface for sexuality but is a symbol for naturalness and vulnerability. The female figure appears in his pictures in the form of the

anima Anima may refer to: Animation * Ánima (company), a Mexican animation studio founded in 2002 * Córdoba International Animation Festival – ANIMA, in Argentina Religion and philosophy * Animism, the belief that objects, places, and creatures ...

, the unconscious side of the soul of the male. By means of painting and etching he tries to bring out the unveiled and vulnerable self and to present it pictorially. In doing so he wants to bring the inner and outer picture into harmony. Maschka wants to sharpen the perception of the observer so that he looks behind the scenes of his personally constructed world. In his pictures Maschka often refers to motifs of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and Greek Mythology, because for him they include the universal language of the

archetypes The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ot ...

, a language which over thousands of years has remained uninfluenced by time and cultural influences and is understood intuitively by mankind. These motifs, that always rotate around the topics of destruction and renewal within nature or mankind, form a basic part of his pictorial language. This should lay bare conceptual approaches that have been long believed forgotten but have lived on in our subconscious. The

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

ism of his pictures aims to cause the viewer to ponder and discover anew appreciation for the world that is not immediately available behind the visible reality.Press, see: ''Michael Maschka: Presse''
/ref>Life and Work, see: Elena Sigmantowitsch: "Introduction": Kulturverein Kitzingen und Umgebung PAM e.V.: ''Michael Maschka.'' Exhibition Catalogue Book, Kitzingen 2013, S. 4–9Life and Work, see: Michael Maschka: "The Power of Phantasy": Kulturverein Kitzingen und Umgebung PAM e.V.: ''Michael Maschka.'' Exhibition Catalogue Book, Kitzingen 2013, S.10–13Life and Work, see: Michael Maschka: ''Vom Sehen zum Schauen'', 1998 (Monography) Michael Maschka-Nymphe.jpg, Nymph in the Forests Luft und Erde.jpg, Air and Earth Fliegende Schweine.jpg, Flying Pigs Der Tod und das Maedchen.jpg, Death and the Girl Portrait MM.jpg, Portrait MM Hermaphrodit.jpg, Hermaphrodite Leda und der Schwan.jpg, Leda and the Swan Trojan Horse.jpg, Trojan Horse

Exhibitions (selection)

* 1994: ''Du Fantastique au Visionnaire'', Le Zittele, Venice, Italy * 1997: ''An den Quellen der Phantastik'', Galerie Villa Rolandseck, Remagen, Germany * 1998: ''Fantastic Realism'', St. Petersburg Museum, Otaru, Japan * 2001: ''Mythen – Bilder verborgener Welten'', Schloss Honhardt, Baden Württemberg, Germany * 2002: ''Parfums des femmes'', 3. Biennale der Phantastischen Kunst, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris, France * 2002: ''The Hart Gallery'', Palm Desert, California, USA * 2003: ''Les héritiers de Dali'', Espace Berthelot, Lyon, France * 2005: ''Hommage an H. Ch. Anderson'', Schloss Voergaard, Denmark * 2005: ''Phantastische Welten'', Zitadelle Spandau, Berlin, Germany * 2006: ''Salon de l'art fantastique européen'', Les Thermes, Le Mont Dore, France * 2007: ''Dalis Erben malen Europa'', Europäisches Parlament, Brussels, Belgium * 2007: ''Apokalypse'', Musee d'Art Fantastique de Brussels, Belgium * 2008: ''Women of the world'', Galerie Princesse de Kiev, Nice, France * 2009: ''International Peace Art Exhibition'', Palacio Pignatelli, Barcelona, Spain * 2010: ''Plastica Narboria'', Hotêl de Ville, Saint-Avold, France * 2010: ''Le Grand Palais'', Paris, France * 2011: ''SAFE 2011'', Le Mont-Dore, France * 2011: ''PhantaMorgana'', Rathaus Viechtach, Germany * 2012: ''IMAGO-Phantastic Art'', Schloss Riegersburg, Austria * 2012: ''Dalis Erben'', Phantastenmuseum Vienna, Austria * 2013: ''Michael Maschka'', Rathaushalle Kitzingen, Germany * 2013: ''Dalis Erben'', Grand Palais, Paris, France * 2014: ''Ungleiche Geschwister'', Trierenberg Art, Traun, Austria * 2015: ''Zwischen den Welten'', Galerie CALLAS, Bremen, Germany

Awards

* 2007: Art Award of the City of Le Mont Dore, France
/ref> * 2010: Bronce Medal of Société des artistes français,

Grand Palais The Grand Palais des Champs-Élysées ( en, Great Palace of the Elysian Fields), commonly known as the Grand Palais (English: Great Palace), is a historic site, exhibition hall and museum complex located at the Champs-Élysées in the 8th arro ...

, Paris, France

Publications

* ''Vom Sehen zum Schauen'', 1998 (Monography). * ''Der Meisterträumer'', 2015 (Novel),

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maschka, Michael 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters 21st-century German painters 21st-century German male artists German contemporary artists Fantastic realism Fantastic art 1962 births Living people Artists from Augsburg