31 October – 5 December 2014

Even a quick glance at Markus Guschelbauer’s body of work shows that he is an exceptionally consistent artist who is able to precisely define his own artistic expression. This is evident in his conceptual and contextual starting points, as well as his formal approach which is mainly characterised by a distinctive integration of photography and site-specific installation. The artist builds ephemeral sculptures / architecture in nature which are created solely for the camera and consequently for gallery visitors. Thus his work is not about a land art but rather about creating installations in anonymous locations that, once photographed, lose their initial meaning, as the artist simply dismantles them.

Guschelbauer’s key interest is an examination of the relationship between landscape and culture; in particular, there is also a profound questioning of depiction of landscape as determined throughout the history of art. In his case, trees, water, hills, grasses, etc. are detached from their natural context and placed in artificial juxtapositions, the main purpose of which is aesthetic composition. Thus natural elements are in fact building materials for produced constructions that are themselves composed of synthetic materials such as plastics and fabrics. Guschelbauer, who was born in the countryside and is therefore emotionally close to nature, actually “processes” nature, “reshapes” it, in order to create a product of culture, that is, a “cultural” or “cultured” landscape.

The exhibition in Ljubljana showcases works from different aspects of his artistic oeuvre and includes, by and large, all five major series that carry sufficiently unambiguous titles such as Landscape Works, Water Works, Mountain Works and Tree Works. The exhibition showcases a new dimension of his work as it seeks to break the barriers between the gallery space and outer space – first by painting on the surface of windows, and further by building a small installation in the park outside the gallery Photon.

Markus Guschelbauer was born in Breže (Freisach) in Carinthia, Austria. He currently lives and works in Vienna. Since graduating in Photography at the Akademie für Angewandte Kunst in Vienna in 2009 he has been working as a freelance artist. He has exhibited both locally, in Austria, and internationally. His works have been acquired by various collections such as Verbund Kunstsammlungen and the collection of the City of Vienna, etc.

The exhibition is open until 5 December 2014

In collaboration with Fotogalerie Wien

http://www.markusguschelbauer.com/