Past Residents
Past Resident2014: Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport of Austria
Tobias Pils
Tobias Pils’s working method is characterized by the fact that when beginning a new piece of work he attempts to forget all past works, and engages with a motif. This motif can be anything from a traditional allegory to an abstract rhythm or harmony. His pictorial language as developed in recent years combines expressive elements with geometric structures such as grids, but never quite cuts the link with representation despite its dominant tendency towards abstraction. Intuition, inspiration and individuality are criteria relevant to Pils’s painterly oeuvre, and form the basis of his understanding of painting as a language and means of expression.
Tobias Pils (born 1971 in Linz) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. His selected exhibitions and projects include: Secession, Vienna, 2013; Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg, 2012; Jack Hanley Gallery, New York City, 2011; Tenda Gialla, Pogon Jedinstvo, Zagreb, 2010; Beijing Biennale, NAMOC Museum, Beijing; Rezan Has Museum, Istanbul; Gironcoli Museum, Herberstein; Genia Schreiber University Gallery, Tel Aviv, 2008; Tresor BA Kunstforum, Vienna and Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, 2007. Pils lives and works in Vienna.
Tobias Pilsc, Staircase - Secession, 2013, Glaze painting on ceramic tiles. Courtesy of the artist
Tobias Pils, Secession, 2013, Installation view. Courtesy of the artist
Tobias Pils, Untitled, 2013, Mixed media on canvas, 59 1/2 x 59 1/10 in. Courtesy of the artist
Tobias Pils, Untitled, 2013, Mixed media on canvas, 70 4/5 x 67 in. Courtesy of the artist
Tobias Pils, Untitled, 2013, Mixed media on canvas, 90 1/2 x 72 4/5 in. Courtesy of the artist
Residents from Austria
Past Resident2014: Creative New Zealand
Brett Graham
Brett Graham abstracts complex historical and cultural ideas into sculptural forms and installations. His work engages ideas of both Indigenous and Western art, drawing on Maori culture but informed by contemporary art practice. His work embraces indigenous histories, often critiquing and exploring issues relating to cultural inequities of the past and present.
Brett Graham completed his BFA at Auckland University and his MFA at the University of Hawaii. Graham returned to lecture in the Art History Department at the University of Auckland before teaching full time at Elam School of Fine Arts, Auckland University. There he completed his Doctorate of Fine Arts. He has been an artist full time since 2005, exhibiting twice at the Sydney Biennale in 2006 and 2010 and at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007. Last year his work was part of Sakahan, an exhibition of Indigenous Art the National Museum of Canada. He has work in the collections of the Museum of New Zealand and the National Gallery of Australia. Graham lives and works in Auckland.
Events & Exhibitions
Brooklyn Commons: Ursula von Rydingsvard and Brett Graham
May 20, 2014
Brett Graham, Te Hokioi, 2008, Medium-density fibreboard, 31 x 114 x 173 in. Courtesy of the artist
Brett Graham in collaboration with Rachael Rakena, Aniwaniwa, 2007, Fibre glass, acrylic, video installation, Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist
Brett Graham, Kainga Tahi Kainga Rua, 2003, Steel, phosphate, polystyrene, fiberglass, video installation, Dimensions variable. Courtesy of the artist
Brett Graham, Absolution, 2008, Medium-density fibreboard, oil, video, 78 x 78 x 11 in. Courtesy of the artist
Brett Graham, Ring Fence, 2011, Horse feces, resin, medium-density fibreboard, 78 x 78 x 31 in. Courtesy of the artist
Past Resident2014: KdFS Kulturstiftung des Freistaates Sachsen
Axel Töpfer
Axel Töpfer uses photographs, text and objects to construct imaginary events through an extension of narrative space. The work is structured so that the viewer performs the movement to assemble each story out of its parts. Töpfer continuously searches for instruments of inspiration such as: a late completion about space on Fotodinamismo Futurista by Anton Giulio Bragaglia, Secret Notes by Josef Albers and On Dimension Zero or Why Structural Cinema is Narrative by George Maciunas. He believes magic can be achieved through stuttering and repetition.
Axel Töpfer (born 1977 in Königs Wusterhausen) is Director of the Laboratory for Visibility Hy Brasil since 2012, Co-founder of the network Videoklub (2004) and a member of zeitgenossen since 2000. He studied media art, photography and typography at Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig and sculpture and film at Akademie der Bildenden Künste Vienna. Töpfer works on the island of Hy Brasil and is living in Ulthar.
Axel Töpfer, Mitsubishi Dock Yard Nagasaki, 2010, Installation of 81 postcards. Courtesy of the artist and Photomuseum Braunschweig
Axel Töpfer, To Say I am still alive i wonder if you are, 2008, Installation of 51 postcards. Courtesy of the artist and Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig
Axel Töpfer, Lieses Haus Horcht, 2013, Narrative Installation. Courtesy of the artist and Wolkenhof Murrhardt
Axel Töpfer, Neko Yashiki, 2012, Narrative Installation and Nishinomiya Funasaka Biennale. Courtesy of the artist
Axel Töpfer, A Landrara, 2013, Structural narrative of 8 pictures. Courtesy of the artist
