Markus Schinwald’s field of activity is manifold, he oscillates between the poles of fashion and art, performance and film and he investigates a charged complex that incorporates the human body, clothes of varying degrees of conventionality, linguistic code and social space.
His works rearrange the relationship between objects and bodies, bodies and space therewith developing scenarios that take the spectator in an independent and self-ruling world, sometimes disturbing, obsessive and surrealistic.
In his antique oil paintings, for example, Schinwald manipulates the canvas by outfitting it with unidentifiable apparati that translate internal experience into external conditions. Schinwald investigates the role of the body in relationship to its environment by seamlessly adding these intriguing—and more often than not disconcerting—elements. The prostheses, masks, and bandages added to the figures incite contextual curiosity, prompting the viewer to wonder if the objects are medical or sexual, always leaving him rather baffled and with a haunting sense of mystery.
In 2011, Markus Schinwald represented Austria at the 54th Biennale di Venezia with an installation that architecturally played with the existing space. Inside the Austrian pavillon Schinwald had constructed a mazy wall structure of suspended walls that opened our view onto other people’s legs therewith incorporating the visitors into the installation and making them protagonists. Inside this labyrinthine space he showed a variety of his trademark antique oil paintings, a new group of wall sculptures and the double projection “Orient”.
For his third solo show at Giò Marconi, Schinwald presents new elusively erotic works, playing on instincts of longing and desire. His typical paintings are exhibited along with sculptures of legs slightly reminiscent of gogo dancers’ legs and unique black and white prints.
3 aquariums complete the exhibition, placed in temporary walls that modify the architecture of the gallery.
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until 27 July 2012
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Markus Schinwald, “Old Wants – Young Desires,” installation views, Giò Marconi, Milan, 2012
Photos by Filippo Armellin
