Nick Oberthaler
Nick Oberthaler born in 1981, Bad Ischl, Austria. He lives and works in Brussels, Belgium. Draftsman who uses intriguing techniques. Though he likes to refer to his works as ‘drawings’, he also works with paint and ink, which he further combines with pasted-on fragments. He remains partial to paper as his “canvas”, due to its fragile quality. The marks that he makes on it are unalterable. The paper is sometimes damaged, and he likes to treat it roughly. Paper is a delicate surface that also enables the artist to create very understated pieces. He works with a variety of materials like ink and wax, pastel and gouache or watercolor, which create unpredictable effects and a tension on the paper’s surface.
In his compositions, Nick Oberthaler uses numerous media: photographs, photocopies of images found in books, magazines or on the internet…
The finishings are uneven: either very final or very sketchy. He wants to continually maintain the mystery of the associations that he chooses, and the uncertainty about what he truly wishes to reveal. He insists on the ambiguity of images, letting the viewer’s gaze wander and decide which point of reference to focus on within the œuvre.
Awards
2011
Artist in Residence, WIELS Center for Contemporary Art, Bruxelles/BEL
2010
Artist in Residence, CCA/Center for Contemporary Art Andratx, Mallorca/ESP
2009
Studio Grant BMUKK, ESAC Cesky Krumlov/CZE
2007
Studio Grant BMUKK, Cité Internationale des Arts Paris/F
2006
Artist in Residence, CSW Center for Contemporary Art Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw
Solo exhibitions
2012
Eventuality of an attempt, Kiosk Gallery, Ghent
Nick Oberthaler, Point de fuite, Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam/NL
Nick Oberthaler, Galerie Emanuel Layr, Vienna
WIELS Center for Contemporary Art/Project Space, Bruxelles
2011
Zweifel und gnade (Le doute et la grâce), Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris
2010
LISTE 15, Basle/CH (with Layr Wuestenhagen, Vienna)
2009
Nothing Ever Happened, Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam/NL
Der verlorene und wiedergefundene Himmel, Layr Wuestenhagen,Vienna
2006
Warsaw, Texas (with Julien Diehn), CSW Center for Contemporary Art Z. Ujazdowski, Warsaw/PL
Saufen bis zur Besinnlichkeit (with Daniel Megerle), Vienna
Group exhibitions
2012
Europe, the final Countdown, Zabriskie Point, Geneva
About Horizon, Galerie Vidal Cuglietta, Bruxelles/BEL
Goupshow curated by Jorge Pallarès, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon
Biennale de Belleville, Chalet de Belleville, Paris
CCA/Center for Contemporary Art Andratx, Mallorca
2011
The Last Decade, Ellipse Foundation, Alcoitao/POR (curated byAlexandre Melo)
Control, Magazin 4 Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregenz/A (curated by Carsten Fock)
Wallpaperism, Motel Campo, Genève/CH
The Garden View, Andreiana Mihail Gallery, Bucharest/RO
2010
Both Ends Burning, Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam/NL
Groupshow (with Marcus Gundling, Isabelle Fein, Sabine Reitmaier), Berlin/D
Mallorca (with Carsten Fock), Galerie Eva Winkeler, Cologne/D
Mike, Alec or Rufus? (Tom, Dick or Harry), Layr Wuestenhagen,Vienna
in passing 10 (with Christoph Meier und Ute Müller), Künstlerhauspassage, Vienna
2009
Burn Baby Burn, DUVE Berlin/D
The Last Session (curated by Jan van Woensel), Vlaams Cultuurhuis, Amsterdam/NL
Schnitzel, Schmiss und Wiener Auster (with Carsten Fock and Svenja Deininger), Vienna
2008
The Line is a lonely hunter, New Jerseyy, Basle/CH
Landscope (Part II), Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg (curated by Matthieu Poirier)
Landscope, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris/F (curated by Matthieu Poirier)
Taking Harbours, Les Galeries Bains-Douches, Marseille/F (curated by Marie Rotkopf)
Young at Heart (Remix), Centro Cultural de Cascais, Cascais/POR (curated by Alexandre Melo)
Manual CC 2 (mit Julien Diehn), CSW Center for Contemporary Art Z. Ujazdowski, Warsaw/PL
Under the Pain of Death, Austrian Cultural Forum, New York /USA
2007
Vacuum, CCC Centre de Création Contempraine, Tours/F
Manual CC 1 (with Julien Diehn), Galeria Kronika, Bytom/PL
La Boum, Layr Wuestenhagen, Vienna
Pollenflug, Art Cologne Soderschau, Köln/D (curated by Caroline Nathusius)
Bibliography
2012
Schilderen en Tekenen als Installatie, Inge Braeckman in: (H)ART, p. 16 / March 2012
Neo-Malerei, Axel Wieder in: Spike Art Quaterly #31, p. 115 / March
Estádios da luz, Celso Martins in: Expresso, p. 12 / 11.02.2012
Le doute et la grâce / Zweifel und Gnade, Essays by Joanna Fiduccia and Gallien Déjean (Ed. Nick Oberthaler, Marianne Rapegno, Alessandra Bellavita / Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac) ISBN # 2-910055-47-7
2011
Wallpaperism, BOABOOKS Geneva (Ed. Nick Oberthaler, Motel Campo Genève)
2010
Flash Art International # 273, Interview with Joanna Fiduccia, p. 101 / July - September 2010
Brightest in Show, Quinn Latimer in: Art in America International / 18.06.2010
Kunst als Bedingungselement von Raum, Walter Seidl, in: artmagazine.cc / 18.3.2010
2009
Im natürlichen Mittelpunkt, Markus Mittringer in: Der Standard / 10.5.2009
Zittrige Worte, vibrierende Linien, Anne-Kathrin Feßler in : Der Standard / 9.4.2009
Darin Zeit und Ewigkeit, Nina Schedlmayer in: artmagazine.cc / 9.4.2009
Gegen das Gähnende, Stefan Tasch in : The Gap #95 / 2009
QUART #13, Insert, Der Nebel liegt tief, Haymon Verlag/Circus, Innsbruck
Landscope, Black Jack Editions/Les Presses du Réel (Ed. Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac/Matthieu Poirier), Paris
2007
Under the Pain of Death (Ed. ACF New York)
MANUAL CC, Galeria Kronika, Bytom (Ed. Sebastian Chichocki/University of Cracow)
What You See Is My Reflection, Used Future #36, Basle
EXKLUSIV Magazine, Insert, Warsaw, Nr. 12 /2007
A Waltz on the Wild Side, IdN Magazine Nr. 14/3, Hongkong/Sydney
ELEND, Jahrbuch des Verlags für moderne Kunst Nürnberg (Ed. Dominik Sittik / Frauke Boggasch)
Public and private collections
Österreichische Galerie im Belvedere, Vienna
Cabinet of Prints, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Ellipse Foundation, Lisbon/POR
Rosenblum Collection, Paris/F