Markus Schinwald's interdisciplinary body of work encompasses video, performance, dance, theatre, painting, photography, installation, and even puppetry. The artist creates mysterious and unsettling atmospheres that hint at their Viennese production context, through references to the austere Biedermeier style or to psychoanalysis. His work focuses on processes of manipulation and transformation of bodies and their environments. This emphasis is rooted in his early training in fashion and costume history, which not only awakened his general interest in clothing, but also drew his attention to the ways in which people are physically and emotionally limited by their cultural context.
Schinwald has declared himself a 'builder of prostheses for undefined cases', and alters 19th-century portraits by painting improbable apparatuses on the characters' faces and bodies, such as bandages, splints or wires that seem to fasten their limbs together. The artist has also developed a series of manipulated pieces of furniture, often using Biedermeier table or chair legs that are characteristic of the style valued by a growing middle-class in that period. He transforms these items by sawing off the legs and rearranging them in uncanny ways that often bring out their anthropomorphic qualities.
Born in Salzburg in 1973, Schinwald studied at the Hochschule für Gestaltung, Linz and the Humboldt University, Berlin. He now lives and works between Vienna and New York. He represented Austria at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 and his work has been shown in solo museum exhibitions including Fondazione Coppola, Vicenza (2021); Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga (2017); Magasin III, Stockholm (2015); M Leuven (2014–15); SFMoMA and the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco (2014); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2013); Kunstverein Hannover (2011); Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz (2011); Kunsthaus Bregenz (2009); Műcsarnok Kunsthalle, Budapest (2009); Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich (2008); Augarten Contemporary, Vienna (2007); Museo d'Arte Moderna di Bologna (2006); Aspen Art Museum (2006); Frankfurter Kunstverein (2004); and Moderna Museet, Stockholm (2001).
The artist’s work is housed in prominent collections, including The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; SFMoMA, San Francisco; Museum Belvedere, Vienna; Falckenberg Collection at Deichtorhallen Hamburg; Hamburger Kunsthalle; Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Kunsthaus Zürich and Tate, London.
2023
Panorama (and other satellites), Phileas. The Austrian office for Contemporary Art, Vienna, Austria
Markus Schinwald: Extensions and Monuments, Thaddaeus Ropac, London, UK
2021
Markus Schinwald: Misfits, Fondazione Coppola, Vicenza, Italy
2017
Children's Crusade, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga, Spain
2016
New Works, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
New Works, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2015
Markus Schinwald, Magasin III, Stockholm, Sweden
2014
Markus Schinwald, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Franscisco, CA, USA
Il dissoluto punito, La Triennale di Milano, Milan, Italy
Markus Schinwald, M Leuven, Belgium
2013
Markus Schinwald, CAPC, Bordeaux, France
Overture, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France
2012
Gallery Yvon Lambert, Paris, France
Animal Works, Sala Verónicas, La Conservera Centro de Arte Contemporáneo, Murcia, Spain
Gallery Gió Marconi, Milan, Italy
2011
Lentos Museum, Linz, Austria
Kunstverein Hannover, Germany
54th Venice Biennale, Austrian Pavilion, Venice, Italy
2010
Yvon Lambert, New York, NY, USA
2009
Vanishing Lessons, Kunsthaus, Bregenz, Germany
Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria
Pocket History, Kunsthalle Budapest, Hungary
2008
Migros Museum, Zürich, Switzerland
Galleria Giò Marconi, Milan, Italy
Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
2007
Augarten Contemporary, Vienna, Austria
Centre d’édition contemporaine, Genf, Germany
Center for Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
2006
Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO, USA
MAMbo – Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna, Italy
Argos, Brussel, Belgium
CAC Brétigny, France
2005
Ausstellungshalle zeitgenössische Kunst Münster, Germany
Gallery Gio Marconi, Milan, Italy
2004
Tableau twain, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany
dictio pii, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany
2003
Ceaseless blur, TAV Gallery, Taipei, Japan
Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna, Austria
2002
…seconds, Kunstverein Goldegg, Germany
2001
Dictio pii, Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Warp, Tanzquartier, Vienna, Austria
2000
Oxygen, flipping through Kiesler, MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, CA, USA
1999
Kunstverein Freiburg, Germany
Galerie Karin Günther, Hamburg, Germany
GAP, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
Stage, Museum in Progress, Vienna, Austria
2024
Illusion: Dream - Identity - Reality, Kunsthalle Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
The Portrait's Home - Home Portraits, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary
Breaking Down Walls! The Collections, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
2023
Au bout de mes rêves, Tripostal, Lille, France
2022
Breathing, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany
Manifesto of Fragility, Lyon Biennale 2022, Lyon, France
2021
Space Oddity, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
who protects us from the slug slide that passes over the knife blade without caring, Sector 1 Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
2020
Spectrum, Cortesi Gallery, Lugano, Switzerland
Unprecedented Times, Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria
2019
Etrange ! (variations en vrac), Chasse-Spleen Centre d’Art, Moulis-en-Médoc, France
Exclusivement contemporain, Cabinet d’arts graphiques, Geneva, Switzerland
Mask in Present-day Art, Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland
2018
Les nouvelles frontières de la peinture, Fondazione Stelline, Milan, Italy
Der Flexible Plan, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany
Now, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, UK
From the Inside to the Outside, Galerie Crone, Vienna, Austria
Charity, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Villa Katz, Salzburg, Austria
2017
LOST_INN staging grief, Brut Wien, Vienna, Austria
Ways of Seeing, ARTER - Space of Art, Instanbul, Turkey (travelled to Villa Empain, Brussels, Belgium; NYU Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates)
Die andere Seite - Erzählungen aus dem Unbewussten, Wilhelmhackmuseum, Ludwighafen am Rhein, Germany
Intériorisés, LABANQUE, Bethune, France
Never Ending Stories, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
Specular Windows: Reflections on the Self and the Wider World, Lower Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
Collection on display: Rules, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland
The Arcades: Contemporary Art & Walter Benjamin, The Jewish Museum, New York, NY, USA
White Cube – Black Box, Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien, Vienna, Austria
2016
Spirit of Austria, KAI 10, Arthena Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany
Curated by (?), Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
2015
This is not a joke, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, UK
Thoughts that Breathe, Fondation Hyppocrène, Paris, France
2014
La disparition des lucioles, Prison Sainte-Anne, Avignon, France
The Crime Was Almost Perfect, Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Stanze / Rooms, me Collectors Room Berlin / Siftung Olbricht, Germany
IK 00 The spaces of confinement, Casa dei Tre Oci, Venice, Italy
2013
The Souls, Doppelgänger 2/3, Centre Européen d’Actions Artistiques Contemporaines, Strasbourg, France
Weather Report – Kunst und Klimakatastrophe, Landesgalerie Linz, Austria
Dés-Orienté(s), ISELP, Centre d’Art Contemporain, Brussels, Belgium
Die Sammlung #2, 21er Haus, Vienna, Austria
Theatre of the World, Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Australia
The Souls, a Twice-Told Tale, Centre Européen d’Actions Artistiques Contemporaines, Strasbourg, France
2012
Slg. Wilhelm Otto Nachf, Leopold-Hoesch-Museum, Düren, Germany
Alpenrepublik, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Austria
Die Sammlung / The Collection, 21er Haus, Vienna, Austria
Fremde Überall – Foreigners Everywhere, Zeitgenössische Kunst aus der Pomeranz Collection, Jüdisches Museum Wien, Vienna, Austria
Future Perfect, Galerie du Jour agnès b, Paris, France
Stigmates, Fondation Francès, Senlis, France
Beyond Time, Inernational Video Art Today, Kulturhuset Stockholm, Sweden
KonterFrei, zum Porträt heute, General Public, Berlin, Germany
The New Dimension: Constructed, Stadtgalerie Lehen, Salzburg, Austria
Utopie Gesamtkunstwerk, 21er Haus, Vienna, Austria
2011
Hauntings – Ghost Box Media Heimliche und unheimliche Präsenz in Medien, Kunst und Pop, Kunstverein Medienturm, Graz, Austria
Un’espressione geografica, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy
WELTTHEATER. Die Sammlung migros museum für gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein
Geheimgesellschaften / secret societies, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany; travelling to CAPC, Bordeaux, France
Le Surréalisme, c’est moi! Hommage an Salvador Dalí, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
Prague Quadrennial, Czech Republic
Von Engeln & Bengeln. 400 Jahre Kinder im Porträt, Kunsthalle Krems, Germany
Zeit zu handeln!, Collection – Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst Zürich, Kunsthalle Krems, Germany
Things are queer, Highlights aus der Sammlung Uni Credit, MARTa Herford, Germany
2010
International 10 Touched, Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool, UK
Hyper Real, MUMOK, Vienna, Austria
Memories of the future, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Body/Space Mechanics, De Hallen Haarlem, Netherlands
Scene Shifts, Bonniers Konsthall Stockholm, Sweden
Raum.inhalt (2) – noli me tangere, im Tal Stiftung Wortelkamp, Hasselbach, Germany
Haus für die Kunst, Hasselbach, Germany
Wystawa, Muzeum Sztuki Nowoczesnej Warschau, Warsaw, Poland
Collection – Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland
Museo d´Arte Contemporanea Donna Regina, Napoli, Italy
Che cosa sono le nuvole? Artworks from the Enea Righi Collection, MUSEION – Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Bolzano, Italy
Konstellationen. Sammeln für ein neues Jahrhundert, MUMOK, Vienna, Austria
Sammlung Rheingold, Stiftung Schloss Dyck, Jüchen, Germany
Chapter Five: THRILLER, About Change, Collection Christiane zu Sam, Berlin, Germany
Design by performance, Hasselt, Belgium
Remote Viewing, The Arts Santa Monica, Barcelona, Spain
Psychoanalysis Gazes on Photo and Video Art from Austria, Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya, Japan
Contemporary Art Musuem Kumamoto/Kyushu, Japan
Extraits de Printemps: La part des ombres, Musée Henri-Martin, Cahors, France
2009
Videorama, Austrian art clips, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
Schönheit des Hässlichen, Forum Frohner, Krems, Germany
Locus Solus, Galerie Yvon Lambert, Paris, France
Sehnsucht nach dem Abbild das Portrait im Wandel der Zeit, Kunsthalle Krems, Germany
Choral Visual, Palacio Nacional de las Artes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Höhepunkte der Kölner Kunstfilmbiennale in Berlin, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany
Best of Austria, Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, Austria
Subversive Spaces Surrealism and Contemporary Art, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; Compton Verney, Warwickshire; Sainsbury Centre, Norwich, UK
Intervenciones Foro Sur 2009, Museo de Caceres, Spain
Le Sang d’un Poète, Saint-Nazaire biennale Hangar à bananes, Nantes, France
Shifting Identities, CAC Contemporary Art Center, Vilnius, Lithuania
Attitudes, Le Printemps de Septembre, Toulouse, France
Faces and Gazes, Museo Cantonale d’Arte, Lugano, Switzerland
2008
Archeology Of Mind, Malmö Konstmuseum, Sweden; travelled to Kuntsi modernin taiteen museo, Vaasa, Finland
System Mensch, MdM – Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
Held together with water, Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, Turkey
Kunstpreis des Landes Salzburg, Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg, Austria
Western Motel. Edward Hopper and Contemporary Art, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
Archeology of Mind, Fundazione Morra Greco, Malmö Art Museum, Sweden
DRESSING the MESSAGE. Transformationen von Kunst und Mode, Sprengel Museum, Hannover, Germany
Platform Seoul, Seoul, South Korea
Legend, Domaine Départemental de Chamarande, France
The world as a stage, ICA, Boston, MA, USA
Matrix, MUSA – Museum auf Abruf, Vienna, Austria
gravità, Coleccion Ernesto Esposito, Artrium Centro Mueso Vasco de Arte Contemporaneo, Vitoria Gasteiz, Spain
shifing identities, Kunsthaus Zürich, Switzerland
True romance, Kunsthalle Kiel & Museum Villa Stuck München, Munich, Germany
2007
The world as a stage, Tate Modern, London, UK
Novella (Not yet another story), Halle für Kunst, Lüneburg, Germany
Talking Pictures, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordheim-Westfallen, Düsseldorf, Germany
True romance, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
The enforced dress, Kunstraum Noe, Vienna, Austria
Foto. Kunst, Zeitgenössische Fotografie aus der Sammlung Essl, Essel Museum, Vienna, Austria
Held together with Water – Sammlung Verbund, Museum für Angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria
Cross Border, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, Germany
Manipulance, Center for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Poland
RAW, Among a Ruins, Marres Maastricht, Netherlands
Paul Klee – Überall Theater. Spektakel und Situation, Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern, Germany
Knappernes Krig, Aarhus Kunstbygning Center for Contemporary Art, Aarhus, Denmark
Timer 01, Triennale Milano, Italy
An Interpersonal Journey, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Istanbul, Turkey
Hard Rock Walzer, Villa Manin Centre for Contemporary Art, Venice, Italy
Our Magic Hour, ARARIO Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
21 Positions, Austrian Cultural Forum, New York, NY, USA
My Favourite Things, Voges + Partner, Gallery for Contemporary Art, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
e-flux VIDEO RENTAL, Centre culturel suisse de Paris, Paris, France
Depiction, Perversion, Repulsion, Obsession, Subversion, International Filmfestival Rotterdam, Witte de With – Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Netherlands
2006
Don Quixote, Witte de With, Rotterdam, Netherlands
William Kentridge, Catherine Sullivan, Markus Schinwald, Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Siegen, Germany
Sigmund Freud in den Kunstwerken, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
Manipulations, On Economies of Deceit, LAZNIA – Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, Poland
Blind Date, Museum Modernere Kunst, Passau, Germany
Personal Affaire, Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Germany
Krieg der Knoepfe, Ursula Blickle Stiftung, Kraichtal, Germany
Simultan, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Germany
Le Printemps de Septembre, Les Abattoirs, Frac Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
Reflection & distraction, Galerie Fotohof, Salzburg, Austria
Kontracom 06, Öffentlicher Raum, Salzburg, Austria
Filmen, Castel Sant'Elmo, Naples, Italy
Grand Spectacle II, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria
Biennale Cuvee, Centrum für Gegenwartskunst, Linz, Austria
IFFR – International Film Festival Rotterdam, Netherlands
Egomania, Galleria Civica di Moderna, Italy
Kunst fürs 20er Haus, Belvedere Wien, Vienna, Austria
Berlin Biennal III, Berlin, Germany
Bühne des Lebens, Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany
Protections, Kunsthaus Graz, Austria
A reverie interrupted by the police, Galleria S.A.L.E.S., Rome, Italy
Trial Ballons, MUSAC Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Castilla, Leon, Spain
Kosmopolis 2006, International Festival of Literatur, Centre de Cultura Contemporanea, Barcelona, Spain
Ghosts of self and state, Monash University Museum of Art, Caulfield East, Australia
War is over, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Bergamo, Italy
Videozone 3, International Video Biennial, Tel Aviv, Israel
2005
I still believe in miracles II, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, France
Boettcher Preis, Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany
‘3, CGAC Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Prague Biennial, Prague, Czech Republic
Baltic Triennial, Lithuania
T1 Torino Triennial, Italy
Simultan, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria
Panopticon and more…, Zacheta Gallery, Warsaw, Poland
Das Neue II, Museum Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
The red thread, Howard House Gallery, Seattle, Washington, D.C., USA
Nach Rokytník, die Sammlung der EVN, MUMOK Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung, Vienna, Austria
In den Wäldern, Kunsthalle Mürz, Mürzzuschlag, Austria
Matthew Buckingham, Markus Schinwald, Clemens von Wedemeyer, Galerie Klosterfelde, Berlin, Germany
Lebt und arbeitet in Wien II, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
Slices of Life, ACF, New York, NY, USA
Kunstpreis der Böttcherstraße in Bremen 2005, Kunsthalle Bremen, Germany
Threshold, Max Wigram Gallery, London, UK
Neue Freunde, Galerie der Stadt Schwaz, Palais Enzenberg, Tirol, Austria
2004
Manifesta 5, San Sebastian, Spain
Lodz Biennial, Lodz, Poland
3' condensed information, Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, Germany
Ulysses, Museum Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
One in a million, Austrian Cultural Forum, New York, NY, USA
2003
Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich, Switzerland
LAZNIA Centre for Contemporary Art, Gdansk, Poland
How big is the world, Museum of Fine Arts, Kaohsiung, China
In Passing, Pavlov House, Volgograd, Russia
The air is blue, Barragán Museum, Mexico City, Mexico
Love/Hate, Ursula Blickle Stiftung, Kraichtal, Germany
Utopia Station, Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Haus der Kunst, Munich, Germany
Adorno, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt, Germany
Horror der Kunst, Kunstverein Graz, Austria
Re-Produktion 2, Galerie Georg Kargl, Vienna, Austria
Videodrome, Cosmic Gallery, Paris, France
re:local, Kurzfilmtage, Oberhausen, Germany
2002
Animation: Videos, Centre d’édition contemporaine, Genève, Switzerland
waiting for the ice age, Gallery Georg Kargl, Vienna, Austria
Dialogs, O.K. Center for Contemporary Art, Linz, Austria
2001
Untragbar, Museum für angewandte Kunst, Cologne, Germany
Archeology of Desire, Sophia, Bukarest, Chicago, IL, USA
Tirana Biennial, Tirana, Albania
2000
At your Service, Gasser & Grunert Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Exit, Chissenhalle Gallery, London, UK
Die neue Künstlergeneration, Kunsthalle Krems, Germany
That’s art, Museum Nordico, Linz, Austria
1999
Drive in, Litfastrasse, Vienna, Austria
Destination is wherever it arrives, Salon 3, London, UK
Projektwerkstatt, O.K. Center for Contemporary Art, Linz, Austria
Expanded design, Kunstverein Salzburg, Austria
1998
Berlin Biennale, Berlin, Germany
fast forward, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Germany
Junge Szene, Secession, Vienna, Austria
Liquid Beauty, Halle für Kunst, Lüneburg, Germany
imitating… , Galerie Wiensowski & Harbord, Berlin, Germany
Contemporary. Self. Portrait., Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY, USA
Leisz, Schinwald, Heger/Dejanov, Kunstverein Graz, Austria
1997
Time out, Kunsthalle Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany
Sonic Tonic, Läufer, Linz, Austria
Inner Space, Galerie 5020, Salzburg, Austria
Warming up, Ballgasse, Vienna, Austria
Falling and suspension, Galerie A4, Wels, Austria
Austria
mumok | Museum moderner Kunst, Vienna
Museum der Moderne Salzburg
Belvedere Museum, Vienna
Neue Galerie Graz
Wien Museum, Vienna
Kunsthaus Bregenz
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz
France
Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris
Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris
Germany
Falckenberg Collection at Deichtorhallen Hamburg
Spain
Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León
Switzerland
Kunsthaus Zürich
Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, Zürich
UK
Tate, London