MATHIS ALTMANN
b. Munich, 1987
Lives and works in Berlin and Zurich
Visit his page on the gallery website via this link: fitzpatrick.gallery
Investigating the rapidly changing terms of creative labor in our hyperdrive milieu, Mathis Altmann’s sculpture and installation practice taps into accelerationist urban culture, where working, living, and leisure blend seamlessly and precariousness is rebranded into opportunity.
“Powerlifestyles” are programmed LED pharmacy-crosses with unique loops of moving images, using the medical cross as a potent reference to consider strategies of remedy and an escape from the cult of work.
Double sided RGB LED Pharmacy cross display, 12:32min video loop, 23:28min audio loop
118h x 82w x 12d cm
46.46h x 32.28w x 4.72d in
Double sided RGB LED Pharmacy cross display, 05:55min video loop, 13:30min audio loop
118h x 82w x 12d cm
46.46h x 32.28w x 4.72d in
Double sided RGB LED Pharmacy cross display, 06:20min video loop, 20:24min audio loop
46.46h x 32.28w x 4.72d in
118h x 82w x 12d cm
Brushed stainless steel, aluminum, plastic, mannequin, red pills, LED diode
42h x 30w x 15d cm
16.54h x 11.81w x 5.91d in
The accompanying sound piece blends musical and pop-cultural identities that persist in Gen-X culture and in millennial thinking. In joining these juxtaposed cultural forces, with a signifier of healing, Altmann asks us to question what this transformation means for the future of critical thinking.
In 2019 Altmann showed the “wewontwork” lettering on a poster in an exhibition curated by Hans-Ulrich Obrist at the Luma Foundation, Zurich. The artist appropriated the typography of WeWork, a company that operates co-working spaces and offices worldwide which functions as a synonym for millennial hustle culture.
“wewontwork” is an ironic rejection of the illusory speak of cohesion and community. The refusal to work goes against the common branding strategy of transfiguring performance pressure and profit maximization with social values.
Illuminated sign
23 x 200 x 10 cm
9 1/8 x 78 3/4 x 4 in
Edition 2 of 2 (+ 1 AP)
Stainless Steel, LED-Screen, Aluminum, funhouse mirror
150 x 70 x 6 cm
59 1/8 x 27 1/2 x 2 3/8 in
“Soft Skills” is a continuation of settings predominantly examined in “Powerlifestyles”. The dot-pixel fragmentation of LED-Matrix screens and the arrangement of the panels itself explore alternative ways of image-making and potentials of abstraction.
Soft skills are non-technical skills related to emotional intelligence and are cognitive assets in the workplace, especially within the creative-labor force.
Soft skills become the lubricant for the hyperdrive modus operandi where they mimic the competitive.
By critically and humorously questioning both the promise of the prosperity of technological progress and widespread fantasies of downfall, Altmann liberates his art from one-sided readings.
At its core, this artistic practice faces the challenges of abstraction. Again and again, the artist asks how content, forms, and materials can be abstracted without abandoning their potential to stimulate different ways of seeing and thinking.
RGB matrix screen, plywood, aluminum, photographs, resin, airbrush, acrylic-glass
105h x 105w x 11d cm
41.34h x 41.34w x 4.33d in
Polished aluminum, airbrushed, inkjet print, LED name badge, resin, acrylic, vinyl spackling, studs, tongue piercings, silver chains, charms
41h x 36w x 8d cm
16.14h x 14.17w x 3.15d in
Steel, aluminum, wood, ink-jet print, resin, glitter, Raspberry Pi-3, 7inch touch screen, studs, name badge, plush doll
63h x 50w x 11d cm
24.80h x 19.69w x 4.33d in
Stainless steel, aluminum, mannequin, servo motor & controller, photographs, flyers, resin, studs
63h x 50w x 11d cm
24.80h x 19.69w x 4.33d in
Mathis Altmann (b. Munich, 1987) lives and works in Berlin and Zurich. His works are currently on view at the Centre cultural suisse (CCS), Paris and the Swiss Insitute, New York. He is the recipient of the 2021 Manor Kunstpreis. Upcoming solo exhibitions in 2021: Kunstmuseum Winterthur and Efremidis, Berlin. Upcoming group exhibitions in 2021: Macht! Licht!, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg. Recent solo presentations include ArtBasel Parcours, Basel (2019), bottomspace, Guangzhou (2019), Istituto Svizzero, Milan (September 2018), the October Salon, Belgrade (September 2018); ArtBasel: Statements, Basel (2018); Freedman Fitzpatrick, Paris (2018); Freedman Fitzpatrick, Los Angeles (2017); Swiss Institute, New York (2016); Truth & Consequences, Geneva (2016); and Halle für Kunst, Lüneburg (2015). His work is in the collections of MAMCO, Geneva; Fonds Cantonal d’Art Contemporain de Genève, Geneva; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Mobilière, Bern; and The Rubell Family Collection, Miami. He is a recipient of the Prix Mobilière (2016); the Swiss Art Award (2015); Zurich Atelierstipendium (2014); and ZBK Art Award (2013).
DOWNLOAD PDF’s
