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Maria Petschnig
Maria Petschnig in 2021.
Born	1977 (age 46–47) Klagenfurt, Austria
Nationality	Austrian
Alma mater	Academy of Fine Arts Vienna Royal College of Art Wimbledon College of Arts
Notable work	Vasistas (2013) Petschsniggle (2013)
Website	Official website

Maria Petschnig (born 1977) is an Austrian artist and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York City. Her works include a variety of media including video art. Her artistic works frequently deal with memory and voyeurism. Petschnig is known for films, video and art, which explore a seedy, awkward kind of eroticism. Her works have been shown at several exhibitions in Europe and the United States including at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Petschnig's works have received critical reviews from The New York Times, Artforum and Art in America.

Biography

Early life

Petschnig was born in 1977 in Klagenfurt, Austria. She studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, the Royal College of Art, London and at the Wimbledon School of Art, London. After spending some years in Paris and London, Petschnig moved to New York City in 2003.

Art

Petschnig started her professional career in the year 2000. In her earlier videos, she frequently made use of her own body in outlandish, psychological and awkward scenarios. Through her artworks, Petschnig raises social, psychological and existential issues while complicating the viewing experience. She makes her audience aware and often uncomfortable about their voyeuristic inclinations.

Karen Rosenberg of The New York Times argued that Petschnig's work can seem like a gentler version of Viennese Actionism's extreme body art or of the gender-bending epics of Matthew Barney. The art critic, Jerry Saltz, reviewed her work in the New York Magazine and wrote that her strange videos depict that she is the Franz Kafka of the art world.

In 2010, Petschnig's works were included in the Greater New York exhibition at the MoMA PS1 of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. In 2013, her artworks Petschsniggle and Vasistas were exhibited nationally as well as internationally. Both of her artworks received critical reviews from multiple reputed news agencies including ARTnews and The New York Times. In 2015, Black Dog Publishing printed a monograph on Petschnig's videos titled Nineteen Videos 2002 - 2015.

In 2021, Petschnig produced her first documentary film, Uncomfortably Comfortable. The film chronicles the life of a homeless person, Marc, who lives in his car in New York City. The film premiered at the 45th Duisburger Filmwoche, where it received the Arte-Dokumentarfilmpreis (ARTE Documentary Award) for the year 2021. Phuong Le in The Guardian called it a commendably transparent documentary. Over the period of nearly 20 years, Petschnig's artworks and videos have been featured in multiple exhibitions and film festivals including the International Film Festival Rotterdam and Anthology Film Archives. She has also given talks on her work at Columbia University, Vassar College, The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA), Moscow, National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Yekaterinburg and The New School.

Recognition

Besides having received the ARTE-Dokumentarfilmpreis, Petschnig is a recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant and the Rema Hort Mann Foundation Grant, New York. She has also received a national grant from the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport of the Government of Austria.

Filmography

• Source

References

1. ^ Goodman, Matthew Shen (3 September 2013). "Maria Petschnig". Art in America. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
2. ^ "Maria Petschnig: Voyeurism, Intimacy and Fantasy". MutualArt.com. 1 May 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
3. ^ Rosenberg, Karen (30 May 2013). "MARIA PETSCHNIG: 'Petschnigs' '". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
4. ^ Chamberlain, Colby (September 2013). "Maria Petschnig On Stellar Rays". Artforum. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
5. ^ "MariaMaria Petschnig With the Door Closed". Western Exhibitions. 9 September 2011. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
6. ^ "Maria Petschnig - Filmmaker". Six Pack Films. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
7. "Maria Petschnig, "Petschnigs'"". Time Out. 22 May 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
8. Heinrich, Will (21 May 2013). "On View Maria Petschnig: Petschnigs at On Stellar Rays". The New York Observer. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
9. Epstein, Edward M. (5 May 2013). "A Romp Through A Flesh-Colored Universe: Maria Petschnig's Video Installations". Art Critical. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
10. Goodman, Matthew Shen (3 August 2015). "Voyeur Tedium". Leap. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
11. Saltz, Jerry (26 November 2017). "Maria Petschnig: Thanks". New York. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
12. "Greater New York 2010 - PS1". Museum of Modern Art. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
13. "Maria Petschnig Director, Video Artist". Film Shop. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
14. ^ "Festival/Preisträger:innen der 45. Duisburger Filmwoche". Duisburger Filmwoche (in German). 14 November 2021. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
15. "Maria Petschnig at IFFR". International Film Festival Rotterdam. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
16. "MARIA PETSCHNIG - Film notes". Anthology Film Archives. Retrieved 26 February 2022.

External links

• Official website
• The Journey

• 1977 births
• Living people
• 21st-century Austrian women artists
• Austrian video artists
• Artists from Klagenfurt
• Alumni of the Royal College of Art
• Artists from Brooklyn
• Austrian expatriates in the United States
• Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni
• Alumni of Wimbledon College of Arts
• Austrian expatriates in the United Kingdom