"Hide & Seek (Crawling)" by Maria Miesenberger from the Tom Böttiger Collection
Maria Miesenberger
"Hide & Seek (Crawling)"
"For me, art is a language. A way to communicate without words."
Maria Miesenberger gained prominence in the 1990s with a series of photographs based on images from her family's photo album. These images have later been exhibited around the world, and Miesenberger is one of the artists who has passionately and naturally worked with the personal and private, successfully transforming it into a familiar resonance for each of us - for our memories of images, scents, events, and sounds from the boundless realm of childhood.
Miesenberger's visual world exists on many different levels. It spans contradictions such as the present and the past, darkness and light, the individual and the collective, joy and sorrow. The artist is not interested in telling her own story; instead, she throws the question back to the viewer: What is your story? What is your narrative, your experience? Her art is imbued with a strong vein of curiosity and a hefty dose of humility. Starting from the self and the individual, she can pose highly relevant and ever-present questions about what being human means.
Maria Miesenberger gained prominence in the 1990s with a series of photographs based on images from her family's photo album. These images have later been exhibited around the world, and Miesenberger is one of the artists who has passionately and naturally worked with the personal and private, successfully transforming it into a familiar resonance for each of us - for our memories of images, scents, events, and sounds from the boundless realm of childhood.
Miesenberger's visual world exists on many different levels. It spans contradictions such as the present and the past, darkness and light, the individual and the collective, joy and sorrow. The artist is not interested in telling her own story; instead, she throws the question back to the viewer: What is your story? What is your narrative, your experience? Her art is imbued with a strong vein of curiosity and a hefty dose of humility. Starting from the self and the individual, she can pose highly relevant and ever-present questions about what being human means.
In January 2005, Maria Miesenberger presented the sculpture series "Hide & Seek" for the first time. It has since been exhibited at numerous museums and institutions nationwide and is greatly beloved. The complete suite consists of three sculptures: one standing with hands covering the eyes, one creeping on all fours, and the third, sneaking and crawling.
These sculptures, cast in aluminum and bearing Miesenberger's unmistakable winding fingerprint-like patterns on the surface, resemble fleeting memories of childhood games of hide and seek. They are light in their expression, and their soft forms make them elusive; they do not stay with us but are already on their way forward - just like the memories that quickly pass by. They move between the viewer and between each other. The child's play and the child's relationship to the adult world form a resonance in many of Miesenberger's works, and before the viewer can blink, "Hide & Seek (crawling)" has already silently and gently moved on to the next game.
The work will be sold at Tom Böttiger Collection
For requests & condition reports Contact our category specialists
Tukholma
Andreas Rydén
Varatoimitusjohtaja, Johtava asiantuntija, taide
+46 (0)728 58 71 39
Tukholma
Louise Wrede
Asiantuntija, nykytaide, Private Sales
+46 (0)739 40 08 19
Tukholma
Karin Aringer
Asiantuntija – nykytaide ja valokuva
+46 (0)702 63 70 57