1961
born in emmerich
1981-1988
studies of history of art, philosophy and german literature, university of cologne
parallelly free artistical work as drawer and painter
1988
m.a., university of cologne
since 1988
working as artist and communication designer in cologne
1989-1993
interdisciplinary research: “joseph beuys - theory of science and shamanism”,
prof.dr.dr.h.c.mult. peter ludwig, university of cologne
1993
dr. phil., university of cologne
1993-2007
director of the museum pan kunstforum, emmerich
2007
foundation of the (cross) cultural networking association „culture.net“
2007-09
visiting professor of contemporary european art, school of art and design, university of derby (uk)
since 2009
member of board and director - with andrea hilger - of the ostrale, dresden
2010
visiting lecturer, university of nicosia (cy)
visiting professor, marmara university, faculty of fine arts, istanbul (tr)
lives and works in dresden
contact
phone: +49 (0)351 42681107 / email: martin.mueller@culture-net.eu
design
project partners / selection
anke - arnhem, nijmegen, kleve, emmerich, akademie der künste - berlin, embassy of the netherlands - berlin, german embassy - paris, embricana - emmerich, emv – ernst martin verlag - berlin, beiersdorf ag - hamburg, edition zeitgeschichte - bonn, e.on mitte ag – kassel, euregio rhein-waal - kleve, fachhochschule für öffentliche verwaltung nrw, goethe-institut paris, goethe-institut/internationes - bonn, gvp gemeinnützige werkstätten bonn, haus der geschichte - bonn, isowol - emmerich, richard smith - los angeles, j.l. romen - emmerich, jobst - emmerich, katjes - emmerich, brune & partner - bochum, kulturbetriebe emmerich, kulturraum niederrhein - moers, pan kunstforum - emmerich, mauer & partner - bochum, emmerich city council, rees city council, stadtsparkasse emmerich-rees, aep - hamburg, stadtwerke emmerich, themata – potsdam, trapp - wesel, russian book club/united nations - new york, verband druck + medien nordrhein – düsseldorf, landespräventionsrat nrw - düsseldorf, friedrich-ebert-stiftung - bonn, graphisches berufsbildungswerk / medienzentrum - hamburg, ostrale - dresden, galeria szyb wilson - katowice / poland, chudoscnik sunergia - eupen / belgium, verband druck und medien niedersachsen - hannover, axel springer ag - berlin
fine arts
„the attitude of martin müller seems to be equivalent to the structural analyses of the anthropologist claude lévi-strauss. he described “the raw and the cooked” as binary pairs of an opposite where the “raw” is associated with “nature” and the “cooked” is associated with culture. in guyana e.g. the rule demands the destruction of the smoke hut after the meat has been smoked in there: if the product (smoked meat) is stable, the means of production (hut) has to be instable. the balance between nature (the sphere of the dead animal) and culture (smoked meat) always has to be assured.
for a long time now martin müller is engaged with putting different levels of expression and different levels of reality together so that they come to coexistence. the diptych (“sum up” 1988) e.g. combines a very expressive way of painting with a very precise and accurate style.
after working with quotations of art history over a period of time he started to use digital airbrush techniques in the year 2000. of all the paintings created from that time on “heyoka” (2000) is of special importance: here, as before, two heterogeneous layers of images lie upon each other. in a significant way the subject has been painted over with a dynamic red color. the viewer is tempted to associated interpretations as used in gestalt psychology. while his works on paper come across as collages the works on canvas create a spatiality caused by the different layers of reality put together. at the same time the artist does consequently without any foreshortening or any other techniques that follow the rules of perspective.
paintings like “kachina sunday 2”add the written word as an additional layer. the dolls of the hopi indians are called “kachinas”. here they are only part of the title but not actually depicted in the picture itself. instead in the left part of the diptych we see a portrait of the poet gottfried keller and an elephant image created by otto pankok. The right part of the picture insinuates a period of time in france when the romanesque changed to gothic architecture.
in the works of martin müller the image of an elephant occurs frequently. if one uses iconographical-semantical analysis, his painting could be characterized as being structural in the sense outlined before. his painting is concerned with what is meant (the object pictured) and at the same time with what is meant by the poetic and metaphorical content of the sign.“
jürgen raap
(in: „heyoka – energie, materie, transformation“, pan kunstforum, emmerich / e.on mitte, kassel 2006, catalogue, p.8)
interview
(kikked! magazine / issue 4 / february 2010)
you have worked as a painter and drawer since the early 1980's. what changes have you noticed in the art world since you began?
the influence of the art market has increased immensively. although we had a big crash during die 1980´s which defined the irreversible end of avantgarde the market tried again and again to proclaim a new “ism” or international style or media that is hyped periodically. painting is in, painting is out for some years, photography is in, photography is out and so on. these are boring market and fashion mechanisms and is no real artistic and cultural discourse. on the other hand there has been a real burst of new art spaces, festivals and other opportunities during the last 20 years to show and discuss art and society besides the commercial patterns what is a very positive effect and development.
what techniques do you use to create your art?
this depends on the media. in my paintings I am using acrylic for both the (hyper-) realistic and the gestural or figurative elements. during the last years I added digital airbrush in a very low resolution to create the realistic quotations on canvas. the works on paper are always mixed media. it is the relation between the physical and the mental, between the objectivity and the meaning which defines the particular choice of technique.
how would you define your style ?
although i am also an art historian i don´t want to define it. however there are no borders within my work even within the specific fields. in my paintings, the mixed media pieces or the digital prints you can always find several layers of visualization, technique and meaning. within one piece there are realistically painted, drawn or printed images as well abstract and gestural elements and written quotations or notes whereas the written language represents both language and drawing. all these elements and layers are not merged with each other but stay autonomous. so the eyes, the mind and soul of the viewer are permanently oscillating between the different layers of visualization, gesture and meaning. the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
who (or what) inspires you?
my life. my love. people and friends. culture and socializations. the unknown. and hopefully my lasting curiosity and learning.
your past research has included works such as joseph beuys' "theory of science and shamanism". is shamanism something you are interested in & do you feel it is linked to your art?
this was subject of my doctoral dissertation 25 years ago. in a scientistic and anthropological view shamanism only exists as a cultural and social phenomenon in shamanistic societies. on the other hand it represents an approach to life and nature which is not “outdated” by modern societies and their “superior” expansive claims of development and evolution. shamanism is an “incommensurable” paradigmatic approach within defined rules. and cannot be measured with the excluding methods and technical devices of a rationalistic western science. the first artists have been the shamans and painters of the prehistoric caves in altamira, lascaux or vallon-pont-d’arc. in this sense it is linked to art in general. so it is an outstanding achievement of joseph beyus to have widened the concept and theory of cognition and science with his understanding and realization of art.
you've been involved with the foundation of the culture.net web site since it began. can you tell us a little about what the site is and what it aims to do ?
culture.net is a network of artists, designers, authors, filmmakers and (social) cultural managers. it is no company. all partners are autonomous and have their own additional networks by themselves. if one of us is asked or commissioned to realize a project, an exhibition or make a film the particular partner organizes “his/her” team of culture.net partners to take part in it with his/her particular competency the binding claim between us is the reliability of a high quality, an inspiring atmosphere of production and a social responsibility as basis of our shared philosophy.
how can people become more involved with culture.net ?
people can visit our website www.culture-net.eu and will find all needed information over our projects and recent work as well the needed contact informations/websites of each partner. if there is a cultural project which needs a support we can give with our competencies people can contact us easily by email.
you were visiting curator of the international art festival “ostrale´09” in dresden last year. how was that experience?
splendid !iIn the meantime i am member of board of the festival´s series. the ostrale took place for the third time last year and is an emerging huge art festival which is on its way during the next years to become no 3 in germany besides the two big ones documenta and berlin biennale. 160 international artists were chosen from the submissions by a jury or invited by the curators to show painting, sculpture, installation, video, performance a.s.o. on 15000m² exhibition space and 50000m² outdoor space last year. during the three festival weeks we had 11000 visitors. a very good impression of the festival can be found on the website www.ostrale-zentrum.de. until march 31 artists still can submit their applications for the next ostrale´010 which will take place august 27 to september 19.
what qualities need to be present for you to consider something 'good art' ?
based on a naturally mastered technique: authenticity, individuality, depth, sensuality and consequence.
you have also worked as a visiting professor of contemporary european art for the university of derby in the uk. is that something you enjoyed or would consider doing at other universities ?
of course i enjoyed it very much. it was not the first time that i worked for an university / art academy. i like it very much to support and motivate young talents. that is why i am right now concerned with another international project to become part of the future development of the ostrale. it will be a network of european and international artschools / academies which will get a kind of display window at the ostrale of their actual “production” which usually only can be seen in occasion of open days. implemented in an international art festival the students will become ambassadors of their academy and at the same time part of an international competition on highest level. as well it is planned to integrate it as practical curatorial studies and research into the particular studies of each participating artschool.
you've lived in berlin since last year. how is the art scene in berlin at the moment ?
amazing. there are hundreds of first class museums and private galleries in berlin where the whole international art scene is represented. it is really huge and similar to places like new york in the meantime. if you are an artist or art fan a visit to berlin – with plenty of time - is an absolute must.
following your solo exhibition "plakate" in hamburg last year, are there plans for future exhibitions ?
this year i will concentrate on the “not from here” project and its final exhibition next year in new zealand. although i am curator i will participate again as artist in the ostrale 010 with a cooperation project of huge paintings together with m.giltjes/bobok who is culture.net partner as well.
what directions can you see your work developing in the future?
i don´t know it. it is part of my personal development strategy not to plan and fix my future but to let it develop and flow the direction it will take out of the constantly growing energy it has.
any parting messages ?
“i think with my knee anyhow” (joseph beuys)
