Gernot Wieland

Gernot Wieland's work, whether in the form of films, drawings, photographs, installations or lecture-performances, approaches a number of universal questions - language, education, alterity, domination, control, social, political and psychic contexts - blending psychoanalysis with the artist's own childhood memories in narratives told in the first person. Gernot Wieland has built up the foundations of a unique and deeply emotional universe, criss-crossed by the reminiscences of memories that we can't quite decide whether they are the true tales or invented by a narrator speaking in the first person, without it being ever established with certainty whether this is the artist himself or a fictitious alter ego. The tapestry of his world is woven with a poetry uttered by the haunting voice of a Kafkaesque character, unfolding childhood stories and absurd narratives before our very eyes with the help of play-dough characters, crayon-colored scenery, extravagant diagrams, falsely naïve sketches and passages filmed in Super-eight. Gentleness and compunction mingle, revealing here and there the afflicted scoriae of rampant inhumanity, oozing from oppressive institutional machines, deviant educational carcans, gingerly unfolding neuroses like fragile origami. His films and all the visual material that emerges from them - drawings, photograms and photographs - radiate a poignant clarity, throbbing with a sickly beauty where incongruity and embracing feelings pulsate in unison. If Freudian psychoanalysis and the figure of Kafka inhabit, like wandering ghosts, this universe where Gernot Wieland's Austrian origins percolate, he has succeeded in inventing an extraordinary narrative and filmic form where the therapist, trapped in his own memories and associations, is no longer able to listen to his patient, where the authoritarian figures of Kafkaesque systems have dissolved like ink in milk, to quote the title of one of his films (Ink in Milk - 2018). The elusive intonation of his films draws the viewer into the inextricable meanderings of phantasmagorical stories, held together by a lucidity that seems to be carried by a stranger to the world observing - with candor and delicacy - its cracks, dislocations and vulnerability. 

His films have won numerous awards: Aus-Blicke at the Blicke, Filmfestival, Bochum, Germany; the main prize in the German competition at the 69th International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, Germany, all in 2023; in 2022, the German Short Film Prize in the category of experimental shorts lasting up to 30 minutes and the Best Film Award at the Festival des Cinémas Différents et Expérimentaux in Paris, France and an honorable mention at the Cannes Shorts Film Festival, Cannes, France ; in 2021, Special Mention at ARKIPEL - Jakarta International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival, Indonesia; in 2020, Best Film Award, VIII Kinodot Experimental Film Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia. Petersburg, Russia; in 2019, the EMAF Media Art Award from German film critics at the EMAF - European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, Germany and a special mention at the 36th Short Film Festival, Hamburg, Germany; in 2017, he won the 20th MOSTYN Open, Llandudno, Wales.

His recent film, The Perfect Square, is selected for the 74th Berlinale - Berlin International Film Festival - Forum Expanded, Berlin, and at First Look 2024, Museum of the Moving Image, New York.

His work has been exhibited at Argos Centre for audiovisual arts, Brus-sels; Kindl - Centre of Contemporary Arts, Berlin; Künstlerhaus Bremen; Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles; Kunstmuseum Bonn; Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen; Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg; 3rd International Biennial of Contemporary Art of South America, Buenos Aires; Latvian Center for Contemporary Art, Riga; Berlinische Galerie, Berlin; Steirischer Herbst Festival/Kunsthaus Graz, Graz and Hong-Gah Museum, Taipei; Quartz Studio, Turin; Centre d'art Pasquart, Biel; Musée du château des ducs de Wurtemberg, Montbéliard; Museo Berardo, Lisbon. The MAMC+ / Musée d'Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Etienne (France) will devote a solo exhibition to his work in 2025, accompanied by the publication of a book co-edited by THE PILL and published by JBE Books.

Gernot Wieland was born in Horn, Austria, in 1968. He now lives in Berlin.

Education

1997 University of Fine Arts, Berlin, DE
1996 Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, AT

Solo Exhibitions

2025 MAMC+ / Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain de Saint-Etienne, FR (Upcoming)
2023 Square, Circle, Square, Argos centre for audiovisual arts, Brussels, BE Halb Nackt, Belmacz, London, UK
2022 Turtleneck Phantasies, Kindl – Centre for Contemporary Art – M 1 VideoSpace, Berlin, DE
2021 ...like ink in milk, Quartz Studio, Turin, IT Virtual Video Space – Berlinische Galerie, Museum of Modern Art, Berlin, DE
2020 Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, AT Diebstahl und Gesänge, Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen, CH 12×12, IBB Video Space at Berlinische Galerie, Museum of Modern Art, Berlin, DE Videoart at Midnight, Berlin, DE
2019 media annex(e), Argos, Brussels, BE Vdrome, London, UK Belmacz, London, UK
2016 „Hello, my name is..."... and ...“Yes, I ́m fine.",Maumaus/Lumiar Cité, Lisbon, PT

Group Exhibitions

2023 74th Berlinale – Berlin International Film Festival, Berlin, DE Hidden in plain sight, Jogja Fotografis Festival by wysiwyg, Yogyakarta, ID Festival des Cinémas Différents et Expérimentaux, Paris, FR 69th International Short Film Festival, Oberhausen, DE Nexus of Absentias, Rapid Eye Movement, Bangkok, TH Nouveaux Phonogrammes, Castello di Rivoli, Torino, IT Trembling Time, EMAF – 36th European Media
Art Festival, Osnabrück, DE Go Short – 15th International Short Film Festival, Nijmegen, NL Héros-Limite, La Générale, Paris, FR Diagonale ́23, Festival of Austrian Film, Graz, AT Glued and Screwed organized by wysiwyg, Filmhuis Den Haag, NL 36th Stuttgarter Filmwinter – Festival for Expanded Media, Stuttgart, DE Argos TV47, ARGOS, Brussels, BE
2022 Festival des Cinémas Différents et Expérimentaux de Paris, FR The Palliative Turn, Künstlerhaus Bremen, Bremen, DE Everyone who doesn ́t want to come is invited, AllArtNow, Stockholm, SE Ecrani i artit, ART HOUSE, Shkodra, AL Ecopoetics of Generic World, Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles, USA Riddles, V-F-X festival of experimental audiovisual practices, SCCA, Center for Contemporary Arts, Ljubljana, SL Echoes from the Near Future, 38th Short Film Festival, Hamburg, DE The Thing is, EMAF – European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, DE
2021 Transference, BIENALSUR, 3rd Bienal Internacional de Arte Contemporáneo de America del Sur, Buenos Aires, AR Fluid States. Solid Matter, Videonale 18, Festival for Video und Time-Based Art, Kunstmuseum Bonn, DE Videonale.scope, NRW – Filmforum, Cologne, DE Privat – öffentlich, Kallmann-Museum, Ismaningen, DE ARKIPEL, Jakarta International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival, Jakarta, ID
2020 Zoo Cosmos, Casa Conti /Ange Leccia Art Center, Oletta, FR The Law is a White Dog, TULCA Festival of Visual Arts 2020, Galway, IR ANIMA – Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition, Hong-Gah Museum, Taipei, TW 11th Athens Avant-Garde Film Festival, Athens, GR On Heavy Rotation, Callirrhoë, Athens, GR Argos TV19, ARGOS, Brussels, BE MEMORY, Kunstmuseum Olten, CH Wait and See, IFFR – International Film Festival, Rotterdam, NL Risentimento / Ressentiment, Merano Arte, Merano, IT VIII Kinodot, Experimental Film Festival, St. Petersburg, RU 15th IndieLisboa – International Independent Film Festival, Lisbon, PT Traumphase 9, Hilbert Raum, Berlin, DE Unter uns, Bildproduktion im Mansfelder Land, Werkleitz Festival, Hettstedt, Halle, DE
2019 Medie Annex(e), ARGOS, Brussels, BE Ten Slotte 4, Het Bos, Antwerp, BE Grand Hotel Abyss, steirischer herbst Festival, Graz, AT Gimli Film Festival, Gimli, CA Pelle d’oca, Villa Vertua Masolo, Nova Milanese, IT Bruegeling, Herberg Rustique, Brussels, BE B, Belmacz, London, UK Symposium on Humour and Absurdity, Nida Art Colony, LIT 36th Short Film Festival, Hamburg, DE EMAF – European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, DE IFFR – International Film Festival, Rotterdam, NL
2018 Zeitspuren, The Power of Now, Centre d ́art Pasquart, Biel/Bienne, CH Shame, Künstlerhaus Bremen, DE Monitoring – Exhibition for Time Based Media Art, Kasseler Kunstverein, Kassel, DE The Ashtray Show West, Belmacz, London, UK res·o·nant, Contribution to a Sound Installation, Jewish Museum Berlin, DE Ideal-Types, HE.RO, Amsterdam, ND Plot, New York, USA OGR, Torino, IT
2017 Survival Kit 9, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Riga, LT The Museum of Modern Comedy in Art – A Proposal, Projects Art Centre, Dublin, IR MOSTYN Open 20, Llandudno, Wales 9th Norwegian Sculpture Biennial, Vigeland Museum, Oslo, NO 33rd International Short Film Festival, Hamburg, DE Kasseler Dokumentar, Film und Videofest, Kassel, DE con_text, Lettrétage, Berlin, DE
2016 Body Luggage – Migration of Gestures, Kunsthaus Graz, Graz, AT Histoires de l’Ile des Bienheureux, Musée du chateau des ducs de Wurtemberg, Montbéliard, FR Kasseler Dokumentar, Film und Videofest, Kassel, DE Random Walks, Konsthall 44 Møn, Askeby, DK Puppet Slam – Objects Do Things, CCA – Center for Contemporary Art, Warszaw, PO TED Talk for TEDxGhent, Ghent, BE Dobra, Festival de Cinema Experimental, Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, BR
2015 Liberty Taken, A festival of arts in the city of Bombay, Bombay, IN Midsummer Night Scream, De Appel arts centre, Amsterdam, NL
No Bad Days, Konstmuseum Kalmar, Kalmar, SE Where the place begins, Neue Berliner Räume at Kunsthaus Dahlem, Berlin, DE The reluctant narrator, Museo Berardo, Lisbon, PT
2014 Figures of Conjunction, Kunstverein Nürnberg, Nürnberg, DE A Lecture on a Lecture, Centre PasqArt, Biel Bienne, CH
2013 Pecha Kucha: The Bet, Kunst-Werke – Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, DE Videonale.14 – Festival for Contemporary Video Art, Kunstmuseum Bonn, DE Anyone for Cricket?, Kunstverein Horn, Horn, AT 71 Werke, 71 Arbeiten, Kunstmuseum des Kanton Thurgaus, Warth, CH The legend of the shelves, Autocenter, Berlin, DE ‚...dreamed...‘, Ve.Sch, Verein für Raum und Form in der bildenden Kunst, Wien, AU
2012 Nach Bonn – Eine Montage, Kunstverein Bonn, DE An exhibition of a Study on Knowledge, Forum Stadtpark, Graz, AU Boredom, Essays and Observations, Berlin, DE Jahresgaben, Kunstverein Bonn, Bonn, DE Montag ist erst übermorgen, xhibit, Wien, AU HOTAVANTGARDEHOTHOT, Oslo10, Basel, CH Common history and its Private Stories, Sofia City Art Gallery, Sofia, BG
2011 Video_Dumbo, an exhibition of contemporary video art, New York, USA Wilhelm Reich/Ayn Rand, Essays and Observations, Berlin, DE Wonders of progress, TIFF – Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto, CA Hard for the money, EMAF – European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück, DE Il pensiero autobiografico, Kaleidoscope Space, Milano, IT Notre vallée, Musée du chateau des ducs de Wurtemberg, Montbéliard, FR
2010 Time is what keeps the light from reaching us, Bluecoat Gallery, The Liverpool Biennial (with David Jacques and Carla Åhlander), Liverpool, UK Kasseler Dokumentar- und Filmfestival, Kassel, DE Éclats, CEAAC – Centre européen d ́actions artistiques contemporaines, Strasbourg, FR Derridas Katze ... que donc je suis (à suivre), Kunstraum Kreuzberg, Berlin, DE All the rest is literature, House of Contamination, Artissima, Torino, IT Gradual Change!, Nordin Gallery, Stockholm, SE A few notes on life, Impakt Festival, Utrecht, NL Kasseler Dokumentar- und Filmfestival, Kassel, DE Love&Space, Salon Populaire, Berlin, DE
2009 EASTinternational at Transmission Gallery, Glasgow; Baltic, Newcastle; Contemporary Art Norwich, Norwich, UK Collaboration, Autocenter, Berlin, DE ABC_ DEF, Art Berlin Contemporary, Akademie der Künste, Berlin, DE Zeigen, an audio tour through Berlin, Temporäre Kunsthalle, Berlin, DE

Awards & Residencies

2022 German Short Film Award in the category experimental short film up to 30 minutes Best Film Award at Festival des Cinémas Différents et Expérimentaux de Paris, France
2021 Artist in Residence, Paliano, Italy, by Kultur Niederösterreich Artist in Residence, International Saari Residence, Kone Foundation, Hietamäki, Finland Special Mention, ARKIPEL – Jakarta International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival Artistic Research Grant from Berlin City Administration for Culture
2020 Best Film Award, VIII Kinodot Experimental Film Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia Artistic Research Grant from Berlin City Administration for Culture
2019 EMAF Media Art Award of the German Film Critics at EMAF – European Media Art Festival, Osnabrück Special Mention, 36th Short Film Festival, Hamburg, Germany Artist in Residence, Institute for Urban Research, Malmö University, Sweden
2018 Artist in Residence, Cripta747, Turin, Italy Artist in Residence, Superdeals, Brussels, Belgium
2017 Winner of the 20th edition of the MOSTYN Open Short list for German Short Film Award Artistic Research Grant from Berlin City Administration for Culture
2016 Lecture on Writing Art in Digital Space at Society for Artistic Research conference, Den Haag, Netherlands
2013 State scholarship for Video and Media, BKA, Arts Division of the Federal Chancellery of Austria Artist in Residence, ECAV en collaboration avec la Fondation Château Mercier, Sierre, Sierra Leone
2009 Artist in Residence, Rome, Italy, BKA, Arts Division of the Federal Chancellery of Austria