Beni Altmüller

Biography

Beni Altmüller earned his degree in Arts and Industrial Design at the Linz University of Arts in 1977. From 1978 to 1995 he ran the “Altmüller-Bogner” studio. In the early 80s he became the artistic director and manager of the “Posthof – Zeitkultur am Hafen” (a cultural centre in Linz). Altmüller staged exhibitions and performances and earned an international reputation as a designer, architect and sculptor. From 1997 to 1999 he worked on a new 13,000 m² hall for VOEST-ALPINE (a steel-based technology and capital goods group headquartered in Linz), an impressive edifice with a light satellite in front of a soaring crescent-shaped office building. Since 2000, the artist has largely devoted himself to painting and sculpture.

“I’m interested in the relationship between “I” and “Self”. The essence of it, the actual state of living, arises from the dialogue between the conscious and the subconscious, between emotion and reason.” This dialogue is reflected in Altmüller’s work, especially in the contrast between the wide expressive-impulsive brushstrokes and figurative painting. The artist himself describes these colourful strokes as “DNA, the strands of life”, that are first on a canvas and thus provide a framework and a guideline for subsequent painting. The contrast between his “stencil pattern” backgrounds and realistic human representations pushes the paintings beyond time and space. Beni Altmüller intensifies the dream-like effect of his paintings with contradictory, topsy-turvy perspectives that bring about spatial ambiguity.