Chat with Markus Vater

Markus Vater and I talk about feeling slightly sad and slightly content and about more things going then coming. We talk about being interested in where we are not. We talk about how the end of the world might look as a place and the illusion of control over the world, which the virus has made visible. We talk about localisation and social media as a connection with how to communicate and how to sell work directly, not just to extend knowledge. We talk about spending time with time. We talk about the collective Hobbypop, born out of of looking for your own infrastructure with a peer group. We talk about making with a lot of Joy and energy and we get into to the exhibition Drive In that the group organised in 1995. We talk about art not being subject bound and much more about a spirit and the difficulty in the idea of trying to be a tutor of it all. We talk about Markus’ multimedia approach, which he describes simply as looking at where the most interesting process is happening and responding to it. We discuss Markus' short video, "Mary sees the sun" about the idea of looking at the sunset until it hurts your eyes. We discuss Markus' paintings for animals. We talk about his fascination with water and some of the ways it features in his work, like the tear and a sea. We talk about Markus’ idea that we are the Ocean on vacation on land. We talk about storytelling, language and the relationship between text and image or title and work. We talk through his process, often happening on one piece of paper and coming to him like an eruption and appearing like fruit. We talk about his mobile pieces moving like the wind and making the viewer move. We talk about faking flying and the connection between magic and art. We talk about changing perspective, constructed reality and lying entertainingly. We think about artists lying much less than money. We talk about the painter as pharmacist and consider if a painter can heal anything. We think about the words holy and heal and hole and whole. We consider social media as a platform to show yourself and not being afraid of anything which is very scary.


Image: “The interview” Acrylic on canvas, 170x 300cm, 2012


Links:

http://www.markusvater.com/index.html


Unstilled Life will open on 6th August at Ron Mandos Gallery,Amsterdam and Tintype Gallery, London and the exhibition continues until 3rd September.

https://ronmandos.nl/

https://www.tintypegallery.com/


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Om Podcasten

Chats with Artists in Lockdown, is a Podcast of artists talking together. Discussing how the virus has impacted them and their work; what's been lost and what's been discovered. The conversation wanders between artist’s making and thinking and they share their strategies and experiences through this weird time. Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/emma-cousin/support