Philipp Klammsteiner

Klammsteiner´s combinations of illustration and graphics distinguish his work. His graphic skills still come from the old school and that is what we will see at the Carte Blanche nr.7 exhibition entitled CHAOS. Preferring graphic handwork and altering the analogue with the digital the artist creates a unique method of playing with different mediums and techniques. Klammsteiner likes to merge graphics with street art and mainly uses the know how of collage, stencils and spray cans. He varies between the underlying material of the artwork and plays with canvases, wood, and metal as well as lately 3D sculptures taken from the Sports environment such as baseball bat made out of maple wood and an iconic Ice hockey mask made with collage and spray paint on fiberglass finished with epoxy resin.

The works by Philipp Klammsteiner we see at CHAOS the Carte Blanche nr.7 exhibition have been created over the last 3 years dealing primarily with themes such as social networks and their surreal existence. Reworking advertisements from the 1960s and 1970s, the illusion of “followers and likes” is portrayed, as they make false promises to the consumer. The images on wood, metal, canvas and wall encourage the viewer to think and reflect on the emotional value attached to social networks. Social media awareness is nothing more than a social causality. This is defined by a fierce and agonizing crossing of graffiti, collage and painting, dissecting a place in time where the real and the virtual meet.

Looking more closely at each of the artworks we see lots of elements and figures well known to most of us. People associate comics with their childhood. The genesis of the comic hands and their justification in contrast are indicative of the contrast between fiction and reality: the black and white comic hands are beautiful, inflated, graspable by children’s eyes – but have virtually nothing to do with reality. From the beginning, Klammsteiner confronted the childlike statement with the adolescent and adult view of it. How does a fictional imagination superimpose real forms and realities? The artist alludes to the strong presence of social media. The generation Klammsteiner is from has taken many first steps from child to adult, from home phone to the current metaverse trend, and has been exposed to developments “first hand“. There is definitely a lot of criticism and the underlying messages the artist refers to. He uses Social media himself for promoting his works and as a tool for creative people but lately is very concerned about its development. Social Media is relatively a newer technology, hence, it is a little difficult to establish its long-term good and bad consequences. Self-optimization what we see online can be fatal and Fear of missing out as well as lack of privacy, cyberbullysm and slacktivism are the flip side of this very powerful tool.

The desire to reveal valuable and entertaining content to others , to grow and nourish relationships and to advertise brands and causes they like or support as well as finding likeminded people can be seen as positive effects. Klammsteiner wants to provoke with the images, icons like buttons, insta pills and all the different symbols of our contemporary society he places thoughtfully on his works. He tries to make the viewers think, reflect, feel the underlying messages and would like us to question critically how these images make us feel, think and act. With CHAOS the latest developments in Klammsteiners career are highlighted as he tends to work nowadays in a more fragmented and abstract way, with layers, computer-made graphic work and 80s manga influence.

For the Aurora premises the artist made a special commissioned site specific art work a so call Paste-Up with the title Selfie lip balm for the outdoor hotel building wall. Paste Up comes from the street art graffiti scene and Klammsteiner has made several large scale graffitis over the years in the public spaces of Südtirol.

This space is dedicated to showcasing contemporary artistic perspectives, offering both local and international artists the opportunity to exhibit their work through a hybrid format: an online virtual gallery alongside a physical exhibition space located within Aurora.