Michael Etzensperger CV
Michael Etzensperger, born in 1982 in Winterthur (Switzerland), graduated from the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) with a BA in Arts & Media and an MA in Fine Arts at Institut Kunst at FHNW Basel. Photographic reproductions taken from encyclopaedias, the internet, advertising or other media, play a pivotal role as source material in Etzensperger’s work, which he then manipulates with RGB light, double exposure or other techniques. Whilst doing research for an early series, which focused on the photographic reproduction of sculptures, he became aware of the impact photographed masks from traditional cultures had on the early modernist artists, in particular on the cubists and surrealists. Beyond the motifs of the photographic plates, he became increasingly fascinated by the changing surface qualities of the reproductions that were determined by printing techniques, photographic stock, camera optics, and other factors. Etzensperger then began to use the mask images he had collected as starting points for new images by making double exposures of the reproductions. In these composite pictures, two masks merge into a new hallucinatory face effigy, whilst the overlay of the different surface qualities produces painterly effects. For his bugs series, he took enlarged shots of insects from his computer screen, once again the subject matter being secondary to the reproduction itself. Although his practice mainly explores the photographic medium, he also works with video and installation. Michael lives and works in Zurich.
Selected Solo Exhibitions:
2021 Villa Sträuli, Winterthur, CH
2019 Kunsthalle Winterthur
2017 1.Sam17, Oxyd, Winterthur
2017 On.Off #10, Michael Etzensperger & Philipp Hänger, Lagerplatz, Winterthur
2016 Masked Man and the Lost Dog, Kulturfolger, Zürich
2016 HOMO HOMINI LUPUS, Kantonsschule Zürich Nord
2015 Eclectic Matter, Hauser Gallery, Zürich
2011 Projekt Jägerstrasse, Guerilla Galerie, St.Gallen
Selected Group Exhibitions:
2020 Dezemberausstellung, Fokus unter 40, Kunstmuseum Winterthur, CH
2020 Wunderkammer, The Ravestijn Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
2020 True Grid Irl, Unanimous Consent, Zurich, CH
2020 The Chedi Hotel, Andermatt
2020 EAC Peep Show, Studio Stalder, Zürich
2019 Garagestop, Kunstraum Winterthur
2019 Zyklus 3, Oxyd Winterthur
2019 I-Hood, Kunsthaus Baselland
2018 Dezemberausstellung Focus, Kunstmuseum Winterthur
2018 Double Take, Last Tango, Zürich
2017 Auf Papier, Kunstmuseum Winterthur
2017 Dezemberausstellung, Kunstmuseum Winterthur
2016 Kulturfolger, Jules Maeght Gallery, San Franciso, USA
2016 The Summer Show, The Ravestijn Gallery, Amsterdam, NL
2015 reGeneration 3, Museo Amparo, Puebla, MEX
2015 reGeneration 3, Musée de l‘Elysée, Lausanne
2014 Dezemberausstellung Focus, Kunstmuseum Winterthur
2014 Carnaval des Animaux, boulev‘art Kunstraum Kreuzlingen
2014 Plat(t)form 2014, Portfolio Viewing, Fotomuseum Winterthur
2013 17. VfG Nachwuchsförderpreis, Finale, OSLO 8, Basel
2013 17. VfG Nachwuchsförderpreis, Finale, l‘elac, Lausanne
2013 Seeds of Color, UPON PAPER Space, Berlin, DE
2012 EXhIbiTion, Import / Export Galerie VFO, ZHdK Zürich
2012 Werkschau 2, Coalmine Winterthur
2012 Diplomausstellung, Import / Export Galerie VFO, ZHdK Zürich
2012 Alles im Kasten, Collegium Helveticum, ETH Zürich
2011 Arbeitstitel, Import / Export Galerie VFO, ZHdK Zürich
2009 Jungkunst, Winterthur