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Michael Höpfner
State Gallery of Lower Austria, Austria
October 19 2019 - May 3 2020
Born in Lower Austria, Michael Höpfner has traveled for decades through remote regions of the world such as the highlands of Tibet, river courses in Albania or through the valleys of the Alps.
He walks through the landscapes on foot in weeks of march and records them photographically, in drawings and diary notes.
Höpfner sees his paths as a search for a human relationship with nature and in his works he tells of silence, the absence of words and loneliness. His are existential experiences, both physical and mental, which he faces through time and space, emptiness and distance.
In the selection presented at the Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, Höpfner tries to capture the paths of the last two decades with new works.
"Walking, as I do, is always an artistic action of rebellion, a protest against ideologies and contemporary society. Going for me is an escape from existing patterns. As an artist, I didn't want to go to the studio, but to look for the lost relationship with nature. This alienation has always been an impulse for me ", emphasizes Höpfner.
