Markus Amm
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Markus Amm (born 1969, Emsdetten, Germany) is an artist based in London.
He has shown work internationally in many exhibitions including “Finding Neverland” at Patricia Low Contemporary [1] in Gstaad, “Alles in einer Nacht” at Tanya Bonakdar [2] in New York, “The Addiction” at Gagosian Gallery [3] in Berlin and “New Party” at The Breeder Projects [4] in Athens. He is represented by Herald Street [5] in London.
Markus Amm’s work engages Modernist art of the early 20th century – its techniques and stylistic manifestations – to reassess the movement from the perspective of now. While the idealistic plans of the avant-garde may not have worked out entirely as intended, Amm sees the potential in re-presenting the investigation of abstraction as an entirely contemporary ambition. In his series of photograms – a method developed by Moholy-Nagy in which photosensitive film is exposed to light thereby leaving a trace image of whatever objects have been placed upon the film – Amm creates abstract images composed of simple shapes in black and white. These small works have a look of geometric abstraction – almost as if they are rudimentary photographs documenting authentic early 20th century paintings – but read in the correct chronological context they take on a futuristic aspect. Testament to a contemporary viewer’s heightened visual exposure and comprehension, Amm’s photograms begin to bear a resemblance to ultramodern architecture at odds with the low-tech method of their creation.
