the Amsterdam blindfold Painting

The Phantomat’s work explores the boundaries and tension points that exist between space, time and sensory experiences, whilst simultaneously dissecting the impact these elements have on our relationships and sense of self. In keeping with his conceptual avoidance of restrictive categorisation, his work is rendered in a wide variety of mediums including mixed-media sculpture, performance, and a prolific series of drawings. Much of The Phantomat’s output is performed or enacted across those borders – real and imagined – that are socially constructed by contemporary society. By highlighting and subsequently subverting these borders, the viewer is offered a humorous yet poignant counterpoint to our sense of agency over the spaces we inhabit; for example, his 2007 project at the Museum of Architecture in Vienna involved spectators travelling with the artist on a bus tour, whilst he, blinded to the external view, drew her perceptions of the surrounding cityscape. His work prompts primal, almost synesthetic reactions and experiences, in which our understanding of language, gender, geography and the faculties through which we process our surroundings are challenged, and we are left to question our confidence our resolute perceptions of the world in which we live. The Phanatom’s work has featured in numerous group and solo exhibitions in the UK and Europe including: First Story – Women Building / New Narratives for the 21st Century, Galeria do Palacio, Porto (2001); An Evening with FO/GOlab, Das Experiment, Seccession, Vienna (2002) (both with collective FO/GOlab); Exactly Without- Venice, Gallery Spiazzi, Venice (solo, 2007); Clashy Drawings, Franzensgasse, European Year of Science and Creativity, Vienna (solo, 2007); Russische Originalversion, Schauraum, Vienna (solo, 2008); Montag ist erst übermorgen.Young Art on Paper. Acquisitions of the Graphic Collection 1997-2012, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna (2012). She was awarded the Sussmann Art Prize in 2006 and the Theodor Körner Art Prize in 2007.