Thomas Girbl

Thomas Girbl is an Austrian contemporary artist known for his powerful Burningpictures – a unique body of work where fire becomes both brush and symbol. His process-driven practice explores the tension between destruction and creation, control and surrender. In Girbl's hands, fire is not a force of loss, but of transformation – a primal energy that reveals structure through chaos.
Each piece begins with combustion. The artist lets the fire make the first move, then enters into a dialogue – responding, layering, and allowing chance to shape the form. His works often evoke cosmic imagery, planetary surfaces, or emotional landscapes. What emerges are monumental compositions that resonate with both physical intensity and spiritual stillness.
Girbl's Burningpictures are visual meditations on impermanence, potential, and the unpredictable beauty of creation. They speak to a deep human instinct: the desire to find meaning in chaos and to create from the edge of the uncontrollable.
Artistic Themes & Vision
His artistic themes center around transformation, elemental forces, identity, and inner resilience. With a background in both fine art and live performance, Girbl often creates his works in front of an audience, turning the act of cr...

Born in 1970 in Salzburg;

received his first artistic training at the Technical College for Creative Arts and Crafts in Ferlach (Engraving Department),

then worked as an engraver in Graz and Cologne; passed the master craftsman examination for engravers in Innsbruck in

1993 and took private studies with Prof. Alesa Vaic in Prague (graphic reproduction);

in 1994 master class with Prof. Günther Meck in Millstatt and Mannheim (free and nude painting);

stayed in Australia for study purposes in 1997/98 and created his own new painting technique

based on his observation of bushfires; since 1998 work as a freelance artist in Faak am See (Carinthia)

(further development of his painting technique: burning pictures)

Upcoming Exhibitions – 2026
Yield the Way to the Trees
Group Exhibition, MyMicroGallery
Venue: Via Giovanni Boccaccio 24, 20123 Milan
Dates: January 14 – 28, 2026
A poetic group exhibition highlighting the resonance between nature and artistic contemplation. Thomas Girbl contributes selected Burningpictures that explore growth, time, and elemental transformation—drawing parallels between the life of trees and the fiery process of his work.
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GRAVITY AND LEVITY: A COSMIC DANCE
Curated by Stefania Carrozzini
Venue: Montserrat Contemporary Art Gallery, New York City
Exhibition Dates: March 2 – 28, 2026
Opening Reception: March 5, 2026, 6:00 – 8:00 PM
This ambitious group show invites artists from across the globe to explore the opposing yet complementary forces of the universe: gravity and levity. Thomas Girbl's Burningpictures fit seamlessly into this curatorial dialogue—his works harness the primal power of fire to explore tension and transcendence, the pull of matter versus the lift of spirit. The results are stunning compositions that feel both grounded and ethereal.Selected Past Solo Exhibitions
2025 – Das Kronthaler, with live performances (Nov–Jan)
2024 – Gallery Burningpictures, Künstlerstadt Gmünd, May–October
– TrendSet Fine...