Martin Chramosta
A whimsical gateway to the past through these eclectic portals.
Inspired by architectural forms from the ancient world through art nouveau to postmodernism, Chramosta’s works take fragments of history and recast them in unlikely ways. The resulting objects are fictional doors, gates, facades, bits of railings which harbour humorous attachment to reality through the integration of a door handle or other messages from the everyday. As a whimsical gateway to the past through these eclectic portals, Chramosta’s sculptures turn historical tropes upside down.
Working with varying proportions, Chramosta’s works play with contrasts, between public and personal and the meanings and allusions traded between them.
Chramosta’s series of Charms (2022) making up the Ich Dien series (translated in English, meaning ‘I serve’), are wall-hanging glazed ceramics, comprising intertwining linear forms. Chramosta is playing with the ornamental role of art in public space, by creating these concentrated fragments of a bygone era that have been pulled from their original context. The works, now destined to adorn a public building or a lobby, perhaps, highlight the incongruity of preserving time so nonchalantly on the wall. Working with intricate proportions such as those used in jewellery-making, Chramosta’s works play with contrasts, between public and personal and the meanings and allusions traded between them. Charms whilst architectural, also resemble medallions, which are both ornamental and metaphysical, often bearing a higher significance or power for their wearer. And yet, they rest so easily on a façade. Works such as Caccia (2022) and Sperlonga (2022) are comprised of graphic elements such as circles and intersecting lines. Worked in found metals and other materials from across Rome, Budapest, Basel and Vienna, these works carry interlacing narratives from the places where their materials were found. Each sculpture acts as a topography for a fictional place, somewhere between then and now. What is a talisman, or a gateway to another world is adornment for another. Chramosta’s works invite us to think about the role of the artist in the public sphere and make us question the absurdity of hanging something in a hotel lobby, quietly emitting its magic.
Text by Constance Chester
I examine historical forms for their contemporary value and social relevance.
Biography Martin Chramosta
born 1982 in Zurich, Switzerland
Education
2016-2017
Sculpture and Space at the Institute of Fine Arts & Media Art, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austria
2009-2011
Master Fine Arts at Institut Kunst, HGK Basel, Switzerland
2004-2008
Teaching profession Fine Arts at HGK Basel, Switzerland
2003-2004
Vorkurs at Basel School of Design, Basel, Switzerland
Exhibitions (selection)
2022
Miraggio, Künstlerhaus Bregenz, Austria (SOLO)
Ich dien’, Vitrine Gallery Basel, Switzerland (SOLO)
2021
Isengart, Stiege 13, Wien, Austria (SOLO)
Truth to Materials, Lovaas Projects, Munich, Germany
Zentral! Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland
2020
Aper, Horizont Galeria, Budapest, Hungary (SOLO)
Haus Wien, Vienna, Austria
2019
Extase, Cassandra Cassandra, Toronto, Canada
Blind Date / Werkbeiträge, Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland
2018
Kunstland Chronicles, Rinomina Paris, France (SOLO)
Jeune Création 68, Beaux-Arts de Paris, France
2017
new norks #2, LLLLLL Wien, Austria (SOLO)
NCCA Kaliningrad, Russia
2014
Opera, Kunsthaus Baselland, Muttenz, Switzerland (SOLO)
Vacanze, Roche Collection Basel, Switzerland (SOLO)
Residencies, Grants & Prizes
2023
Cahiers d'Artistes, Pro Helvetia, Switzerland
2021/22
Residency at Istituto Svizzero di Roma, Italy
2021
Grant of the Visegrad Fund
2020
Studio grant Landis & Gyr, Budapest, Hungary
2020
Work contribution Pro Helvetia, Switzerland
2019
Styria Artist in Residence, Graz, Austria
2019
Villa Ruffieux, Sierre / Siders, Switzerland
2018
Work contribution Kunstkredit Basel, Switzerland
2017
Kunst Preis Riehen (Art Prize), Switzerland
2016
Patronagefonds Kunstverein Basel, Switzerland
2016
Residency at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France
2015
Residency at Quartier21, Museumsquartier Wien, Vienna, Austria
2014
Solo Position, Kulturelles BL, Kunsthaus Baselland Muttenz, Switzerland
2012
Residency at Fonderie Darling, Montréal, Canada (iaab)
Works by Martin Chramosta
-
Radio Rotten
2020 / Iron, wood, glazed ceramic / 25.5 x 15.5 x 1 cm / 10.0 x 6.1 x 0.4 in
-
Hüvösvölgy
2021 / Iron, wood, glazed ceramic, beewax / 39 x 28 x 2 cm / 15.4 x 11.0 x 0.8 in
-
Caccia
2022 / Iron, glazed ceramic / 200 x 110 x 3 cm / 78.7 x 43.3 x 1.2 in
-
Dear Diary
2022 / Iron / 101 x 117 x 2 cm / 39.8 x 46.1 x 0.8 in
-
FUR
2022 / Iron, glazed ceramic / 200 x 140 x 3 cm / 78.7 x 55.1 x 1.2 in
-
Gymnasium
2021 / Iron / 135 x 42 x 2 cm / 53.1 x 16.5 x 0.8 in
-
Lyceum
2021 / Iron / 57 x 45 x 2 cm / 22.4 x 17.7 x 0.8 in
-
Komarom
2021 / Iron / 105 x 141 x 2 cm / 41.3 x 55.5 x 0.8 in
-
Casa Ispirata III
2022 / Ceramic / 42 x 24 x 3 cm / 16.5 x 9.4 x 1.2 in
-
Casa Ispirata IV
2022 / Ceramic / 43 x 25 x 3 cm / 16.9 x 9.8 x 1.2 in
-
Majàk
2020 / Iron / 40 x 32 x 1.5 cm / 15.7 x 12.6 x 0.6 in
-
Der Assistent
2020 / Glazed ceramic, iron, beewax / 67 x 36 x 3 cm / 26.4 x 14.2 x 1.2 in
-
Ghost Town
2022 / Plaster, shellac / 22 x 24 x 5 cm / 8.7 x 9.4 x 2.0 in
-
Nightswing
2021 / Iron, glazed ceramic, beewax / 71 x 30 x 2 cm / 28.0 x 11.8 x 0.8 in
-
Riverdance
2022 / Terracotta / 270 x 65 x 3 cm / 106.3 x 25.6 x 1.2 in
-
Sperlonga
2022 / Iron, glazed ceramic / 155 x 200 x 40 cm / 61.0 x 78.7 x 15.7 in
-
Blue Charm
2022 / Glazed ceramic / 54 x 54 x 3 cm / 21.3 x 21.3 x 1.2 in
-
Old Spice Charm
2022 / Glazed ceramic / 54 x 54 x 3 cm / 21.3 x 21.3 x 1.2 in
-
Orange Charm
2022 / Glazed ceramic / 54 x 54 x 3 cm / 21.3 x 21.3 x 1.2 in
-
Yellow Charm
2022 / Glazed ceramic / 54 x 54 x 3 cm / 21.3 x 21.3 x 1.2 in
-
Lava Charm
2022 / Glazed ceramic / 54 x 54 x 3 cm / 21.3 x 21.3 x 1.2 in
Cahier d'Artiste by Martin Chramosta
Hotel Europa, 150 x 200 mm, 308 pages (published by Jungle Books)
Martin Chramosta studied at Basel Academy of Art and Design and Vienna University of Applied Arts. He works mostly with the mediums of sculpture, drawing and performance. In his work, Chramosta examines the contemporary value and social relevance of historical forms. Drawing on this inspiration, he uses a variety of media to create material and non-material assemblages, often working with found items and objects or forming them from clay, wax or plaster. Important references for his work include the aesthetics (and materials) of real socialism, historical architecture and heraldry.
In his Cahier, entitled “Hotel Europa”, Martin Chramosta presents an impressive collection of photographs. The approximately 300-page book contains images that Chramosta collected over the last five years as photographic sketches and notes. They document objects, moments and monuments, providing a fascinating glimpse into his work process. The selection of images conveys stories about work and travel, locations and spaces. Using the language of photography, Martin Chramosta invites readers to take a deep dive into his world and creation process. The photographs stand out for their clarity, their aesthetic composition and their ability to capture the essence of the places and objects depicted in them.
The publication contains a short story by Ann-Kathrin Eickhoff, written following a conversation with the artist about Los Angeles, Rome, art in public spaces, hotels and writers. The story complements the visual impressions and creates a resonant space for Chramosta’s images.
Ann-Kathrin Eickhoff (lives and works in Zurich and Berlin) is an author, curator, and currently artistic co-director of Halle für Kunst Lüneburg. Previously, she worked as a curator at Kunstverein Nürnberg and at the ETH Zurich, where she also studied.
Martin Chramosta is part of the Cahiers d'Artistes selection. Eight artists were chosen by a jury to realize an artist book with the support of Pro Helvetia. Their artistic practice is presented online on TheArtists.net.
With the Cahiers d'Artistes, Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia enables artists from Switzerland to have their first publication and offers art professionals and the interested public a window to current trends in the Swiss art scene. For the first time, the Cahiers d'Artistes are not pure monographs, but artist books designed and produced by graphic designers Samuel Bänziger, Rosario Florio, and Larissa Kasper (Jungle Books) in close collaboration with the artists. More about the Cahiers d'Artistes on Pro Helvetia's website.
