Mathis Altmann

Born in Munich, Germany, 1987.

Lives and works in Zurich and Berlin.

Mathis Altmann is a multidisciplinary artist most well-known for his use of assemblage, a form of three-dimensional collage first explored by early modernists close to the Dada movement. This technique allows the artist to incorporate a limitless range of materials and objects from the world we live in, while carefully reconstructing them into a critique of the socio-political issues inherent in our post-digital consumerist society.

Altmann’s work is particularly focused on the ideals of the millennial generation. The latter is typically characterised as seeking a more authentic lifestyle based on eco-responsibility and the search for personal wellbeing. The artist explores this current in the context of the economic and social changes engendered by an increasingly tech-based society whose principal means of communication are digital. Altmann employs an ironic approach, allowing ambiguity and incompatibilities to co-exist and from which the viewers must draw their own conclusions.

Recent solo exhibitions include Fitzpatrick Gallery, Paris (2022), Amalgamate, Kunstmuseum Winterthur (2021) and Butcher Block, Efremidis Gallery, Berlin (2021). Notable recent group exhibitions include, Nimmersatt?Gesellschaft ohne Wachstum denken, Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster (2021), ANNEMARIE VON MATT. JE NE M’ENNUIE JAMAIS, ON M’ENNUIE, Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris (2021) and It‘s Urgent (curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist), Luma Westbau, Zurich (2021).

Altmann is the recipient of the 2021 Manor Art Prize and the 2016 winner of the Prix Mobilière.

Altmann obtained a Bachelor of Fine Art from Zurich University of Arts (ZHdK) in 2012. Since 2016, he has been working as a guest lecturer at the same institution.

The artist is represented by Freedman Fitzpatrick Gallery, Los Angeles and Fitzpatrick Gallery, Paris.