MARKUS MÜLLER - CONCRETE

Markus Müller creates sculptures from simple materials, which he then paints. His mostly oversized objects—made of particleboard, roof battens, or plywood—are transformed through his painting into marble, agate, bone, precious woods, or concrete. With his interplay of reality and illusion, Markus Müller takes his place in the history of painting. His painted imitations of valuable materials, his simulations of nature and culture, are reminiscent of theatrical set design. Yet unlike in stage design, where the audience in the rows of seats is kept at a distance, Markus Müller’s deceptive technique can be unmasked up close. The altered perception of his volumes in terms of weight, density, value, and function addresses our relationship to art and authenticity

Markus Müller’s objects depict things that do not in themselves possess the status of a work of art. For the Wocher Panorama, he designs furniture made of thick particleboard that, when painted, appears to be cast in concrete. In doing so, the artist takes up the architecture of the 1960s Wocher Pavilion—its concrete pillars and the somber atmosphere of the windowless ground floor.