Nick Oberthaler's works are characterised by a clear, reduced visual language in geometric abstractions that are dominated by a technological quality, further intensified by his use of strong artificial colours. Sharp lines and contours bring to mind the structure of abstract geometric paintings. In his compositions, Oberthaler uses numerous different media, including photographs and photocopies of images he finds in books, magazines or online and which he reworks in various ways, finishing them in detail or leaving them roughly sketched. The artist's precise associations remain private and it is often impossible to infer references from these works. The viewer is left to wonder about the content and decide upon their own focus and interpretation.
Oberthaler simply refers to his works as 'drawings', although he uses a range of materials including paint, ink and collage fragments. Due to its delicate and unforgiving texture, paper remains his preferred medium: the fragile surface reveals every artistic trace and at times is even damaged by the artist's rough treatment. At the same time, this sensitivity of the paper's surface enables him to work in a nuanced, subtle way. He combines materials such as ink and wax, or pastels and watercolours – materials that do not blend – in a method that creates unexpected textures and tensions.
Oberthaler was born in Bad Ischl, Austria in 1981. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and the École Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Geneva, and now lives and works between Vienna and Hamburg. His teaching activities include a professorship for Painting at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (2020–22). His works are displayed in important institutional collections, including the 21er Haus / Belvedere, Vienna; Landesgalerie Linz and Caldic Collection/Museum Voorlinden, Wassenaar, the Netherlands. International exhibitions include Distinct Oscillations Revisited, with Wilfrid Almendra, Adelaïde, Marseille (2018); RIDEAUX/blinds, Institut d'Art Contemporain Villeurbanne/Rhône-Alpes, France (2015); The Blackbird Must be Flying, with Thomas Julier, Centre d'Art Bastille, Grenoble (2014–15); Calculated Reserve, Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen/Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome (2014); and Minimal Myth, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2012).
2022
Nick Oberthaler: Liminals, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris Marais, France
Set de table #3 (with Pierre-Olivier Arnaud), MAUVE, Vienna, Austria
2021
Set de table #2 (with Pierre-Olivier Arnaud), L'Our Bar, Clermont-Ferrand, France
2019
M_O_B, Galerie Emanuel Layr, Vienna, Austria
SEQUEL, Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
2018
Topology, Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zurich, Switzerland
Set de table (with Pierre-Olivier Arnaud), VIS, Hamburg, Germany
Set de table (with Pierre-Olivier Arnaud), néon, Lyon, France
Distinct Oscillations Revisited (with Wilfrid Almendra), Adelaide, Marseille, France
2017
Cabrio (featuring Nico Vascellari), Galerie Emanuel Layr, Rome, Italy
Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2016
Eventuality, Kunst im Traklhaus, Salzburg, Austria
I can see the whole room! ... And there is nobody in it!, Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zurich, Switzerland
2015
Pièce Dérivée, Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Distinct Features Of Fast Oscillations..., Galerie Emanuel Layr, Vienna, Austria
No subject No Image No Taste No Matter No Grace No style, Bianca d'Alessandro, Copenhagen, Denmark
2014
Calculated Reserve, Museo H.C. Andersen/Galleria nazionale d'arte moderna, Rome, Italy
Frankendael Foundation (with Dieuwke Spaans), Amsterdam, Netherlands
The blackbird must be flying (with Thomas Julier), Centre d'art bastille/CAB, Grenoble, France
2013
Miart, solo presentation, Milan, Italy
2012
Eventuality of an Attempt, Kiosk Gallery, Ghent, Belgium
Point de fuite, Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam, Netherlands
{…}, Galerie Emanuel Layr, Vienna, Austria
In an Expression of the Inexpressible, WIELS Center for Contemporary Art/Project Space, Brussels, Belgium
2011
Zweifel und Gnade (Le doute et la grâce), Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
2010
LISTE 15, Basel, Switzerland (with Layr Wuestenhagen, Vienna)
2009
Nothing Ever Happened, Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Der verlorene und wiedergefundene Himmel, Layr Wuestenhagen, Vienna, Austria
2006
Warsaw, Texas (with Julien Diehn), CSW Center for Contemporary Art Z. Ujazdowski, Warsaw, Poland
Saufen bis zur Besinnlichkeit (with Daniel Megerle), Vienna, Salzburg, Austria
2022
OPEN, Heidi Horten Collection, Vienna, Austria
2021
Dust: The plates of present, Beeler Gallery, Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, OH, USA
2020
Dust: The plates of present, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Int'Ubagu, Musée d'art contemporain de la Haute-Vienne, Chateau de Rochechouart, Rochechouart, France
2019
Salon Hang, Kunstverein Amsterdam, Netherlands (with Pierre-Olivier Arnaud)
They had a house of crystal pillars, Belsunce Projects, Marseille, France (with Victor Yudaev)
Ticket to the Moon, Kunsthalle Krems, Krems an der Donau, Austria
Österreichischer Grafikwettbewerb, Galerie im Taxispalais Kunsthalle Tirol, Innsbruck, Austria
2018
MOREpublishers at Brussels Art Weekend, Vanderborght building, Brussels, Belgium (with Johannes Wohnseifer)
Hospitality, NOS - Non Objectif Sud, Tulette, France (curated by Marie de Brugerolle)
Dream'n'Wild, ALASKA Projects, Sydney, Australia (curated by Alexander Jackson Wyatt)
INTOTO 6, Fondation d'entreprise Ricard, Paris
How well do you behave?, Beeler Gallery, Columbus College of Art & Design, OH, USA (curated by Jo-ey Tang)
Black Pages / Publizieren als künstlerische Praxis, Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg, Austria
Hazenstraat Biennale - Editions & Multiples, Galerie Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2017
Publishing as an Artistic Toolbox 1989-2017, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (curated by Luca Lo Pinto)
Corporate Fatigue, Neuer Wiener Kunstverein, Wien, Vienna, Austria (with Thomas Julier, Nelly Haliti, Jochen Schmith, Andrea Winkler)
Artists' books for Everything, Weserburg - Museum für moderne Kunst/Zentrum f. Künstlerpublikationen, Bremen, Germany
The plates of the present, so far, Galerie Praz-Delavallade, Paris, France (curated by Thomas Fougeirol & Jo-ey Tang)
Interiors, Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zurich, Switzerland
Temporary Encounters (with Dino Zrnec), Galerija Galzenica, Velika Gorica, Croatia (curated by Branka Bencic)
Art Club #12/Folies d'hiver, Villa Medici – Acad.mie de France . Rome (Cur. Pier Paolo Pancotto)
2016
Noir dedans, Le Manoir, Martigny, Switzerland
What kind of bird is this? (with Hugo Scibetta & Laetitia Badaut-Haussmann), LevyDelval, Brussels, Belgium
2015
Flirting with Strangers, Belvedere/21er Haus, Vienna, Austria
Granpalazzo, Palazzo Rospigliosi, Zagarolo, Rome, Italy
Une Nouvelle Verité, Chateau de Fernelmont, Fernelmont, Belgium
Closed Circuit, Apoteka Space for Contemporary Art, Vodnajan/Digano, Croatia
Rideaux / Blinds, Institut d'Art Contemporain, Villeurbanne, France
N A PRIS LES DÉS curated by Arlène Berceliot Courtin, Paris, France
Tunguska, Galerie Maria Bernheim, Zurich, Switzerland
A form is a social gatherer, Plymouth Rock, Zurich, Switzerland
2014
konkret–abstrakt, Parlament der Republik Österreich, Wien, Austria
Jahresgaben 2014, Kunstverein in Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany
Ökonomie der Aufmerksamkeit, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria
MANIFESTA, International Foundation Manifesta, Amsterdam, Netherlands
It Ain't Whatcha Write, It's The Way Atcha Write it, Manifesta Foundation in cooperation with Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Frankendael Foundation (with Dieuwke Spaans), Amsterdam, Netherlands
Social Photography IV, Emily Harvey Foundation, New York, NY, USA
Againt the sun, Taylor Macklin, Zurich, Switzerland
Beyond the process/Werke aux der Sammlung Lenikus, Kunstraum Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
2013
Vers une hypothèse, CAC Fort du Bruissin, Francheville / XII Lyon Biennial, France
De leur temps 4: Nantes, Centre d'art contemporain Le Hangar, Nantes, France
Die Sammlung #4, Belvedere/21 Haus, Vienna, Austria
Young Collectors, Maison Particulière, Brussels, Belgium
Drawing Quote, Pigna Project Space, Rome, Italy
Works on Paper, CCA/Center for Contemporary Art Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
Finisce e continue, Gesso, Vienna, Austria
2012
Minimal Myth, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Le Prince des Rayons, Galerie VidalCuglietta, Brussels, Belgium
Behind the Light, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon, Portugal
Europe, The Final Countdown, Zabriskie Point, Geneva, Switzerland
About Horizon, Galerie Vidal Cuglietta, Bruxelles, Belgium
Goupshow curated by Jorge Pallarès, Galeria Pedro Cera, Lisbon, Portugal
Biennale de Belleville, Chalet de Belleville, Paris, France
CCA/Center for Contemporary Art Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
2011
The Last Decade, Ellipse Foundation, Alcoitao, Portugal
Control, Magazin 4 Bregenzer Kunstverein, Bregenz, Austria
Wallpaperism, Motel Campo, Geneva, Switzerland
The Garden View, Andreiana Mihail Gallery, Bucharest, Romania
Living on the edge of a SILVER FUTURE, Galerie 5020, Salzburg, Austria
WYSIWYG, Rosenblum Collection / FIAC 2011, Paris, France
2010
Both Ends Burning, Martin van Zomeren, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Groupshow (with Marcus Gundling, Isabelle Fein, Sabine Reitmaier), Berlin, Germany
Mallorca (with Carsten Fock), Galerie Eva Winkeler, Cologne, Germany
Mike, Alec or Rufus? (Tom, Dick or Harry), Layr Wuestenhagen, Vienna, Austria
In passing 10 (with Christoph Meier und Ute Müller), Künstlerhauspassage, Vienna, Austria
2009
Burn Baby Burn, DUVE Berlin, Germany
The Last Session (curated by Jan van Woensel), Vlaams Cultuurhuis, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Schnitzel, Schmiss und Wiener Auster (with Carsten Fock and Svenja Deininger), Vienna, Austria
2008
The Line is a LONELY Hunter, New Jerseyy, Basel, Switzerland
Landscope (Part II), Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria
Landscope, Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France
Taking Harbours, Les Galeries Bains-Douches, Marseille, France
Young at Heart (Remix), Centro Cultural de Cascais, Cascais, Portugal
Manual CC 2 (with Julien Diehn), CSW Center for Contemporary Art Z. Ujazdowski, Warsaw, Poland
Under the Pain of Death, Austrian Cultural Forum, New York, NY, USA
2007
Vacuum, CCC Centre de Création Contempraine, Tours, France
Manual CC 1 (with Julien Diehn), Galeria Kronika, Bytom, Poland
La Boum, Layr Wuestenhagen, Vienna, Austria
Pollenflug, Art Cologne Soderschau, Köln, Germany
Austria
Belvedere/21er Haus, Vienna
Cabinet of Drawings and Prints, Akademie der Bildenden Künste, Vienna
Landesgalerie Linz/Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art , Linz
France
Centre Pompidou, Paris
Rosenblum Collection, Paris
Netherlands
Caldic Collection, Rotterdam
Portugal
Ellipse Foundation, Acoitao, Lisbon
USA
Pizzuti Colletion, Columbus, OH
2018
NOS / Non Objectif Sud, Tulette, France
2014
Anton-Faistauer-Preis, Land Salzburg, Landesgalerie im Traklhaus, Austria
2011
Artist in Residence, WIELS Center for Contemporary Art, Bruxelles, Belgium
2010
Artist in Residence, CCA/Center for Contemporary Art Andratx, Mallorca, Spain
2009
Studio Grant BMUKK, ESAC Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
2007
Studio Grant BMUKK, Cité Internationale des Arts Paris, France
2006
Artist in Residence, CSW Center for Contemporary Art Zamek Ujazdowski, Warsaw, Poland