Thomas von Poschinger

Thomas von Poschinger creates his paintings with an explosive use of colour and a powerful portrayal of forms. The diverse compositions all revolve around one leitmotif: stars. The artist consciously plays on the dual meaning of the term. The motif in his photographs is more obvious than in his paintings, in which the star formations are developed in jagged and criss-cross forms, only to implode once again in a colour storm on the canvas. In these works we meet personalities from the world of glamour who are happy to be seen splashed across the covers of glossy magazines. For the large-format, photographical portraits the artist uses photos from the tabloid press, which he then photographs using his smartphone. For example, the work Prince Harry shows the prince playing polo. In the enlarged image, the reflected flash forms an element that outshines its surroundings, partially obliterating the actual motif.

For his word images, Thomas von Poschinger also chooses people and places that evoke associations in our collective memory: Maria Stuart, Princeton or Sense and Sensibility, title of the novel by Jane Austen, which the young author wrote at barely 20 years of age at the end of the 18th century. But for the artist it is not all about the connotations of the content. The sound of the word and its aesthetic manifestation on the canvas also play a role and are responsible for the colour and the way in which the letters take shape and are interpolated into the given format. The myth of the stars forms a common thread weaved through the works of Thomas von Poschinger. In a sensitive and subtle way, the artist asks questions about genesis and decay, the creation and dissolution of the self and about finding and losing oneself – just as stars are born and fade away.

Thomas von Poschinger (born in Munich in 1981) lives and works in Munich.