Anita Witek was born in 1970 in Austria, she lives and works in Vienna. She completed an MA in painting at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria, and an MA in Photography at the Royal College of Art in London, UK.

 

Amongst many prestigious awards that she received was the Austrian Art Prize for Photography in 2015. Witek uses found visual material to create collages and photomontages, working with analogue phogography. Some of the images take a format of framed three-dimensional photographs, the others are spatial installations that overwrite physical space. As Witek’s main interest lies in the subliminal influence of the photographic environment on our perception and memory, she removes the focal points from the source material by cutting them out. It is the background of these “erased” motifs – the spaces surrounding the depictions as well as the surface structures and fragments that are generally not at the centre of attention – that the artist draws on as her source material. Following the principle of the collage, she layers these elements on top of each other to create imaginary spaces that she then photographs in various stages of the assembly process. By decontextualizing the fragments and transferring them into new, unintended contexts, the artist strives to reveal inherent, latent levels of meaning.

 

Anita Witek has exhibited world-wide and her works are in prestigious public and pivate collections including Albertina, Vienna, Austria; Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, Austria; MUSA, the Collection of the Town of Vienna, Austria; TBA21 Collection, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Austria; The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Texas, USA; Charles Betlach Collection, CA, USA; La Jolla, CA, USA.

 

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Visit artist website

Do it in the Dark, Akademie Graz (curated by Astrid Kury), Austria, 2020

 

A New Vision of Debris, Austrian Cultural Forum Budapest, Hungary, 2020

 

Das ist kein Musenkuss, Liebster!, Kunstraum im Kinsky, Vienna, Austria, 2019

 

A New Vision of Debris, PhotonGallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2019

 

Full Moon, site-specific solo presentation, Kunstraum Weikendorf, Austria, 2018

 

Clip, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, USA, 2018

 

Ist Eros der eben jetzt von mir beobachtete Planet?, Kunstverein Rosa-Luxemburg-

 

Platz, Berlin, Germany, 2018

 

Spuren der Zeit, Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria, 2017

 

COLLAGE II, Welcome Home, Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna, Austria, 2017

 

Circling the Square, Public space, Big Art, Vienna, Austria, 2017

 

Elemente des realen Lebens, Haus der Kunst Baden, Germany, 2017

 

Ist Eros der eben jetzt von mir beobachtete Planet?, Kunstverein Goldberg, Germany, 2017

 

ba ≠ b+a I, Aus der Sammlung der Stadt Wien, Museum Startgalerie Artothek, Vienna, Austria, 2017

 

About life, Kunsthaus Wien, Vienna, Austria, 2016

 

reset, Central European House of Photography, Bratislava, Slovakia, 2016

 

Collaborative Networks, Kulturforum, Österreichische Botschaft, Berlin, Germany, 2015

 

Es ist wie es scheint, steirischer herbst, Kunsthalle Graz, Graz, Austria, 2015

 

Subversiv, Raum für Alternativen, Graz Museum, Graz, Austria, 2015

 

Fragen zur Geste, Württembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart, Germany, 2014

 

High Performance, Panorama in den Räumen von Accenture, Vienna Stock Exchange, Austria, 2014

 

DLF 1874: THE BIOGRAPHY OF IMAGES, Audain Gallery SFU, Vancouver, Canada, 2013

 

CONCRETE Fotografie und Architektur, Winterthur Photomuseum, Winterthur, Austria, 2013

 

DLF 1874. Die Biografie der Bilder, Camera Austria Graz, Austria, 2012

 

Utopia, Dystopia: Constructed with Photography, Museum of Fine Arts, MFA, Houston, Texas, USA, 2012

 

On Screen, aktuelle Fotografie aus Österreich, Fotohof, Salzburg, Austria, 2012

 

Huisligkeijt, Roger Raveel Museum, Machelen, Belgium, 2010

 

Before&After, MURRAYGUY, New York, USA, 2005

 

 

 

 

 

Anita Witek