TOBIAS PILS

Following intuition and disregarding strict methodology, Pils pursues his ideas as they evolve during their making. He says of his process: ‘When I start to paint, I have quite a clear idea — of the motive ... the goal is to lose the idea through painting.’ The viewer is confronted with unexpected iconography and motifs that then seemingly take several directions at once and create compositions of interpretive ambiguity that invite deeper contemplation. His body of work is diverse and complex however an undefined narrative nevertheless runs through it, appearing as scenes of a cryptic dream. Pils has also presented his paintings as large, unified installation works before, both at Art Basel Unlimited in 2016 and Secession, Vienna in 2013.

His work has also been shown at the Musée Picasso Paris (2020); Kunstmuseum Bonn (2020); Galerie Gisela Capitain, Cologne (2019); Josef Albers Museum Quadrat, Bottrop (2018); Le Consortium, Dijon (2018); Aspen Art Museum (2018); 21er Haus, Vienna (2017); Kunsthalle Krems (2017); Chinati Foundation / John Chamberlain Building, Marfa (2016); National Art Museum of China, Beijing (2010); among others. In 2016, Tobias Pils took part in the residency program of the Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas. He was awarded the ISCP Scholarship New York in 2014, the Anton Faistauer Prize for Painting in 2011 and the Otto Mauer Prize in 1994.

Courtesy Capitain Petzel