Cover image: Photo from Museum gegenstandsfreier Kunst: Stefan Reiterer, Tangent III, IV, V, 200×140 cm each, made of aluminum. 2025, formant I, 190x280x180cm ÖlaufAcrystal,Glasfaser,CNC-gefra7stesStyropor 2025;..
In his first institutional solo exhibition in Germany, the Austrian artist Stefan Reiterer presents expansive works that impressively combine digital and analog techniques.
The exhibition title, “Inflection Point,” refers to the moment of fundamental change: a tipping point at which perspectives shift, systems become unstable, or new directions emerge. Against this backdrop, Reiterer’s works offer a critical yet poetic perspective on our increasingly unstable, mediatized world.
In effect, we are living at a social, psychological and historical turning point at which perspectives shift and new directions emerge in a violent way.
Reiterer studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. His works have been exhibited internationally, including in São Paulo, Mexico City, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Prague, and Berlin. His works are included in important collections such as the Belvedere Vienna, the State Collection of Lower Austria, the Austrian Federal Collection, and the CCA Andratx in Mallorca. Reiterer is co-running the artist-run-space new jörg together with Axel Koschier in Vienna. I spoke with him about his museum exhibition but also about his artistic practice.
Stefan Reiterer: Tangent III, IV, V, 200×140 cm each, made of aluminum. 2025; formant I, 190x280x180 cm, 2025.
Camilla Boemio: In May 2025, you presented at Museum gegenstandsfreier Kunst a series of monumental site-specific installations that merge with the museum’s floors, walls and ceilings, distorting spatial perception and inviting visitors to consider the relevance of abstract art in the digital age.
What’s the meaning of mediatized world, in an “Inflection Point”? The philosophical core in the exhibition is so strong that it opens vision to a new world. There is a strong idea of aesthetics that emerges in your solo show.
Stefan Reiterer: The title ”Inflection Point” brings together ideas that are central to my practice. Nothing is entirely stable; everything exists in a state of flux. The painted floor, the curves within the paintings themselves—everything is in dynamic transition, reflecting the world we live in, or perhaps how I perceive and experience it.
C.B: Please expand on your introduction to the exhibition.
S.R.: The exhibition at the Museum gegenstandsfreier Kunst was my first institutional show. Since it was co-funded by the Austrian organization Phileas, I had the opportunity for the first time to collaborate with a production company on larger sculptural works. Working closely with the museum’s director and curator, Wilko Austermann, we aimed to create an environment where my earlier works could engage with newly produced pieces on equal terms. This gave visitors the chance to trace thematic threads through the development of my practice.
Stefan Reiterer: template X, 203×263 cm, 2022; template XV, 112×76 cm, 2024; Öhne Titel (“images“ Serie) 70×50 cm, 2023.
C.B.: How exactly do you take up space of a museum?
S.R.: When I am invited to exhibit, especially for a solo show, I am always drawn to the architectural character of the space. The Museum gegenstandsfreier Kunst in Otterndorf has distinctive features: on the lower floor, a nearly perfect white cube; on the upper floor, four walls angled toward the center form chambers, each crowned with a gabled ceiling. The painted fabrics I use in my installations act like sketches within the space, either commenting on it, or seeking to connect—or disconnect—from it. In this case, both floors of the museum were unified by one site-specific work, the painted floor, which introduced a sense of instability.
Stefan Reiterer: template X, 203×263 cm 2022; Ohme Titel (“Images” series, 2022; template XI, 115×95 cm, 2024.
C.B.: Your work harnesses techniques of computer animation to question whether figurative images can ever represent an objective, ‘true’ reality, using representations of landscapes such as maps and digital satellite images, and their abstractions. Can you expand on your research that uses both painting and computer animation?
S.R.: Before painting, I create numerous digital sketches. The source material often comes from satellite images or photographs taken from airplanes at night. I collect and edit these by cutting out sections or digitally overpainting parts of them. These become layers or surfaces for 3D models of earlier paintings. Only in the final step of this process do I begin painting the images I’ve created onto wooden panels or aluminum. In 2018, I published an artist’s book titled 75 Templates with Mark Pezinger Books, which illustrates my digital sketching process in detail.
C.B.: Before this amazing solo show, what has been your path to art?
S.R.: I had an excellent art teacher in high school who encouraged me early on to apply to an art university. I was accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 2007, joining Daniel Richter’s class, and studied there until my diploma in 2012, including a semester abroad in Portugal. Afterward, I began working in a shared studio in Vienna’s 20th district, where we also founded an exhibition space called new jörg. Now twelve years old, this artist-run space has hosted over 65 exhibitions and projects in Vienna and internationally, which I co-curated with my friend, the artist Axel Koschier. We also publish an artist book and an edition for each participating artist.
C.B.: In general, what topics does your work address? We are leaving an interesting times, with many difficulties.
SR: Through painting, I try to pose questions about our time and the ways we orient ourselves within it.
Stefan Reiterer, template XI, 115×95 cm, 2024.
C.B.: The interpretation is the key to understand the source of your art language. What do you think?
S.R.: There is no right or wrong way to interpret my work, and I welcome every interaction with visitors to my exhibitions. Personally, I believe the most compelling artworks are those that don’t provide immediate understanding, but instead leave you with a multitude of questions.
Camilla Boemio, Pitti, Firenze.
Camilla Boemio, contributor writer at The Dreaming Machine, covers the latest contemporary art and culture news — from museums to biennials — as well as artists conversations. One of her recent publications is “The Edge of Equilibrium” published by Vanilla Edizioni. Her recent exhibition curated is Ron Laboray solo show “Time and Random Data in Sequence” at De Bouwput in Amsterdam. Her interests include tracking activism for climate change, environmental sustainable living and every shade of green.
