Markus Huemer Austrian, b. 1968

Images
Rotbrauner Autorun Wurm Morphex (Version 1.1)
Overview

Markus Huemer (* 1968 Linz) poses the question of the possibility of painting in the digital age. He moves to border areas where the reference to images replaces and overlays the actual images, blurring the boundaries between the original and the derivative. (Sprengel Museum, Hannover)

Huemer's insects and plant works refer to the copperplate engravings by the German naturalist Sibylla Maria Merian (1647–1717), who as a woman managed to discover a number of previously unknown animals and plants in Suriname, and to study and document their development. Huemer, for his part, creates paraphrases of these copperplate engravings by digitally processing the templates, painting them without mostly his own artistic signature and thus generating “new” biomorphic forms. In addition, they are displayed in non-realistic colors such as black, gray, white and yellow.

Knowing that all motifs today are created through processing with filters and only find their way onto the canvas through processing the photos, Markus Huemer, among others, asks questions about the problem of the difference between reality and visual reality in a medial completely changed present. Using a “jungle” of references, he develops a complex work that is dedicated to the analysis of digital media and the dissolution of the boundaries between painting/drawing and media art. Huemer selects individual points from the randomly computer-generated points and transforms them with a few lines (and expanded with two legs) into cheeky and self-confident birds that occupy the pictorial space, referring to the ancient Roman tradition of auspices (bird's-view). They were seen as essential yes/no decision machines and Huemer points to binary codes and digital decryption as a reading of the media.

Such an image is created by a digital process, but not an image of nature. Instead, the works are based on the underlying algorithms and programs and no longer refer to anything. The reference has replaced the actual image. Huemer's pictures ultimately turn out to be delusions. The often irritatingly long picture titles are essential for understanding Huemer's work, as they force the recipient to look at the pictures a second time in order to grasp their additional meaning.

Works
  • The Painting is dedicated to its visible similarities with other paintings
    The Painting is dedicated to its visible similarities with other paintings
  • Gelbgrüner Macro Virus "Babas"
    Gelbgrüner Macro Virus "Babas"
  • IchHaetteBApoAbgPrekaA
    IchHaetteBApoAbgPrekaA
  • PotentiellGefaehrdURLA
    PotentiellGefaehrdURLA
  • SelbstbestaeubCookieCA
    SelbstbestaeubCookieCA
  • MonsterVirusA
    MonsterVirusA
  • SST1 (Extinction Rebel 003)
    SST1 (Extinction Rebel 003)
  • i752 (Extinction Rebel 005)
    i752 (Extinction Rebel 005)
  • Permedia 3 (Extinction Rebel 011)
    Permedia 3 (Extinction Rebel 011)
  • NV4 (Extinction Rebel 016)
    NV4 (Extinction Rebel 016)
  • NV5 (Extinction Rebel 017)
    NV5 (Extinction Rebel 017)
  • Banshee (Extinction Rebel 019)
    Banshee (Extinction Rebel 019)
  • Avenger (Extinction Rebel 020)
    Avenger (Extinction Rebel 020)
  • Condor 1 (Extinction Rebel 021)
    Condor 1 (Extinction Rebel 021)
  • Toucan (Extinction Rebel 022)
    Toucan (Extinction Rebel 022)
  • Savage 2000 (Extinction Rebel 023)
    Savage 2000 (Extinction Rebel 023)
  • SGT 4000X (Extinction Rebel 025)
    SGT 4000X (Extinction Rebel 025)
  • STG 4500 (Extinction Rebel 030)
    STG 4500 (Extinction Rebel 030)
  • We Have to Roll Up Our Mind and Our Sleeves Too (03)
    We Have to Roll Up Our Mind and Our Sleeves Too (03)
  • Augurs in Action (065)
    Augurs in Action (065)
  • Augurs in Action (007)
    Augurs in Action (007)
  • Augurs in Action (017)
    Augurs in Action (017)
  • We See Our Task Primarily in Asking Well-Chosen Questions
    We See Our Task Primarily in Asking Well-Chosen Questions
  • She Must be Strong, in Order, on the One Hand, to Virtually Compel Fully Elaborated Statements
    She Must be Strong, in Order, on the One Hand, to Virtually Compel Fully Elaborated Statements
  • Augurs in Action (005)
    Augurs in Action (005)
  • Augurs in Action (009)
    Augurs in Action (009)
  • Augurs in Action (013)
    Augurs in Action (013)
  • Augurs in Action (018)
    Augurs in Action (018)
  • Sensitive Data
    Sensitive Data
  • Desktop Enhancements
    Desktop Enhancements
  • 12 Files in a Portable Document Format, Integrated Flash Memory
    12 Files in a Portable Document Format, Integrated Flash Memory
  • Anti-Spam Tool, Developer's Version
    Anti-Spam Tool, Developer's Version
  • Thousands of Hotspots - Cheap and Wireless
    Thousands of Hotspots - Cheap and Wireless
  • Spyware Remover
    Spyware Remover
  • Verite 2200 (Extinction Rebel 007)
    Verite 2200 (Extinction Rebel 007)
  • RV280 LX (Extinction Rebel 028)
    RV280 LX (Extinction Rebel 028)
  • I Should Have Painted More Social-Political Spirituality Than Beauty for You All
    I Should Have Painted More Social-Political Spirituality Than Beauty for You All
  • Detailed Virus "Bugbear"
    Detailed Virus "Bugbear"
  • Monster-Virus "Inor"
    Monster-Virus "Inor"
  • MGA 1164 SG (Extinction Rebel 001)
    MGA 1164 SG (Extinction Rebel 001)
  • Scientific Notation: Virus "Dumaru"
    Scientific Notation: Virus "Dumaru"
  • Rage 128 Pro (Extinction Pro 024)
    Rage 128 Pro (Extinction Pro 024)
  • Red Virus "Brain"
    Red Virus "Brain"
  • Fünf schöne Compoiler in einer salzliebenden Vegetation
    Fünf schöne Compoiler in einer salzliebenden Vegetation
  • Virus "Swen" Approaching Insanity
    Virus "Swen" Approaching Insanity
  • The Kiwis are Sour Because the Pumpkins Are Drawn Larger
    The Kiwis are Sour Because the Pumpkins Are Drawn Larger
  • The Lemons Don't Like the Kiwi in the Drawing (01)
    The Lemons Don't Like the Kiwi in the Drawing (01)
  • The Lemons Don't Like the Kiwi in the Drawing (06)
    The Lemons Don't Like the Kiwi in the Drawing (06)
  • There is no Space for the Kiwi in the Drawing
    There is no Space for the Kiwi in the Drawing
  • The Kiwis Blame the Lemon for its Colour
    The Kiwis Blame the Lemon for its Colour
  • The Melon Blames the Lemon for its Size
    The Melon Blames the Lemon for its Size
  • The Oranges Blame the Lemon for its Colour
    The Oranges Blame the Lemon for its Colour
  • Rotbrauner Autorun Wurm Morphex (Version 1.1)
    Rotbrauner Autorun Wurm Morphex (Version 1.1)
  • Unbekannte Scareware und Rootkit
    Unbekannte Scareware und Rootkit
  • Dieses Gemälde ist sich selbst als unglaublichen Investment gewidmet
    Dieses Gemälde ist sich selbst als unglaublichen Investment gewidmet
  • Kleiner Virus "Jerusalem"
    Kleiner Virus "Jerusalem"
  • Autorun Wurm Morphex (Version 1.6)
    Autorun Wurm Morphex (Version 1.6)
  • Gefährlicher Boot Sector Virus "AntiEXE"
    Gefährlicher Boot Sector Virus "AntiEXE"
Exhibitions