ART: Christoph Ueberhuber creates photo-based works of art in an
emotionally driven collage style. Concentrating on human faces and
bodies, Ueberhuber’s work speaks to the most intrinsic of human
concerns, love and loss.
BORN: October 26, 1946 in Vienna, Austria
PROFESSION: Professor at the Institute for Analysis and Scientific Computing,
Vienna University of Technology, Wiedner Hauptstrasse 8–10, A-1040 Wien, Austria,
Tel: +43 / 1 / 58801 10152, E-Mail: ueberhuber@tuwien.ac.at
RESEARCH WORK: Participation in numerous research projects in leading position,
for example, in the special research program SFB AURORA (1997–2007) of the
Austrian Science Fund.
SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS: 16 reference books and more than 100 journal
publications in the fields of mathematics and computer science
AWARDS: Gordon Bell Prize 2006 for the fastest running software on the
biggest computer in the world; Heinz-Zemanek-Preis 1994
ARTISTIC DEVELOPMENT: Various art courses, for example, at the International
Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg (Xenia Hausner, Rivka Rinn, Ines Doujak,
Elfie Semotan) and Traunkirchen (Arnulf Rainer); artistic research in the area between
scientific imaging and artistic image conception and composition.
ART TEACHING: Since 1995 holding of advanced seminars on „Art and Computers“
at the Vienna University of Technology. Since 2010 holding of an advanced course
on artistic research for students of architecture.
MEMBERSHIPS IN ARTISTS’ ORGANIZATIONS: Künstlerhaus / Association of Austrian
Artists / Gesellschaft bildender Künstler und Künstlerinnen Österreichs
http://www.k-haus.at/christoph-ueberhuber.html
WIKIPEDIA: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christoph_Überhuber
ARTIST STATEMENT
The essence of what brought me to art is to reach and to touch people emotionally.
I want to move them and make them feel something. Moreover, it has been my concern
to develop a complement to my work in science, which intellectually deals with
abstract subject matter.
In my dual role as scientist and artist the interplay of thinking, seeing and feeling
is the basis of my work. In my artistic and creative efforts I seek to pull the viewers
into stories that must be created by themselves.
Methodically, I have acquired my own digital collage technique in which I connect
and modify digital photos on a computer to create new pictures. Using high quality
printing technology these pictures are transformed into display items.
In my works of digital art, I try to achieve depth and intensity by creating emotional
tension. Technically, I am using distortions, overlaps and special image designs
to stimulate the imagination. Thus I try to approach the effects achieved by my
artistic role models such as Arnulf Rainer’s early portrait over-paintings and
Francis Bacon’s expressive human figures.
For a long time I have been fascinated by the emotional exploration of human faces.
Pictures of troubled, introspective gloom and reflections of uplifting happiness
encourage the empathy of the viewer. My pictures demand attention, must be opened up
and unraveled, but always retain a residue of mystery.
Christoph W. Ueberhuber