Annemarie Faupel

Annemarie Faupel (born 1989 in Vienna) dedicates her painting practice to exploring human existence within the tension between intimate authenticity and universal validity. As a master student of Karin Kneffel at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich, she developed a precise visual language that places socially marginalized themes such as aging, transience, and unvarnished nudity at the center of her observations. Her works are characterized by a profound respect for individual history, which manifests itself in bodily inscriptions—wrinkles, irregularities, and textures.

The artist consciously avoids idealization, creating instead spaces of quiet, natural intimacy. Whether in her poignant portraits of her elderly grandmother or in scenes of collective nudity in public spaces, Faupel explores the body as a site of dignity and coexistence. This reflective approach to the human physicality continues in her current landscape series. Here, she addresses the fragile beauty of nature in the face of ecological threats and calls for a conscious, respectful engagement with the environment.

Following periods of study in Rome and Munich, as well as participation in exhibitions at institutions such as the Pinakothek der Moderne and the Haus der Kunst, Annemarie Faupel established a painterly position that impresses with its technical excellence and an empathetic, analytical approach. Her works are not merely documentations of the visible, but also pleas for the acceptance of the natural in an increasingly artificial world.

Annemarie Faupel

Q&A with the artists:

The exhibition ARTIFICIAL? Traces of the Present brings together works that question our perception. Reality appears not as a given, but as something that is constantly being appropriated. ARTIFICIAL? questions whether what we see and experience is not always already made, constructed, and mediated.

1) How does your work engage with reality and its construction, and what “traces of the present” become visible in it?

My work is partly based on photographs. I rarely use found footage; I mostly take my own photographs. The point is...

to capture an object of reality that has sparked my interest in a specific way. Although I often work with the real object, I add to it through

Photographic techniques such as exposure, angle selection, or composition add another perspective. I blur out certain areas and replace them with others.

a sharp focus on the fragments that are significant to me. The familiar object is thus reconstructed.

My core themes are based on our current times. The candy series addresses topics such as mass consumption, unhealthy eating, and widespread diseases.

Addiction to pleasure and dopamine, seduction and economic interests.

The landscape series deals with our natural world. It is ever-present and enables humankind to survive on the planet. Now its continued existence is at stake.

threatened and affected by massive changes. My work addresses these developments by combining beauty and fragility.

to reflect nature and, on the one hand, to depict a changed nature – as it might look in the near future due to climate change.

2) How does your work develop from the initial idea to completion, and what role does your presentation style play in this process?

My work originates from visual impressions of people, objects, or forms. Sometimes I arrange the object directly to create photographic templates.

or compose elements digitally. In doing so, I am increasingly moving away from spontaneous motif development and becoming ever more meticulous. It is important

It is always important to examine the feasibility of translating the photograph into a painting, in order to create a good foundation from which the painting can develop based on the photographic template.

can and their specific characteristics can take over the photo.

My precise painting style requires a great deal of patience and discipline. It involves a constant interplay between adhering to the original form and breaking free into painterly expression.

Gestures that break free from this. It is essential for me to subject my work to critical scrutiny throughout the creation process.

I believe that only through reflection and exchange with outside people is it possible for me to maintain a constant artistic level.