Siegfried Contemporary is excited to present ‘Hypnagogia’, a selection of new works by the London based artist, Maria Thurn und Taxis.
As the exhibition title suggests, “Hypnagogia” describes the experience of the transitional state between wakefulness and sleep. The hypnagogic state of consciousness includes lucid thoughts, lucid dreaming, hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. The artist’s aims to integrate this notion into the heart of this body of work.
Thurn und Taxis’s core interest lies in exploring the psyche. Masks for example, create a variety of identities. They can be comic, carnevalesque, grotesque or strange, hiding or revealing. Maria Thurn und Taxis uses collages as a first reference before to add water-colour or paint to complete her investigations. As source material she uses ethnographical books as well as fashion magazines to mention a few. In her own words Maria uses images “to concoct my own universe of phantasmagoric beings that ignite questions on our humanity”.
Thurn und Taxis’s works have been regularly exhibited internationally and many of her pieces belong to distinguished international collections. Amongst the most important exhibitions are: in 2019, “Mademoiselle” at the Centre d’Art Contemporain Occitanie/ Pyrenees-Mediteranee, France; in 2017 two solo shows, “Gewölke am Abend” at Traklhaus, Salzburg “, and “The Beast Within” at Siegfried Contemporary in Saanen / Switzerland; as well as six group and solo shows at the galerie Patrick Ebensperger in Berlin and Salzburg.