Misha Hollenbach

Misha Hollenbach’s practice explores methods of merging contemporary culture with primitivism. Working across the mediums of collage, screenprinting, sculpture and installation, his work is often driven by primal desire, and a return to the basics/basis of human existence: evidenced by his yoga/sex collages, or exploration of abject bodily functions. Drawing from the legacy of Dadaism, Hollenbach is compelled to collect images and found objects, reconfiguring them as art objects to create new meanings through association, temporal lobe workouts and escapism. More recently his work has been concerned with a direct channeling of energy, explored and investigated through ‘action’, both painting, mark making, and automatic sculpture and random collage.

As one half of the fashion/art/design label and publisher Perks And Mini (PAM), Hollenbach’s creative practice extends to, and blurs the boundaries of, art-making with music, film, publishing and design.

Hollenbach graduated from a BFA (Painting) at RMIT in 1991, after a number of years of exhibiting collaboratively as part of THE CHANGES he embarked on a solo career as an artist in 2009.

Hollenbach’s solo exhibitions include Listen to Mental (Radio), Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2014; A.T.G.S., Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2013, Aren’t the Greatest Shitty, with Peter Sutherland, Classic Gallery, Paris, 2013, Snagliature, Utopian Slumps Melbourne 2012, Ein Beings, with Peter Sutherland, Target Gallery Tokyo 2012,  Holey Hole!, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2011; Forewards, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2010; Indispensable Duties, y3k, Melbourne, 2009; Stool, Black & Blue, Sydney, 2009; hot Yoghurt, New Image Art Los Angeles Project Room, Los Angeles, 2009; Reaggae (with Peter Sutherland), Utrecht Gallery, Tokyo, 2010; Snap! (with Peter Sutherland), Target Gallery, Tokyo, 2010; Forewards, Utopian Slumps, Melbourne, 2010; Pink & Brown, Seems Gallery, NYC, 2010; and Do/No/Go Nuts, Family Gallery, Los Angeles, 2011. Group exhibitions include NGV Now!, Melbourne 2013/14, Trading Styles Weltkulturen Gallery Frankfurt 2012, Do Your Own Thing, White Columns NYC 2012, 10 Years V1Show, Copenhagen 2012, Figure and Ground, curated by Melissa Loughnan and Jane O’Neil, Utopian Slumps, 2012; In the Gardens, curated by Misha Hollenbach, Utopian Slumps, 2011; Batteries Not included, curated by Joseph Allen Shea, Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, 2009; ONESHOT WERKSTETTE, Dronning Olgas Vej 23, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2009; why freak? mmm’kay, Y3K, Melbourne, 2009; Smoke Bath slideshow, 208 E., NY, 2010; To the road less traveled – wishing you love and happiness and curiosity forever, V1 Gallery, Denmark, 2010; Space Invaders, National Gallery of Art, Canberra, 2010; and Status, V1 Gallery, Copenhagen, 2011. Hollenbach’s work is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, The Weltkulturen Museum, Frankfurt, and the Tate Modern, London (PAM). and various private collections in Australia and overseas. Recently he exhibited at Art Fair Tokyo , costumes for a Performance by Richard Seigal and StadelSchule, and a residency at the Weltkulturen Museum Frankfurt.