Maria Thurn und Taxis

"... where the lines blur between right and wrong, good and bad."

If you think determination and modesty cannot be united in one person, you must meet the artist Maria Thurn und Taxis. She personifies these extremes all at once!

Maria calls them a “series of coincidences” that led her to become an artist. She came to art from a broader curriculum. She holds a bachelor degree and a diploma in filmmaking, has worked for Sotheby’s and then obtained her masters degree in fine arts. She has always felt a calling to become an artist but was not sure if she could cope with a profession where you are on your own. Her decision to then follow this path with consequence was made when she met fellow artists who motivated her.

“I am in a show in Buenos Aires at the moment, so I have only few works here” Maria excused herself as we entered her light flooded studio, located in a former gasworks complex. The sun was shining, and the space seemed to be filled with natural cheerfulness. Several paintings were hanging on the wall and standing around. There was also an extra pile she wanted to destroy or paint over. Apart from being self-assured, Maria is more than critical with her work.

Her paintings are never unequivocal. They are colourful and seemingly jolly, yet most of them reveal grotesque features. Maria draws from a large pool of source material, including ethnographical books and fashion magazines. These then get cut up, collated together then painted to form new anthropomorphic beings that question and create a novel sense of reality, jumbling the strange with the familiar. Most of her work consists of oil painting, another important part are pencil drawings painted in with watercolour. As we talked, Maria brought out more artworks from her storage area. In her most recent series from 2014, called “Stareaters” and “Tools”, she addresses the “concept of the body”. Maria takes the alteration of the body e.g. by surgery and drugs as her source.

For her paintings of “hooded figures” Maria Thurn und Taxis has done extensive research on the theme of masks, which arises repeatedly in Catholicism and Islam. She has travelled to Sevilla to witness the holy week processions and in particular the hooded robed figures of the Nazareno brotherhood – which then did not take place because it was raining. Instead the hooded men were standing around chatting and smoking. As it turns out this was perfect scenery to inspire some of Maria´s paintings!

Yes, she likes ambiguity. One of her steel engravings titled “Philia” represents kissing ants - they might as well be fighting. And she transforms the tiniest insects into monsters by enlarging them as if we were peering through a microscope.

What will she come up with next? One thing is for sure. This artist´s inherent power can hardly be restrained. After all the fruitful breakouts thus far, we are sure to see big and lasting eruptions in the future!

What is it about your studio space that inspires you?

I love the window with the light coming in my studio space and the open plain outside. The industrial landscape reminds me of everything I like about NY.

What sounds, scents and sights do you encounter while in your studio?

I love working with music, certain radio programmes and audiobooks although when I am very concentrated on a detail I cannot listen to voices so it would have to be silence or classical music.

What is your favourite material to work with? How has your use of it evolved throughout your practice?

One of my favourite materials is oil, I love its versatility and smell.

What themes do you pursue?

I am fascinated by the mind and the human condition. I am very interested where the lines blur between right and wrong, good and bad.

What advice has had the biggest impact on your career?

That the art career is a long journey and one does not need to rush to the top.

If you could install your art absolutely anywhere, where would that be?

At the Hayward Gallery and the Whitechapel Gallery, two of my favourites here in London.

If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be?

Difficult question but probably literature.

If you weren´t an artist, what would you be doing?

If I would have been more scholarly at school I would have studied medicine and maybe I would be a neurologist now.

What are your favourite places besides your studio?

Right now in the winter season I enjoy being at home.

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