Sonja Gangl studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under Markus Prachensky and at the University of Applied Arts under Ernst Caramelle. She has been a member of the Vienna Secession since 2003. In addition to numerous solo and group exhibitions, the Albertina dedicated a solo exhibition to the artist in 2013/14. Gangl has also received numerous awards, including the City of Graz Art Prize in 2008 and the City of Vienna Prize for Fine Arts in 2016.
Sonja Gangl always conceives her works in two ways. The content is defined, the narrative is developed and at the same time the formal aspect is incorporated into the content. In doing so, the artist plays with the perception of the medium. Painting becomes visible in drawing, drawing becomes visible in photography, just as painting can be thought of as photography and drawing as painting.
In her most recent works, Sonja Gangl takes a similar approach, but expands her possibilities. The pictures draw us strongly and impressively into a game that challenges us to feel and think.The harsh black and white contrasts and the sometimes extreme close-ups of her forest landscapes make the ink paintings appear to be existentialist black and white photographs.The large-format paintings bear the titles of fairy tales from a Styrian fairy tale book from the artist's childhood. She thus refers to a time when the forest was more than just a collection of endangered trees, namely a place of transformation.The artist does not accuse people of evil conditions or urge them to repent.Rather, she takes the visual level as her starting point and transfers it into a subjective, narrative structure that shows a realism that everything can become different again and change.
