Stylianos Schicho creates new perspectives in terms of content and form, and in a balancing act between distance and proximity, intimacy and isolation, he encourages the viewer to question his perspective, perhaps to take a new, different look at himself.

In his often large-format pictorial spaces, he places the observed and the observer in relation to each other, creating interaction. The observed keep eye contact with the viewer, seek the ally. Who is observing whom here? Communication and interaction stand as a symbol for society and its structures, also for the discrepancy between the individual and the collective. Schicho is constantly breaking new ground in image design, experimenting with materials such as ceramics or aluminum Dibond panels. He breaks up old visual habits, opens up unexpected visual axes. Circles structure many of his works, suggest intimacy, approach head shapes. At the same time, the faceless representations remain anonymous and unapproachable. Within the circles, the rules of the game change, the circular forms condense, are broken up, and like filigree bubbles, they offer only an illusion of protection.

Born in 1977 in Vienna, where he also lives and works today, he studied painting at the University of Applied Arts Vienna with Wolfgang Herzig. His works are represented in national and international collections; numerous awards, such as Strabag Artaward International, 2017, "MEGABOARD ART WALLs 2014", art prize "Young & Collecting 2010" Art Amsterdam / SNS REAAL Fund, Walter Koschatzky Art Prize 2007, and more.

Photo credits: Stylianos Schicho, Wolfgang Thaler