Future Fair 2025

LINDA BERGER, MICHAEL ORNAUER

SUPPAN | Gallery

May 7 - May 10, 2025

CHELSEA INDUSTRIAL | 535 W 28TH ST, NEW YORK, NY 10001 
BOOTH T10

Michael Ornauer and Linda Berger, two Austrian contemporary artists, engage deeply with the fundamental elements of their mediums—colour, line, materiality, and time—yet each takes a distinct path toward exploring imperfection, perception, and process.

Michael Ornauer’s practice revolves around the possibilities of colour and its physicality. Embracing the philosophy of Wabi-Sabi, he distances himself from conventional beauty to explore impermanence and the spiritual quality of imperfection. His works are resolutely self-referential; they tell no story but instead focus entirely on gesture, material, and surface. From thin, transparent washes to thick, sculptural layers of paint, Ornauer’s process is one of discovery— each work arising from an intuitive engagement with paint on raw canvas. In his Stripe series, rhythm, colour, and structure emerge through both precision and chance, with missing spots of pigment and textured accumulations pushing back against notions of flawlessness. His use of format is equally intentional: turning away from the prevailing trend of monumental canvases, he concentrates on small-scale works that range from 50x40 cm to an intimate 16x12 cm. This shift highlights a focused, conceptual approach, reinforcing his commitment to questioning the essence and boundaries of painting.

Linda Berger’s large-format line drawings, on the other hand, are quiet accumulations of time and motion. Using basic pen strokes and coloured ink, she constructs dense, flowing landscapes—soulscapes that reflect turbulence, transformation, and the quiet persistence of time passing. Her drawn worlds contain layers of emotional and temporal resonance, shaped by the light, the seasons, and the viewer's own shifting perception. In her attempt to hold time within a static image, Berger achieves a rare stillness amid the chaotic pace of contemporary life. Her drawings evoke a meditative quality, inviting viewers into a space where they can perceive change and continuity, motion and rest, all held together by the fine thread of her line work. Together, Ornauer and Berger offer contrasting yet complementary explorations of form and temporality. Where Ornauer experiments boldly with the materiality of paint and the conceptual nature of the image, Berger inscribes time and memory into every line. Both artists invite us to slow down and engage deeply—with surface, with space, and with the invisible forces that shape perception.

HTTPS://FUTUREFAIRS.COM/

Opening Days:
Wednesday, May 7, 2025 | 2 PM – 8 PM (By invitation only)
Thursday, May 8, 2025 | 12 PM – 7:00 PM
Friday, May 9, 2025 | 12 PM – 7:00 PM
Saturday, May 10, 2025 | 12 PM – 6 PM

www.suppan.art/