Wolfgang Semmelrock (*1971, Klagenfurt, Austria) lives and works in Vienna and internationally.
At the core of Semmelrock’s practice is a simple yet fundamental question: How can the simplest intervention transform a space—and, through it, transform perception? He describes these interventions as “paradoxical interventions.”
Rather than producing objects intended simply to occupy an exhibition space, Semmelrock creates works that enter, alter and activate their surroundings. His sculptures, installations and performances intervene in familiar environments and introduce something that seems simultaneously recognizable and impossible: a luminous lotus floating on water, wings appearing on a statue or a sausage stand, shimmering spheres emerging in a forest, angel wings entering a sacred space, or a sound helmet suddenly appearing in the public realm.
The forms are elementary and universally recognizable—circle, cube, sphere, egg, wings, lotus. Yet displaced from their expected context, they acquire an uncanny presence, appearing almost as objects from another world. The familiar becomes unfamiliar, and in that moment becomes visible again. Space is no longer a neutral container for the artwork; it becomes part of the work itself.
This spatial and perceptual approach extends across Semmelrock’s wider practice, encompassing sculpture, painting, performance, sound and interdisciplinary projects. Geometric and spatial thinking meets intuitive gesture; East Asian calligraphy encounters abstract painting; physical intervention opens into questions of consciousness, transformation and the relationship between the individual and the larger cosmos.
Semmelrock’s artistic language is rooted in his architectural background and his early engagement with experimental pneumatic structures. During his studies in Vienna, working with Professor Peter Michael Schultes, he became involved in the production of inflatable works for artists including Jeff Koons, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Hans Hollein and Wolf Prix. This experience with temporary, spatially transformative structures became a decisive foundation for his own artistic practice.
His subsequent encounters with different artistic traditions further expanded this language. He studied East Asian calligraphy with Kazuaki Tanahashi in Berkeley and San Francisco and developed his approach to gestural abstraction through his engagement with The Zhou Brothers in Chicago.
Today, Semmelrock’s practice moves freely between object, image, space, sound and action. His ongoing Weltenraum series and the interdisciplinary project PLANETENKLANG, developed since 2018, expand the question of perception from the immediate environment towards larger relationships between human consciousness, Earth and the cosmos.
Wolfgang Semmelrock (*1971, Klagenfurt, Austria) lives and works in Vienna and internationally.
At the core of Semmelrock’s practice is a simple yet fundamental question: How can the simplest intervention transform a space—and, through it, transform perception? He describes these interventions as “paradoxical interventions.”
Rather than producing objects intended simply to occupy an exhibition space, Semmelrock creates works that enter, alter and activate their surroundings. His sculptures, installations and performances intervene in familiar environments and introduce something that seems simultaneously recognizable and impossible: a luminous lotus floating on water, wings appearing on a statue or a sausage stand, shimmering spheres emerging in a forest, angel wings entering a sacred space, or a sound helmet suddenly appearing in the public realm.
The forms are elementary and universally recognizable—circle, cube, sphere, egg, wings, lotus. Yet displaced from their expected context, they acquire an uncanny presence, appearing almost as objects from another world. The familiar becomes unfamiliar, and in that moment becomes visible again. Space is no longer a neutral container for the artwork; it becomes part of the work itself.
This spatial and perceptual approach extends across Semmelrock’s wider practice, encompassing sculpture, painting, performance, sound and interdisciplinary projects. Geometric and spatial thinking meets intuitive gesture; East Asian calligraphy encounters abstract painting; physical intervention opens into questions of consciousness, transformation and the relationship between the individual and the larger cosmos.
Semmelrock’s artistic language is rooted in his architectural background and his early engagement with experimental pneumatic structures. During his studies in Vienna, working with Professor Peter Michael Schultes, he became involved in the production of inflatable works for artists including Jeff Koons, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Hans Hollein and Wolf Prix. This experience with temporary, spatially transformative structures became a decisive foundation for his own artistic practice.
His subsequent encounters with different artistic traditions further expanded this language. He studied East Asian calligraphy with Kazuaki Tanahashi in Berkeley and San Francisco and developed his approach to gestural abstraction through his engagement with The Zhou Brothers in Chicago.
Today, Semmelrock’s practice moves freely between object, image, space, sound and action. His ongoing Weltenraum series and the interdisciplinary project PLANETENKLANG, developed since 2018, expand the question of perception from the immediate environment towards larger relationships between human consciousness, Earth and the cosmos.
Across these different forms, the underlying impulse remains constant: to disturb the familiar just enough for another reality to become perceptible.
“With my work, I alter and transform space through creative interventions. Familiar perception expands and leads to new ideas.”
Solo exhibitions of his work have been organized at ZHOU B ART CENTER, Chicago (IL) USA (2009), VILLA STRÄULI, Winterthur, Switzerland (2010), GALERIE WALKER, Schlosspark, Castle Ebenau, Austria (2018), Japanese Embassy – Cultural Center, Vienna, Austria (2016), UN Vienna – United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Vienna, Austria (2019), Museum of Contemporary Art – MCA Warehouse, Chicago (IL) USA (2009), State Rooms, Castle Schönbrunn (ORF),Vienna,Austria (2007), GALERIE FREIHAUSGASSE, Villach, Austria (2003), Museum of contemporary and applied Art – MAK, Wien, Austria (MAK Nite 2001), Sophisticated Living Magazine SOHO HOUSE CHICAGO, USA (2017), Künstlerhaus Klagenfurt, Austria (2013), Luftmuseum Amberg, Amberg, Bayern, Deutschland (2012), VOLKSBANK Vienna, Exhibitionspace Operngasse, Vienna, Austria (2012), GALERIE SIKORONJA, Rosegg, Austria (2020), Christkönig Church Krumpendorf, Austria (2022), Gustav Mahler Culturalcenter and Park, Toblach, SouthTyrol, Italy (2025)
Selected group exhibitions featuring his work include Körper-Raum Objekte Dokumentationszentrum für Moderne Kunst – DOK, St.Pölten, Austria (2006), MCA Warehouse Exhibition Museum of Contemporary Art – MCA, Chicago (IL) USA (2009) 3rd Friday Exhibition Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, USA (2011) Luftmuseum Amberg, Amberg, Germany (2012) SeedingArt with Sotheby ́s Art Auction ZOOM Museum, MuseumQuarter Vienna, Austria (2011/2016) Anniversary Exhibition 100 years Künstlerhaus Künstlerhaus, Klagenfurt, Austria (2024) Galerie Freihausgasse, Villach, Austria (2009) WasserWelten Galerie im Stadtturm, Gmünd, Austria (2006) Dorotheum, State Rooms, Castle Schönbrunn, Vienna, Austria (2007) Exhibition 1:1 Symposion on Design for Humanization on Technology Technical University Vienna, Austria (2002), MAK Nite Museum of contemporary and applied Art – MAK, Vienna, Austria (2001), MillstArt Millstatt, Austria (2023)
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Semmelrock’s work is in numerous international public and private collections, including AxA Winterthur (CH), KPMG Vienna (A), Archive for Architecture Vienna (A) ARS Vienna (A), Bank Austria, Hypo Vereinsbank (A), Volksbank Wien & Kärnten (A), Warmbader Hof, Villach (A). ORF Kärnten (A), Warmbad Villach, Villa Sträuli ArtFoundation Winterthur (CH), Zhou B Art Center, Chicago, IL (USA) Playboy ArtFoundation Chicago, IL , Saatchi New York, NY, Guaranteed Rate Chicago, IL (USA) Park District Chicago, IL , Studio Gang Architects Chicago, IL (USA)
