Markus Amm

Amm’s angular patterns are also reminiscent of abstract and cubist paintings. Devoid of colour and mechanically produced, Amm’s photos combine the optimism of the avant-garde with an impersonal futuristic aesthetic.

In his Untitled series, Markus Amm revives the technique of the photogram. Pioneered as an art form by Man Ray and Moholy Nagy (the latter of which coined the term "photogram"), the process utilises rudimentary photograph principles: objects are placed on a photosensitive surface, and briefly exposed to light to create an abstracted "x-ray" image, an inverted shadow outline of suggestive form.

Adopting this approach a means to literally draw with light, Amm engages with modernist history and contemporary conceptions of space and technology. Presented in small format, Amm’s compositions are compacted micro architectures, his converging luminous geometries give the illusion of space age structures.

Markus Amm’s drawings confront the same issues of illusion and space as are seen in his photograms. Rather than constructing three dimensional semblances through the physical absence of light, Amm’s sketches create the sensation of optical depth by using the additive process of collage.

Conveying both precision draughtsmanship and the spontaneity of free-form mark making, Amm layers his surfaces with tape, enamel, and photographs, and draws over them with pencil and coloured pen; a process resulting in a tension between his illustrated forms and the physical textures of his materials. Executed on wood, his geometric patterns are given a base of solidity that’s incongruous with their ephemeral perspective.