Markus Feiler is a German conceptual artist who lives and works in Berlin. His work includes mainly object art, installations and photography. This is complemented by painting and drawing, video, performance and combinations thereof.

His work is characterized by his understanding of giving space. It was only later that artistic work became part of his professional life. After studying economics, he initially worked in the private sector before giving up this activity and devoting himself exclusively to the Japanese martial art Aikido and the meditation form Za-Zen for one year. He moved to Berlin and became Uchi-Deshi (master student) of Gerhard Walter at the Institute for Aikido Zen.

For Feiler, this was a first break with social conventions and routine models of thought. Similar to Aikido Zen, artistic work entered his life a little later. Once again he followed an inner longing and decided not to stand in the way of exploring his artistic potential. „I did not begin to make art. I began to give space, to give form“, Feiler describes this process, which for him is not over. Rather, this process has entered a state of permanence that makes artistic work a defining part of his life.
Just as art opened up to him, Feiler opens up aesthetic spaces with his works. Spaces that invite us to explore and question. He devotes himself to themes on a social and individual level and approaches them artistically using various techniques. Feiler finds important impulses from the observation of social discourses, which he complements artistically with his works and breaks them down into concrete aesthetics. Sometimes he additionally accompanies this in textual form by writing an essay. For Feiler, this creation of reflective surfaces as a giving of space is an important prerequisite for the generation of new interpretations and expression of his artistic work.

By placing objects in a new context, Feiler questions routines and addresses the complexity of our existence. With his works, he invites us to think, perceive and determine our own position. Feiler breaks up familiar views and thereby opens up a process of transformation. For example, in his first series of photographs, MISSING, he stages flowers, to which he lends a special aesthetic by removing their blossoms beforehand, which seems both familiar and irritating. Through his often playful choice of motifs, he finds his own aesthetic language without taking up space for individual interpretations. In this way he provokes changes of perspective again and again.

Feiler’s works are shown in exhibitions in Germany and other European countries. His object KALEIDOSCOPE – NO 1 was presented at the Dortmund Museum Night. An artist residency in Bristol/UK was supported by the Churches Conservation Trust and resulted in the exhibition As Above, So Below. He initiated and curated the exhibition exit_strategies | individual utopias on the RAW site in Berlin.

His works are represented in numerous private collections. Works by Feiler are traded in art auctions, such as the contemporary art auction „Today.Berlin.Art II“.

In addition to his artistic work, Feiler has many years of management experience in the nonprofit sector. He speaks as an expert at events such as the German Fundraising Congress and leads workshops on creativity and art thinking. He was a participant of the artist program Projektraum.Mehrwert.Kunst.

© Markus Feiler