Eva Schlegel was born in Hall, in Tirol, in 1960. She studied at the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst (University of Applied Arts) in Vienna under Oswald Oberhuber (1979–1985), a period during which she honed her versatile skills and explored various avenues of expression. From 1997 to 2006, she taught as a university professor for art and photography at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts.
Artistically, her photography – which is her preferred technique – focuses on the aesthetic potential of the mundane, of the common, of the intimate but not always noticeable objects, scenes and places of everyday life. These immortalised moments are aestheticised through subtle reworkings, erasings, blurrings and removals to elevate the imagery, elevating it into the spheres of artistry.
In 1995, she participated in the Venice Biennale as an artist for Commissioner Peter Weibel. She designed the facade of the exhibition building with a work situated between writing and image. In 2011, on the occasion of the 54th Venice Biennale, she was appointed commissioner for the Austrian contribution.
In 2014, Schlegel designed the glass windows for a new roof structure in Vienna’s Museum Quarter, the so-called MQ-Libelle. The following year, she was commissioned to revamp the front page by the Austrian newspaper Die Presse. In April of the same year, the memorial she designed for over 1 200 judicial victims of the National Socialist regime, a steel pyramid entitled 369 weeks, was unveiled at the Vienna Regional Criminal Court. Conceived as a light installation on the outer wall of the regional court, it symbolises the 369 weeks of Nazi rule in Vienna.
Recent exhibitions include: In the now: Gender and Nation in Europe, selections from the Sir Mark Fehrs Haukohl Photography Collection, LACMA, Los Angeles, USA (2022); Museum Hartberg (2022); Digital and interactive exhibition in public space, in cooperation with Kunstraum Dornbirn, Dornbirn (2022); The 80ies, Albertina Modern, Vienna (2021); Digital and interactive exhibition, Palermo (2021); Schiele and his legacy/Schiele und die Folgen, Albertina Modern, Vienna (2021); On to something new. Three decades from Schiele to Schlegel/Auf zu Neuem. Drei Jahrzehnte von Schiele bis Schlegel, Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, Krems (2021); Extended Space, installation, Festspielhaus, St. Pölten (2021); Krinzinger Projekte, Vienna (2021); Tour de Force. Point, Line, Colour on the Way through Austrian Art since 1945, Museum Liaunig, Neuhaus (2021); Eva Schlegel – headroom!, LETO Gallery, Warsaw (2021); Same same but different / Ganz anders gleich, Galerie Crone, Vienna/Berlin (2021); Floating gates, open world, CAPE 10, permanent installation, Vienna (2021); Great world theatre/Großes Welttheater, Salzburg Museum (2020); Just in case you would have forgotten, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna; Wo aber Gefahr ist, wächst das Rettende auch, Galerie Ghetta, Ortisei, Italy (2020); Light after darkness, Galerie Mauroner, Salzburg (2020); A special time, a special situation/Eine besondere Zeit, eine besondere Situation, Galerie Stephan Witschi, Zurich (2020); Structure as hell, Studio Stocker, Vienna (2020); Bright Golden Haze, Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma (2020); Intervention, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen (2020); All around the world …, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen (2020); Künstlerplakat 100 Jahre Salzburger Festspiele, Salzburg (2020); The Cindy Sherman effect, Kunstforum, Vienna (2020).
Schlegel lives and works in Vienna.
