First Monograph: Toni Schmale
We are delighted to announce that the fourth in our annual series of First Monograph publications is dedicated to the artist Toni Schmale.
This publication is the first comprehensive overview of the sculptural and performative work of artist Toni Schmale (born 1980), whose practice explores the intersections of body, matter, and power structures. Engaging with industrial techniques and materials, Schmale investigates the relationship between physical and non-physical environments and challenges conventional perceptions of space, social power relations, and gender identification.
By deconstructing familiar forms and reassembling them into new sculptural creations, Schmale situates her work within a feminist critique of normative body politics, gender binaries, and heteronormativity. Her abstract visual language serves to unburden the representation of marginalized bodies, highlighting the complex relationships between material, form, and identity. Through her precise yet ambiguous steel constructions, she challenges dominant narratives of power, inviting viewers into a space of reflection and resistance.
The scope of Schmale’s work is reflected in this volume through essays by curator Eduardo Andres Alfonso, based in New York; Sabeth Buchmann, Professor of Modern and Postmodern Art at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna; Lex Morgan Lancaster, scholar, curator, and professor at The Cooper Union, New York; and writer Kate Sutton, based in Zagreb.
The First Monographs are a series of annual publications produced by Phileas – The Austrian Office for Contemporary Art, a philanthropic organization based in Vienna that seeks to strengthen the voice of Austrian and Austria-based artists on the international art landscape through active and long-term programs of exchange.
The book can be pre-ordered here.
