Muntean/Rosenblum is a collaborative artist duo composed of Markus Muntean (born 1962 in Graz, Austria) and Adi Rosenblum (; born 1962 in Haifa, Israel). They have been collaborating since 1992.
Background
Adi Rosenblum and Markus Muntean met each other as students at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, Austria. In 1992 they sublimated their subjective singularity into a double act, into a third person: Mutean/Rosenblum. In 1995 they founded Bricks & Kicks (1995 to 1998), one of the first Artist-Run galleries in Vienna. They were professors for Contextual Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1999 to 2005 and received the nationally prestigious City of Vienna Prize for Visual Arts in 2001.
Work
In the compositions of their drawings, the artist couple Markus Muntean and Adi Rosenblum use methods of sampling and resampling subjects from art history and present-day popular culture. An intensive engagement with pathos formulas of art history and the questioning of how emotions and affects expressed through them are articulated and interpreted in different eras constitute the starting point. Motifs such as those we know from Passion Cycles are applied to the psychological dispositions of contemporary existence, and partly express an apathy that calls on the empathy of the beholder. The transfer of historically overwhelming pictorial subjects into the present day triggers a discussion about the media conditions under which pictures are produced today. Through the use of language and lettering, another level enters the drawings of Muntean/Rosenblum, providing insights into the complexity of the challenges a subtle medium like drawing has to face today. In doing so, Muntean/Rosenblum also deal with the aspect of a nomadic narrative. In relation to the scenic compositions, the text collages form aphorisms that pointedly contradict phrases of popular culture, and, through their paradoxical link with figurative representations, awaken a dual consciousness.
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions 2026Uncertainty’s Grace, Braverman Gallery, Tel Aviv2025Many Kinds of Silences, Einspach & Czapolai, BudapestForever Is Composed of Nows, Galerie Schloss Parz, Grieskirchen, AustriaThere Is a Silence to Fill, Galerie Zink, Waldkirchen, Germany2024Mirror of Thoughts, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main2023Always Never Yet, Ron Mandos, Amsterdam2021Uncertainty’s Grace, CAC Málaga, Málaga2020Tell What Can Not Be Told, Viewing Room, Ron Mandos, Amsterdam2018This Is Not an Exit, MAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Coruña, SpainWalking Wounded, MOCAK, Museum of Contemporary Art, KrakówThe White Exploit, Ron Mandos, Amsterdam2017Parkview Museum, Beijing2016Galeria Mario Sequeira, Braga, Portugal2015Horrach Moya, PalmaAndré Simoens, Knokke, Belgium2014Institut für zeitgenössische Kunst, Nurnberg2013Bob van Orsouw, ZurichPhilara Sammlung zeitgenössischer Kunst, Dusseldorf2012The Management of Insignificance, CAC Málaga, MalagaTeam Gallery, New YorkNemesims, Georg Kargl, Vienna2011Galeria Mario Sequeira, Braga, PortugalSommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv2008Between what was and what might be, Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg/Vienna2007Arario Gallery, SeoulMake death listen, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig2006Make death listen, MUSAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, León, SpainShroud, Centre d’Art Santa Mònica CASM, BarcelonaArndt & Partner, ZurichWe live in a twilight, Kunsthalle Budapest, Budapest2005Disco, Maureen Paley, LondonJack Hanley, San FranciscoFar Away From Why, Arndt und Partner, BerlinViennale 2005, Gartenbau Kino, Vienna2004It Is Never Facts That Tell, Tate Britain, Art Now, LondonHow Soon Is Now, Georg Kargl, ViennaBeing in and out of love too many times makes it harder to love, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne2003''There Is A Silence To Fill'', Salzburger Kunstverein, Salzburg''Not to be. Not to be at all'', Porsche Hof, Salzburg2002To Die For, De Appel, Amsterdambillboards, Kunsthaus Bregenz, BregenzSommer Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv2001Maureen Paley, Interim Art, LondonArt & Concept, ParisChicagoprojectroom, Los Angeles2000Where Else, SECESSION, ViennaI always tell you the truth unless of course I am lying to you, Kunsthaus Glarus, Glarus, SwitzerlandMinoritengalerie, GrazSusanna Kulli, St. Gallen, SwitzerlandJack Tilton, New YorkMagazin 4, Bregenz1999Georg Kargl, ViennaGalleria Franco Noero, TurinMWMWM, Brooklyn/New YorkChicago Project Room, Chicago1998Lonley Facts, Kunsthalle Luckenwalde, Luckenwalde, Germany1997Slaymobil, City Racing Gallery, LondonSlaymobil, Galerie Shift, BerlinPeople Forever, Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Germany1996Body Shop, Galerie Kidmat Eden, Tel Aviv
Gruppenausstellungen (Auswahl) 2026Let’s be Realistic, Let’s Demand the Impossible, MUZEU – Pensamento e Arte Contemporânea dst, Braga, PortugalOpen Field, Nahum Gutman Museum of Art, Tel AvivMädchen* sein – Vom Tafelbild zu Social Media, LENTOS Kunstmuseum, Linz, Austria Gott hat kein Museum, KULTUMUSEUM, Graz, AustriaMy World on Fire, kunsthaus muerz, Mürzzuschlag, Austria2025La Bella Estate, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, TurinMeditations – Things for Your Self, Kunsthalle Trier, Trier, GermanyDer Nachmittag eines Gärtners, Kunstverein Eisenstadt, Eisenstadt, AustriaFrom Cindy Sherman to Francesco Vezzoli. 80 Contemporary Artists, Giuseppe Iannaccone Collection, Palazzo Reale, Milano2024Blurring Boundaries, Braverman Gallery, Tel AvivGarden. The Possibility of Life, HAB Museum, BudapestIn aller Freundschaft, Dom Museum, Vienna2023TechnoCool. New Trends in Hungarian Art after the Fall of Communism 1989-2001, Hungarian National Gallery, BudapestNo Promises, No Demands, Van Horn, Dusseldorf2000er Bye- Bye Zuversicht, Wien Museum MUSA, Vienna2022Que te seja leve o peso das estrelas, Centro de Arte de Coimbra, Coimbra, PortugalStories We Live With – Selection from the Somlói-Spengler Collection, Q Contemporary, BudapestThis We Believe, 21c Museum, Durham, USAAvantgarde und Gegenwart, Belvedere 21, Viennasmall medium large, EVN Sammlung, Maria Enzersdorf, Austria2021Wonderland, Albertina Modern, ViennaWas sein wird – Von der Zukunft zu den Zukünften, Kunsthaus Graz, GrazWilde Kindheit – Ideal und Realität von 1900 bis heute, LENTOS Kunstmuseum, LinzAuf zu Neuem, Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, Krems, AustriaSchwarz Weiß & Grau, Albertina, Vienna2020In Search of the Miracolous, Project Space On The Inside, AmsterdamChangez! Art Brussels in Amsterdam, Ron Mandos, AmsterdamContemporary Models of Realism, MOCAK, Kraków2019Trouble in Paradise, Kunsthal Rotterdam, RotterdamIntriguing Uncertainties, The Parkview Museum, BeijingA New Age: The Spiritual in Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv8th Moscow International Biennale of Contemporary Art 2019, New Tretyakov Gallery, Moskow2018Glaube Liebe Hoffnung, Kunsthaus Graz, GrazUnexpected Narratives, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, USAIsland in the Sun, Centro Cultural São Lourenço, Almancil, PortugalIntriguing Uncertainties, Parkview Museum, Singapore2017Imaginery Asia, Nam June Paik Art Center, Gyeonggi-do, KoreaOh…Jakob Lena Knebl und die mumok Sammlung, mumok, ViennaSpiegelnde Fenster - Reflexionen von Welt und Selbst, 21er Haus, Vienna2016Intriguantes Incertitudes, Musée d'art moderne et contemporain, Saint-Étienne, FranceOnce in a Lifetime, Oude Kerk, AmsterdamCollection 6, MOCAK, KrakówL’arte differente, MAXXI, Rome2015Drawing Now, Albertina, ViennaDialog der Meisterwerke, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main2013Nachbilder, Sammlungsausstellung, Stiftung Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig2012Die Sammlung, 21er Haus, ViennaUna Mirada Multiple. Selecciones de la Colección Ella Fontanals-Cisneros, Museo de Bellas Artes, Havana Biennial, Havana2011Körper Codes, Museum der Moderne, Salzburg2010Lust und Laster. Die sieben Todsünden von Dürer bis Nauman, Kunstmuseum Bern in Kooperation mit Zentrum Paul Klee, BernNo New Thing Under The Sun, Royal Academy, London2009Being in the World: Selections from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, Cisneros fontanals art foundation, MiamiGlobalizados/Globalized, Huesca’s Periferias Festival, MUSAC, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León, León, Spain2008System Mensch. Werke aus der Sammlung des MdM Salzburg, Museum der Moderne, SalzburgFreundliche Feinde / Friendly Enemies, Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig2007art_clips.ch.at.de, ZKM, Karlsruhe, Germany2006ARS 06, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, HelsinkiThe Triumph of Painting V, Saatchi Gallery, LondonPainting Codes, Galleria Comunale d’Arte Contemporanea, Monfalcone, Italy2005Homeland is just around the corner. Contemporary Austrian Photography, MARCO, Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Vigo, SpainUrban Visuals, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma, Helsinki200426. São Paulo Biennale, São PauloNew Blood, Saatchi Gallery, LondonBusan Biennale 2004, Busan, KoreaSeven Sins, MUSEION, Museum für Moderne und Zeitgenössische Kunst, Bozen, Italy2003Young Israeli Art, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel AvivTaktiken des Ego, Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany2002Contemporary Art Projects, Seattle Art Museum, SeattleFigur/Gegenfigur, Rupertinum Salzburg, SalzburgDas Neue, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna20012. berlin biennale, BerlinGuarene Arte 2001, Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Turin, Italy2000Fantasies and Curosities, Miami Art Museum, Miami
Collections MoMA, Museum of Modern Art, New York Zabludowicz Collection, London, New York Susan and Michael Hort, New York Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, Miami Rubell Family Collection, Miami Dicke Collection, Ohio The Progressive Art Collection, Ohio Burger Collection, Hong Kong Belvedere 21er Haus, Vienna, Austria Albertina, Vienna, Austria EVN Collection, Austria Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna (MAK), Vienna, Austria MUMOK, Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig Vienna, Vienna Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg, Austria Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Austria Neue Galeri, Graz, Austria Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien|Sammlung BA-CA, Vienna Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig, Germany Museum Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf, Germany DekaBank Collection, Frankfurt, Germany Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel Advaney Collection, The Hague, Netherlands MOCAK, Museum of Contemporary Art Krakau, Poland Ellipse Foundation, Alcoitčo, Portugal MUSAC, Museo de Arte Contemoráneo de Castilla y Léon, Léon, Spain ARCO Foundation, Madrid, Spain Coleccion Inelcom Arte Contemporaneo, Madrid, Spain VAC - Colección Valencia Arte Contemporánea, Valencia, Spain Swiss Re Collection, Zurich, Switzerland
Bibliography (selected) Klaus Albrecht Schröder, Elsy Lahner, Albertina Wien (Hgs.): Drawing Now, Hirmer Verlag, Wien/München 2015, Karl-Josef Pazzini (Hg.): Bildung vor Bildern: Kunst - Pädagogik - Psychoanalyse (Theorie Bilden), transcript 2015, Fernando Huici, Gestión Cultural y Comunicación, S.L (Hgs.): Muntean/Rosenblum, The Management of Insignificance, Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Málaga 2013, Essl Museum (Hg.), Muntean/Rosenblum: Between What Was and What Might Be, Essl Museum 2008, Arndt & Partner Berlin/Zurich (Hg.): Muntean/Rosenblum, Kerber Verlag, 2008, Ulf Meyer (Hg.): Double Act. Künstlerpaare, Prestel Verlag, München/Berlin/London/New York 2007, JRP Editions (Hg.): Markus Muntean /Adi Rosenblum – Make Death Listen, JRP Ringier Kunstverlag 2006, De Appel, Adam Szymczyk (Hgs.): Muntean/Rosenblum – To Die For, De Appel Centre for Contemporary Art, Amsterdam 2002, Uta Grosenick, Burkhard Riemschneider (Hgs.): Art now, Taschen Verlag 2002, p. 316–319, Thomas Trummer (Hg.): Das Neue, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Wien 2002 Lóránd Hegyi (Hg.): Aspekte/Positionen: 50 Jahre Kunst in Mitteleuropa 1949–99, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Wien 1999, Secession (Hg.): Muntean/Rosenblum, Secession, Wien 2001, Peter Weiermair, Andreas Hapkemeyer (Hgs.): Figuration, Ursula-Blickle-Stiftung 1999, p. 66–69, 96, 107,