Asma Kocjan

Asma Kocjan develops her artistic position from an extraordinary biography: Her many years of experience as an international model form the aesthetic foundation of her work. Instead of reproducing the superficial world of fashion, she engages with it in a nuanced and reflective manner. Central to her current phase of work is the dialogue between art and fashion, a tension-filled space that she explores in complex acrylic paintings using mixed media.

In her compositions, figures appear as anonymized, shadowy protagonists in a fast-paced scene. They move through pictorial spaces characterized by dynamism, change and ruptures. It is not the fashion product that is highlighted, but rather the human presence behind it. Contours, color accents and deliberately set reductions direct the gaze to the individual within the system of staging.

Characteristic of Kocjan's working method is the principle of layering: With collage elements, overpainting and partial revealing, she addresses the interplay of concealing and revealing, a motif that plays a central role in both fine art and fashion. Acrylic paint, ink and spray meet photographs, newspaper clippings, fabrics, grids, or paper fragments. These materials are applied to canvas or metal supports, reworked, partially removed again and further transformed with tools such as spatulas. Scratch marks expose earlier layers of the image, making the creation process visible.

Her titles also open up additional layers of meaning: They accompany the viewing without defining the works or becoming illustrative.

Kocjan's keen sense of color, possibly nurtured by her experience in the fashion world, gives her works a compelling visual power. Her art makes visible by partially concealing; she critiques by aesthetically seducing. This creates a body of work that is as reflective as it is moving and that re-examines the relationship between surface, identity and staging.

Asma's artwork

Biography

Asma Kocjan was born in Graz and has been one of Austria's prominent freelance artists since 2001. Her artistic journey is characterized by a solid education, international experience and a continuous development of her painterly style.

After graduating from HTBLVA Graz in Art and Design, she completed the master class for painting, where she deepened her technical precision and her sense of composition. From 1993 to 1994, she studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and continued her education from 1995 to 1998 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. These formative years in an international environment broadened her artistic horizon and strengthened her conceptual and aesthetic expressive power.

Alongside her studies, Asma Kocjan worked as an international model until 2000. Her intensive engagement with the body, staging and perception profoundly influenced her artistic perspective and is reflected in the sensitive visual language of her works.

From 2006 to 2008, she deepened her work through further studies at the Kunstakademie Bad Reichenhall in Germany. This phase marked a conscious expansion of her artistic practice and solidified her individual position in contemporary art.

Today, Asma Kocjan lives and works in Graz and Vienna. In her work, she combines artisanal precision with emotional depth and international experience. An artist whose life path is as multifaceted as her art.

Statement

"At the center of my work are figures, often from the fashion world.
I work across various media with acrylic, oil, chalk and pens, exploring the expression, posture and presence of the depicted individuals."

Asma Kocjan

Exhibitions

2026
EPIC WOMEN on bloom, Bakerhouse Gallery, Graz
SEQUENCES, Stephansdom Parish, Vienna

2025
Power of Femininity, Hofgalerie Steiermarkhof, Graz
VISIONARY WOMEN, Bakerhouse Gallery, Graz
VISIONARY WOMEN, Bakerhouse Gallery, Klagenfurt
FASHION. ART. INDULGENCE., Ravai Boutique, Graz
KÜNSTLERHOF – EXHIBITION "150 Years Rainer Maria Rilke", Hofgalerie Steiermarkhof, Graz
THE ART OF ROCK and BEYOND, Bakerhouse Gallery, Graz

2024
Bodies & Portraits, Vienna Gallery, Vienna
Wirtschaftsbund Steiermark (Solo Exhibition)
Gallery Ilka Klose, Würzburg, Germany
La Fête de l’Art, Bakerhouse Gallery
RAIFFEISEN Headquarters Opening (Solo Exhibition), Graz
Künstlerhof – Exhibition "AI", Graz

2023
ARTMUC, Munich, Germany
Steiermark Classic (Solo Exhibition), Styria
EPIC WOMEN, Bakerhouse Gallery, Graz
Art Attersee, Bakerhouse Gallery, Attersee
MERKUR Art Campus (Solo Exhibition), Graz
X-Mas Group Show, Bakerhouse Gallery, Graz

2022
GULF & ART (Solo Exhibition), Madrid, Spain
Künstlerhof-Schau, Hofgalerie Steiermarkhof, Graz
„On Pulse of Time“ (Solo Exhibition), Schloss Sankt Martin, Graz
Solo Exhibition, New York, USA
ART BASEL Miami Beach, Miami, USA

2021
Good Vibes, upTown Art Gallery, Graz
Save the World, KUZ Museum, Kapfenberg
ARTFACTORY Graz, Graz
Arte Tra Le Calli, Veneto, Italy

2020
ART INNSBRUCK, Innsbruck
upTown Art Gallery, Graz
THINK POSITIVE (Solo Exhibition), Hypo Bank Steiermark Headquarters, Graz

2019
Symbols Figures Horizons, Gallery Stross, Graz
Ibiza Art Fair, Ibiza, Spain
ART SALZBURG, Salzburg

2018
ART INNSBRUCK, Padova, Italy
TRANSPARENCY, Hypo Bank Steiermark, Graz
Commissioned Work, Social Insurance Institution Headquarters, Graz
Summer Exhibition, Hotel Linde, Maria Wörth
REDUCED AND SEDUCED, Hollerei Galerie, Vienna

2017
Wirtschaftsbund Steiermark, Graz
Femmes Choc, Gallery Udo Gangl, Graz
The Power of Femininity, Therme Loipersdorf
ArtExpo New York, New York, USA
STYRIAN ART goes Croatia, Museum Mimara, Zagreb

2016
Art Space Gallery (Solo Exhibition), London, UK
Art in Wine Country, Styria
Different People (Solo Exhibition), Vienna

2015
Medical Center (Solo Exhibition), Graz
Dr. Schachenreiter, Graz
Berchtoldvilla, Salzburg
Team 7, Graz
ART AND FASHION, Berlin, Germany

2014
Art in Action, Austrian International Centre, Vienna
Palais Esterházy (Solo Exhibition), Vienna
More than Levels, Schloss Leonstein, Pörtschach

2013
Gallery Ursula Stross, Graz
Come Together, Galerie Geba, Graz

2012
Gallery Ursula Stross, Graz
LKH-Universitätsklinikum Graz, Graz
UP AND DOWN, Merkur Versicherung, Graz

2011
Schloss Klessheim (Solo Exhibition), Salzburg

2000 - 2010
Zeiss Austria, Graz
Congress Center Pörtschach "Female Figures", Carinthia
Art in Inamera, Burgenland
Galerie Kunst und Handel, Graz
Black and Wild, Bank Austria, Salzburg
39 m², Salzburg Professional Association, Salzburg