Moritz Messenböck

The Vienna-born artist studied at the Vienna School of Art in Ottakring. His powerful paintings explore the harsh realities of human experience, shaped by a lifelong confrontation with illness and pain. His deeply personal and emotionally charged works oscillate between darkness and vivid intensity, capturing the fragility of human existence.
With bold gestures and multifaceted images, Moritz reflects on vulnerability, absurdity, and the ongoing search for meaning in a broken world.

Moritz's artworks

biography

Moritz Messenböck was born in Vienna in 2000, where he currently lives and works. From 2020 to 2023, he studied painting at the Vienna School of Art in Ottakring, where he subsequently graduated.
Due to a congenital condition, he underwent numerous operations, most of them before the age of 14. Ten years later, the operations and challenges continue and continue to influence and shape Messenböck's work and life, as they will accompany him for the rest of his life.
From 2019 to 2023, he was represented by the “Aurora Art Gallery”.

Statement

" Pain, both physical and psychological, constitutes the central concern and the unifying point of human existence. It reveals itself as a guide to meaning. "
and plays a crucial role in my creative process.
Because: The expression of pain occurs within a neutral and honest framework that focuses on the present. It emphasizes the fact that our existence is often characterized by absurdity, nihilism, and a far-reaching, utilitarian dehumanization.
Through my artistic expressions in the sense of active nihilism, I want to establish and make tangible not only this state, but also a positive meaning of life.
At the same time, the surfaces of our being should be questioned and broken through.
The visual representation of the connections and interrelationships of all the impressions and experiences underlying life supports the attempt to gain clarity about one's own existence. The result is an authentic reflection of the complex and overwhelming nature of our daily existence, as well as the associated loneliness of the self.

Moritz Messenböck

Exhibitions

“Augarten Summer Open Air” (Group exhibition at Palais Freiluft) - Jul./Aug. 2025
“Here and Now” (Group exhibition in cooperation with the “Selektiert” Art Club at the WUK Project Space) - Apr. 2025
“Night in the museum” (Group exhibition at Kunstforum Vienna) - April 2025
“In times of need, even the devil drinks paint” (Duo exhibition with Christian Eisenberger at Galerie Graf) - Apr. 2024
"Vyc x Unreleased" (Group exhibition in cooperation with Vienna Youth Contemporary) - July 2023
"Cantine Special" (Solo exhibition at Bräuhaus Tenfifty / Ankerbrotfabrik) - April 2023
"K16" (Group exhibition at Kärntnerstraße 16) - Dec. 2022
"Cave of Speech" (Solo exhibition in cooperation with Aurora Art Gallery at Akademie Birkbrunn) - November 2022
"A Devils Tale" (Group exhibition at West Space) - Oct. 2022
"re:XCEPT - Explore art charity festival" (Group exhibition at Die Wabe) - April 2022
"Below the Surface" (Group exhibition in cooperation with Neverathome and YN Collective) - April 2022
"Jumping Chapters" (Solo exhibition at Aurora Art Gallery) - Oct. 2021
"I Wont Listen" (Solo exhibition at Aurora Art Gallery) - Oct. 2020
"Spring Cigarettes" (Solo exhibition at Aurora Art Gallery) - September 2019.