His works are shed insect skins that remain after a process of transformation, functioning as a cast of static conditions of existence. Centered on the encounter between bodies and materials, Hoelzgen creates textile forms of communication that mediate between planetary conditions and human concepts of environment.
Working with analogue photographic paper, he creates costumes, masks, and exoskeletal shells that incorporate architectural and botanical fragments such as shingles, pipes, and thorns into structures that cling to, constrain, or extend the body. Across objects and installations, these forms trace how anthropocentric perspectives persist even in the absence of the human figure, continuing to organize and dominate space. The works function as material residues of past demands that operate as interfaces between the body and the environment. Oscillating between camouflage and exposure, Hoelzgen’s practice proposes the human not as a stable subject but as a rigid costume formed by the tools, materials, and conceptual frameworks through which we inhabit the planet.
Philipp Hoelzgen is currently studying Fine Arts at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. He holds a degree in Mass Media and Communication Science, and is a graduate of the School for Artistic Photography in Vienna. In 2025, he undertook a research residency in Athens, focusing on masks as interfaces between the body and objects on a planetary scale. His work has been shown at Fotohof Salzburg (2024), the Austrian Cultural Forum London (2023), Das Weisse Haus in Vienna (2025) and the Kunstverein Augsburg (2025). It has also been featured as part of the Foto Wien Biennale and has been published in Vogue Greece.
2025 Research Stay Athens,
Supervision by Nikos Arvanitis
Athens School of Fine Arts
2024 International Summeracademy of Fine Arts
mentored by Pascal Petignat
2021 - still Studies Fine Arts, Sophie Thun / Gabriele Rothemann
University of Applied Arts Vienna
2020 - 2021 School for artistic Photography, Vienna
mentored by Anja Manfredi
2017 - 2021 Mass Media & Communication Science BA.
University Vienna
2025 Residency Keramikos23, Athens (GR)
2025 VOGUE, New Talents Award (GR)
2024 Residency Kunstraum St. Virgil, Salzburg (A)
2024 International Summeracademy of Fine Arts
2023 Wolf Suschitzky Photography Prize
shortlisted
2024
2026 Incentive Grant
University of Applied Arts
2025 Project Grant
Bildrecht, Vienna
2025 Research Grant, Athens
University of applied Arts, Vienna
2023 Special Project Grant
Austrian Student Union
2023 Special Project Grant
HUFAK, Student Union
2022 Incentive Grant
University of Applied Arts
Solo / Duo
2025
Duo_Morphologies of Becoming, Kunstverein Kombinage, Foto Wien, (A) with Daniel Hill
Duo_Unstoppable Yesterdays, periscope, Salzburg (A) with Jurij Hartmann
Duo_Substrates of Old Gardens, Kunstraum St. Virgil, Salzburg (A) with Linda Luse curated by Andrea Lehner Hagwood
Solo_Mining Roots of Planets, K23_artstudio, Athens (GR)
Solo_Cosmic Treatment, Landscape Exhibition Tourkovunia, Athens (GR)
Groupshows
2025
Jahresgaben, Augsburger Kunstverein, curated by Christian Thöner (D)
Video of the Month, Das Weisse Haus, Vienna curated by Pia Wamslser (A)
Interceptible Flutter, Augsburger Kunstverein, curated by Jonas Höschl (D)
Spectrum Metallic, OKP 3. Floor, Vienna (A)
Exhibition Part 1, Keramikos 23, Athens (GR)
24 1/2, Atelier Augarten, Vienna (A)
Rethinking Headgear, Handwerksmuseum Deggendorf (D)
Cosmic Treatment, Landscape Exhbibition, Tourkovunia (GR)
2024
Beyond the Lens , masc foundation - Rotlicht Festival, curated by Daniel Hill, Vienna (A)
Contact and Scale, Fortress Hohensalzburg, curated by Pascal Petignat, Salzburg (A)
Material Dreams, Angewandte Festival, Vienna (A)
hoffentlich wenigstens, Dito, Vienna (A)
A Poem Is Being Written, Universitätsgalerie der Angewandten im Heiligenkreuzerhof, Vienna (A)
Wolf Suschitzky Fotopreis, Fotohof Salzburg (A)
Harmlessly contagious, OK-Transit, curated by Tsai-Ju Wu, Expositur Paulusplatz, Vienna (A)
This side up, Intervention in public space, London (UK)
Stofflichkeit, Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Vienna (A)
Observing Systems, Dito, curated by Günther Selichar, Vienna (A)
2023
Im Augenblick Gefangen / Capturing the Moment, Austrian Cultural Forum, London (UK)
WE CAME TO AN AGREEMENT, Billboard Installation, Group Project, Vienna (A)
chamber of secrets, Kunstraum OK 3rd floor, Vienna (A)
Kopfverlängerung, Angewandte Festival, Vienna (A)
Wired Realities, Trumpeldor Gallery, Beer Sheva, Israel (IL)
TBH - to be honest, Advertising pillar on a public square in Vienna, Foto Wien, Vienna (A)
Look, a thorn blossoms!, Intervention in public space, Vienna (A)
LAUGH, LAUF, LIMES - painting with a backpack on, Kunstraum Schwaz, Schwaz (A)
TIME OUT I, Circuits and Currents, Athens (GR)
Projection d‘illusions, Filmkoop, Vienna (A)
2022
WHEREVER, OFF Festival, Bratislava (SK)
37 THINGS I CARRY, Safehouse 1, London (UK)
Zustandsgesteuert, Angewandte Festival, Vienna (A)
FotoTOPOS, Angewandte Festival, curated by Philipp Goldbach, Vienna (A)
Stones in a Glasshouse, Foto Wien 2022, Vienna (A)
Photobook Market, Foto Wien 2022, Vienna (A)
2021
Fleisch und Stein, Popup Group Exhibition, Vienna (A)
Together /AND apart, Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna (A)
Dynamic Futures, Steidl (Katalog, Foto Wien 25)
Saliva.live (Substrates of old Gardens)
Gallerytalk.net (Interceptible Flutter)
24 ½, Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien
Vogue Greece
Photography Lies, Steidl (Katalog, Foto Wien 23)
Kuba Paris (LAUGH, LAUF, LIMES)
Kuba Paris (Interceptible Flutter)