About the artist

Born 1989 in Tönisvorst

Lisa Breyer is a German artist who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. She completed her diploma this year under Michaela Eichwald and Thomas Winkler, receiving an award of recognition for her work. Breyer lives and works in Vienna.

For more insight into her work, check out this Interview with LNR Magazine and this article in Kunstbar Magazine.

About Lisa Breyer’s Work

Lisa Breyer’s work is all about creating spaces that feel like they’re in flux—places where figures dissolve, reassemble, and hover in moments of transition.

In her series Unknown Knowledge, the artist avoids following a strict plan, embracing the unknown and letting the process unfold naturally. There’s a sense of not knowing, but it’s guided by past experiences and the muscle memory of the hand. It’s about capturing those in-between moments—spaces where potential and change happen. Imperfections, erasures, and interventions all become part of the canvas, giving it a feeling of „in-betweenness.“ This also extends to the figures, which are caught in a state of suspended motion—not fully formed, but not static either. Breyer finds inspiration in life models, brief observations, and photographs, aiming to capture a “body-feeling” rather than a specific person.

Her Tarot series takes a playful approach to female portraiture. The structure borrows from classical portrait painting, but the focus is on the subject itself. Each painting shows a woman at the center, surrounded by personal objects. The scenes are theatrical, sometimes awkwardly pompous, developed through collaboration between Breyer and her model. A tarot card reading kicks off the process, sparking conversations about personality and spirituality.

Meeting Ghosts is a series of self-portraits that play with the logic of perspective and the relationship between parts and the whole. Like a gravitational pull, the figures seem to shape the space and objects around them. The rooms feel both familiar and dreamlike, blending figurative shapes with abstract gestures. Small drawings act as notes, letting the viewer into the conversation and revealing fragments of thought.

Exhibitions

2024 // IHS, group show, Institut für Höhere Studien. Vienna, Austria

2024 // Malerei für alle, group show, Stadtraum Mitte 15. Vienna, Austria

2024 // Malerei solo show, wasserwasser in der Alpenmlichzentrale. Vienna, Austria

2024 // You say Witch like it’s a bad thing, group show, Verein Fortuna. Vienna, Austria

2024 // diploma group show, Exhibit Eschenbachgasse, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Vienna, Austria

2024 // rot in hell, group show, Zink Kunstraum. Vienna Austria

2024 // Abstraktion, group show, Exhibit, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Vienna, Austria

2024 // Rundgang, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Vienna, Austria

2023 // bodies & spaces, Einzelausstellung, Studio Castell. Bonn, Germany 

2023 // Krawallmische Zeichnungen, Gruppenausstellung, spce Muthesius. Kiel, Germany

2023 // Rundgang, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Vienna, Austria

2023 // Modern Alchemy, group showDistrict4art. Vienna, Austria

2022 // Rundgang, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Vienna, Austria

2021 // a room to live in, solo show, wasserwasser in der Alpenmlichzentrale. Vienna, Austria

2021 // Art-Austria mit Kunst ab Hinterhof, art fair. Vienna, Austria

2021 // TSCHAU, BABA, Ausstellung der Malerei- und Grafikateliers, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Vienna, Austria

2020 // Rundgang, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Vienna, Austria

2019 // Exhibition Lisa Breyer (Wien) & Matthias Dettmann (Rostock) duo show, studio 36, Rostock, Germany

2019 // Neue Wiener Ernsthaftigkeit, group show, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Vienna, Austria

2019 // Rundgang, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Vienna, Austria

Education

since 2021 Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Michaela Eichwald und Thomas Winkler. 

2018 – 2021 Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Erwin Bohatsch

2009 – 2013 University Leipzig, Institute of Art Education. B.A.

prizes / Grants / Residencies

2024 Würdigungspreis, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

2019 Abstraktion und Fiktion, Workshop with Bernd Ribbeck St. Moritz Art Academy, St. Moritz/Suisse

Foto: © Sandra Birkner 2023