ダニエル・フェルストル

Born 1982 in Linz, Austria.

Daniel Ferstl’s practice explores the visual languages of social media, consumer culture, and contemporary popular iconography. Working primarily with large-scale textile collages, he transforms the ephemeral imagery of digital culture—from TikTok aesthetics and internet memes to fan merchandise—into meticulously crafted compositions that evoke the material presence and historical gravity of painting. Hand-stitched details coexist with bold graphic vocabularies, while digital symbols intersect with references to classical modes of composition.

Ferstl examines consumption not merely as an economic activity but as a cultural condition that shapes perception, desire, and identity. His works deploy the seductive strategies of advertising and influencer culture, drawing viewers into a visual field that is at once familiar and disarming. Functioning as material archives of the present, these textile assemblages preserve the fleeting imagery of contemporary life, suspending it long enough to invite critical reflection.

Oscillating between spectacle and sincerity, humour and critique, refinement and kitsch, Ferstl’s practice reveals the mechanisms through which images circulate, acquire value, and construct meaning. By translating the visual excess of digital culture into tactile, labor-intensive objects, he exposes the extent to which the logic of consumption has become embedded in our collective imagination and everyday experience.

Selected Solo & Duo Shows

2025 “Backseat Dreamer”, Proyecto Reme, Palma, Spain

2024 “For you !Kneedeepinthehoopla”, Wonnerth-Dejaco, Vienna, Austria

2023 “Plop Residency”, with Joe Cheetham, London, UK

2022 “Lovers”, Wonnerth Dejaco, Vienna, Austria

2021 “The Sleeper must awaken”, Sink, Vienna, Austria

2019 “FouFou Contemporary’s Inaugural Show”, duo show with Josip Novosel, FouFou Contemporary, Vienna, Austria

2019 “Nachtleuchtendes/Blumenantwort”, duo show with Marianne Vlaschits, Salon Goldschlag, Vienna, Austria

2018 “Life Death”, Justice, Vienna, Austria

2017 “Artist Statement”, Parallel, Vienna, Austria

2015 “baby, please stop crying...”, Ve.Sch Vienna, Austria

2015 “OOH EEH OOH AH AH”, MUSA Startgalerie, Vienna, Austria

2014 “Mavericks”, New Jörg, Vienna, Austria

2013 “Dear Diary/Bridget/Potpourri”; curated by Werner Rodlauer, BSA Gallery, Vienna, Austria

2012 “Anthem”, duo show with Titania Seidl”, Heiligenkreuzerhof, Vienna, Austria

2012 “Patterned Phantoms”, Dreieck Studio, Vienna, Austria

2010 “Searching for Bigfoot”, Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, Austria

2009 “Temple”, Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, Austria

2009 “Engfer/Ferstl”, duo show with Dana Engfer, Gallery BMB, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2009 “Stefan Pani/Daniel Ferstl”, showroom for young art Hrobsky, Vienna, Austria

2009 “Bad Choice”, duo show with J.P. van Hoeck, AKH Contemporary, Vienna, Austria

2008 “Ruler of Otherworld”, Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, Austria

Selected Group Exhibitions

2025 “UNWRAPPED”, Better Go South, Berlin, Germany

2025 “Reinvention”, Wunderkunst, Munich, Germany

2025 “Små værker - Store fortællinger”, Annika Nuttal Gallery, Aarhus, Denmark

2024 “Lichtekooi”, Sink, Antwerp, Belgium

2024 “The Mountain Outside Our Window”, curated by Katharina Höglinger, WONNERTH DEJACO, Vienna, Austria

2023 “Tuercas. Una historia de ciencia ficción recluida en giros”, L21, Palma, Spain

2023 “Über das Neue. Wiener Szenen und darüber hinaus”, Teil 2, Belvedere 21, Vienna, Austria

2023 “I like it, what is it?”, curated by Claus Busch Risvig, Albert Contemporary, Odense, Denmark

2023 “Atletica Ideal sinks in Magic, Sex and Politics”, curated by Erika Olea, presentation of the Family Servais Collection, The Loft, Brussels, Belgium

2020 “DIZZY MOUSE”, Zeller van Almsick, Vienna, Austria

2020 “not.Cancelled Salon”, curated by Karim Crippa, Online Show

2020 “TREMARE”, Frappant, Hamburg, Germany

2020 “Hypersurface”, Austrian Cultural Forum, London, UK

2020 “HOT PAPER”, GIFC Worldwide, Online Group Show

2020 “Coloring Quarantine”, Exile, Vienna, Online Group Show

2019 “B”, Belmacz, London, UK

2018 “Angebliche Väter”, GanicaStautz, Vienna, Austria

2018 “Bar du Bois Kultur”, Foundation, Vienna, Austria

2018 “Ashtray Show West”, Belmacz, London, UK

2017 “BODIKON”, Belmacz, London, UK

2016 “Absolute Beginnings”, Zeller van Almsick Projekte, Vienna, Austria

2016 “MAUVE”, Club Pro, Los Angeles, US

2016 “Instagram Now! 2016 Sketchbooks, Portfolios, Diaries”, Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

2016 “Monpti”, by Philipp Grünewald & Ivan Pérard, Aquarium, Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna, Austria

2016 “why the long face, black sphinx”, Mauve at Drop City, Newcastle, UK

2016 “Hybrids”, We Are Hercules, Munich, Germany

2015 “Destination Vienna”, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria

2015 “sharing space”, curated by Victoria Dejaco, Alte Post, Vienna, Austria

2014 “Toons Like Us and Toons Like Us (Reprise)”, two shows curated by Melanie Ohnemus, WellWellWell, Vienna, Austria

2014 “One Mauve Gallery”, with Salvatore Viviano, Titania Seidl and Lukas Thaler, Vienna, Austria

2014 “Work”, with Salvatore Viviano, Titania Seidl and Lukas Thaler, Mauve, Vienna, Austria

2014 “GOOFY”, studios das weisse haus, Vienna, Austria

2014 “FIRST EMERALD THEN SAPPHIRE THEN BLACK”, curated by Christian Weidner & Edin Zenun, Atelierhaus der Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna, Austria

2014 “Achtzig für Achtzig”, Sammlung Achim Freyer, Berlin, Germany

2014 “Carnation”, Kunsthalle Ganglbauergasse, Vienna, Austria

2013 “Jakob Breit/Daniel Ferstl/Titania Seidl, Je Regrette”, Berlin, Germany

2013 “Verfhond’s 2013 Painting Show”, Art Initiative Verfhond, Appels Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2012 “A Small Embassy of Living Painters”, Appels Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2012 “Koaxiale 12”, Künstlerhaus Wien, Vienna, Austria

2011 “Junge Positionen”, Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, Austria

2011 “Zeichnung Wien II”, Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, Austria

2011 “METAmART”, Künstlerhaus Wien, Vienna, Austria

2010 “VIECHEREI”, Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, Austria

2009 “Großer Geist, bewahre uns!”, Kabelwerk, Vienna, Austria

2008 “The Essence”, MAK Wien, Vienna, Austria

2008 “Endless Love”, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria

2008 “The Master does not approve!”, Diplomausstellung, University of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria

2007 “GOLD”, KUNSTHALLE project space, Vienna, Austria

2007 “Young Style”, Platan Gallery, Budapest, Hungary

2007 “Winterausstellung”, Galerie Noack, Mönchengladbach, Germany

2006 “o.T.”, Galerie Noack, Mönchengladbach, Germany

2006 “Don Giovanni: Einer von uns”, ws-forum, Vienna, Austria

2006 “Sommerfrische”, Galerie artMark, Vienna, Austria

2005 “Die Angewandte @Institut f. Bildende Kunst”, Kunstakademie, Münster, Germany

2005 “Soho in Ottakring”, Showroom Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, Austria

2005 “WollenKunst”, Künstlerhaus Wien, Vienna, Austria

2005 “Junger Österreicher”, MAK Wien, Vienna, Austria

2005 “4 Positionen junger Malerei”, Galerie artMark, Spittal a. Phyrn, Austria

2005 “Grundstein”, Showroom Galerie Ulrike Hrobsky, Vienna, Austria

2004 “Märchen auf den Kopf gestellt”, Stadtgalerie Wien, Vienna, Austria

Works in collections

Collection of the State of Austria, Austria

Collection Famille Servais, Brussels, Belgium

Collection of Marcel Buchberger, Vienna, Austria

Collection of the City of Vienna, Austria

Pro Helvetia, Switzerland

Awards, Prizes & Grants

2016 Shortlisted for Strabag Art Award, Austria

2015 Shortlist for Strabag Art Award, Austria

2014 das weißehaus Studios, Vienna, Austria

Other Projects

2020 D. Tulip Editions (art edition project)

2018 Music Video Tents - “Sabatical”

2016 Five Highs (music project)

2012 MAUVE (founding member of the artist run space)