Everybody draws. But drawing is often misunderstood as a mere preliminary stage or a fleeting sketch. In this course, we redefine drawing as a fundamental system of world-building. Following the philosophy of Christian Schwarzwald, we perceive drawing as the “original sign” – the very beginning of how we describe and construct the world around us.
DRAW WITH DRAW is more than a title; it is our methodology. We use the act of drawing as a tool to navigate through other artistic territories. We will explore how a simple line can evolve into complex systems, painterly surfaces, and site-specific installations. The drawing serves as a crossroads – a vibrant intersection where music, architecture, literature, and philosophy meet and influence one other.
We will move from the intimate scale of a notebook to the expansive scale of the architectural space. Focusing on the “grammar” of drawing through seriality and repetition, we will develop a personal visual vocabulary. Further, we will investigate the threshold where drawing meets painting and how a sequence of marks can become a complex narrative.
Breaking the boundaries of the page, drawing becomes a spatial intervention. We will treat the room as our canvas, using lines to respond to architecture, rhythm, and conceptual thought. The course provides a protected space for critical reflection, working on the transformation from the surface into the room. Through a mix of intensive work phases and group experiments, we will be using a diversity of perspectives to build a collective “world system”.
key data
- Venue
- Festung Hohensalzburg
- Date
- 17. – 29. 8. 26
- Teaching language
- English (German possible, a little Italian, Spanish, French)
- Participation fee
- 670 Euro (reduced 495 Euro)
- Requirements
- None
- What to bring
- Pens, brushes, empty containers, work clothes, ink, paint, cutters, scissors.
- Maximum number of participants
- 20
Christian Schwarzwald
Christian Schwarzwald works with drawings.
His idea of drawing is that of an all-encompassing and unrestricted medium. As drawing is everything for Schwarzwald, almost everything is drawn into his universe. No longer is a single drawing seen as just that, but newly as part of a more complex system of imagery. With an analytical mind Schwarzwald creates an encyclopedic world of drawing that stands face-to-face with our contemporary world and questions and challenges its views.
Born 1971 in Salzburg he lives in Vienna and Berlin. Since 2017 he is a Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2025 DRAW DREAM DRAMA DRIFT, Ni Art Museum Suzhou, Suzhou (CN).
AIDIOTS in C, MQ Artbox, Museumsquartier, Vienna.
ROAM, Ebensperger, Berlin.
2023 to paint the written world, with Kurt Chan, Hanart TZ Gallery, Hongkong.
2022 DRAWN, Ebensperger, Berlin.
2021 REGROUP, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna.
2021 POLYGRAPH, Kunstverein Kunsthaus, Potsdam (DE).
2020 COLLA, Kunstraum Friesenstrasse, Hannover (DE).
2017 Stricher, Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna.
2017 Lyrcs, Ebensperger, Berlin.
2019 Wellen, (with Friederike Feldmann), smac, Berlin.
Group Exhibitions
2025 Terra Incognita, Museum Liaunig, Neuhaus/Suha (AT).
Vienna today activating futures, Hai Art Museum, Shanghai.
2023 follow the rabbit, Museum Liaunig, Neuhaus/Suha.
THE FEST, MAK Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna.
2022 SKIP, Geisterpop/ulation, Kunstverein Eisenstadt, Eisenstadt (AT).
architectura, Kunstraum Friesenstrasse, Hannover.
Slavi Soucek Preis, Traklhaus, Salzburg (AT).
2021 Freedom and Independence II, Ebensperger, Vienna.
Metamodell, Die Möglichkeit einer Insel, Berlin.
2020 Durch das Raue zu den Sternen, Galerie 5020, Salzburg.
2019 Kraut, Kunstfestival, Luzern (CH).
XXL Estampes monumentales contemporaines, Musée des Beaux-Arts, Caen (FR).
the drawing people, Michael Woolworth Editions, Paris.
Discrete Austrian Secrets, GCA The Galaxy Museum of Contemporary Art, Chongqing (CN).
2018 Zeichen und Wunder III, Kunsthaus, Nürnberg, Nürnberg (DE).
2017 Encore sous Pression, Centre de la gravure, La Louviére (BE).
Publications
ROAM. CHRISTIAN SCHWARZWALD, permanent verlag, Maer Press 2025, Vienna; Berlin.
ALL NEW GHOSTS, artist book with original monoprints, Text and images by Christian Schwarzwald, published by: Michael Woolworth Publications, 2025, Paris (FR).
AIDIOTS in C. CHRISTIAN SCHWARZWALD, published by: MAER PRESS 2025, Vienna; Berlin.
VIENNA TODAY, Activating Futures, Vienna Contemporary Art Exhibition, published by: The Hai Museum of Art Shanghai, curator: Margareta Sandhofer, 2025, Shanghai (CN).
THE FEST, Between Representation and Revolt, published on the occasion of the eponymous exhbition, MAK, Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, editors: Lilli Hollein, Brigitte Felderer, Anne-Kathrin Rossberg, publisher: Birkhäuser Verlag Gmbh, Basel, Switzerland, 2023, Vienna.
