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Florian Süssmayr’s self-portrait is a trompe l’œil. The shop window image transferred from a photo into an oil painting and here on to silk serves not only to promote consumer goods but also to present the artist himself. The leopard print on the shop window dress fuses optically into a perplexing unity with the reflection of the building opposite and the slight trace of Süssmayr’s silhouette. Selbstportrait Lindwurmstrasse involves both exploiting cross-media opportunities—a key feature of many of the artist’s works—and the basic concept of fashion as a projection surface for the self and clothes as a vehicle for individuality.
Fabric patterns bear the strong imprint of history. The way they are perceived thus undergoes dramatic changes, as the chequered history of the leopard pattern makes clear. In primitive cultures, it was admired as a symbol of strength and power, whereas in the 18th century it was the acme of elegance and glamour. This was succeeded by a long period as a marker of ‘ladies of easy virtue’ and baser instincts. Since then, animal symbols have returned to fashion respectability. Yet the fleeting interplay of reality and illusion such as Süssmayr masterfully illustrates is an intrinsic aspect of fashion. (Text: Annabelle Hirsch)

Florian Süssmayr was born in Munich in 1963, and he still lives and works there. Closely involved in the punk movement of the 80s, Süssmayr began his career as a guitarist in the punk band Lorenz Lorenz, later working as a film cameraman. His breakthrough as a painter came in 2005 with the solo exhibition called Florian Süssmayr, Paintings for German Museums at the Haus der Kunst in Munich. He is represented by Galerie Schöttle in Munich, Nicholas Robinson Gallery in New York and Miyake Fine Art in Tokyo.