Margret Wibmer on Photography, Textile, and the Body at The Hoxton, Lloyd Amsterdam

Austrian artist Margret Wibmer explores the intersection of photography, performance, and textile in her practice, now on view in a solo exhibition of selected works at The Hoxton, Lloyd Amsterdam (2026). In an interview with Anastasia Nefedova, Wibmer discusses her shift from painting to photography in 1980s New York, driven by political concerns around identity and body politics. Her early works used latex rubber to obscure identity, while later photomontages, such as 'No Questions Asked' (combining backgrounds from Cameroon and subjects from Japan), address colonial histories and global connections. Wibmer often omits faces to focus on the body's position rather than personal identity. Textile entered her practice after encountering Franz Erhard Walther's work; she now uses clothing as a performative element, as seen in 'The China Series' where wrinkled silk tells a story. The exhibition at The Hoxton, a building with a complex history, features works like 'The Girl and The Object' and 'The Walze', exploring the shifting power dynamics between female bodies and objects. Wibmer's use of multilingual titles (German, English, French) plays with multiple meanings—'The Walze' can mean a dance or a road roller. Her mother, a tailor, inspired her interest in performance through the ritual of making clothes.