Stefan Holzmair

Born in 1988 in Rosenheim, Stefan Holzmair is a German visual artist whose work interrogates materiality through both a technical and conceptual lens. His exemplary path begins with rigorous training as a wood sculptor in Berchtesgaden, an artisanal foundation he then transcended with a degree in Design Management in Salzburg, followed by seven years of study at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich (AdBK). This hybrid trajectory allows him to combine mastery of the traditional gesture with a critical reflection on the object and its environment.

Now based in Munich, he is one of the most promising talents of his generation, as evidenced by the Kulturpreis Bayern (2023) and, most recently, the prestigious Förderpreis from BBK München (2025). His work, regularly exhibited in institutions such as the Galerie der Künstler and the Produzenten Galerie Hamburg, stands out for its constant exploration of volumes and textures, using both ceramics and wood. Stefan Holzmair creates structures that seem to be physical echoes of our mental spaces, transforming sculptural rigor into a delicate and striking visual poetry.

For his residency at Rocabella, Stefan Holzmair proposes a sculptural research project entitled 'Morphologies du Littoral' (Coastal Morphologies). Accustomed to Alpine reliefs, the artist seeks to confront his practice of wood sculpture and ceramics with the minerality and verticality of the French Riviera. The estate, between its neoclassical villas and gardens plunging into the Mediterranean, becomes a laboratory of forms where the built and the organic meet.

The project involves creating a series of in situ installations that dialogue with the estate's architecture. Stefan plans to work on driftwood or carved wood structures whose lines will follow the curves of the coastline, creating 'space markers' that highlight the passage of time and erosion. Taking advantage of the serenity of the location, he will also explore ceramic pieces with glazes inspired by the shifting reflections of the azure. This residency is conceived as a silent dialogue between the precision of the hand and the force of the elements: at Rocabella, Stefan Holzmair aspires to capture, through volume, the very essence of this exceptional landscape, offering a new sculptural reading of the memory of the shore.