A special kind of seeing

An artwork can function like the lens of a microscope. By adjusting the focal length, lighting and contrast the viewer may see different aspects of an object. Once you have calibrated it to highlight one thing, you can take a step back and let someone else take a look. This person will see exactly what you saw. It is not like pointing at something in a landscape, having to explain what it is you noticed and then hoping that the other person might focus on the same thing as you. You are not bound by the vagueness of language. The person you are showing something to has the focus already set on that minute detail you wanted him or her to see.

In many ways, this mirrors my own practice: much of my work revolves around the process of noticing. Few things give me the same sense of satisfaction as the moment I perceive something for the first time. I hope my paintings offer a glimpse of this insatiable curiosity.



For me, painting is an inquisitive process. Painting commands a special kind of seeing. It demands a perception that is searching, that ideally amounts to a seeing that is not necessarily akin to the visionary, but more like that of a scientist who seeks to grasp the story behind what is naturally and easily there to be seen.


Why am I soft in the middle? - 10 fragments of crisis
30. April - 10 May 2025



Crises are universal. Everyone experiences moments of uncertainty, doubt, and inner turmoil. In artistic practice, these moments often run deeper—when the value of one’s own work comes into question, when self-doubt lingers, and the fluctuating visibility becomes a constant challenge.

The title of the exhibition is borrowed from Paul Simon’s song ‘You Can Call Me Al. While the song reflects, somewhat ironically, on a midlife crisis and a sense of disorientation, the title here points to the fragility and uncertainty that often accompany both artistic and existential states of crisis.

This exhibition opens a space for works that emerged in times of personal or artistic upheaval, or that reflect on the inner experience of navigating such states.

It is about the struggle with identity, about moments of loss, vulnerability, and quiet resistance. The works on view are rooted in deeply personal conditions, yet, at the same time, they hold something universally familiar.

Especially now, in a time of global instability, it feels more urgent than ever to make room for the personal. What does an existential shift feel like for someone whose medium is expression? How does uncertainty, rupture, or inner conflict take shape in visual form? The exhibition brings together ten artistic positions that reflect both the depths and the quiet hopes accompanying an artistic existence.

With works by Anja Ronacher, Anna Witt, Bernd Oppl, Emma Kling, Imre Nagy, Linus Riepler, Lorenz Kunath, Matthias Ramsey, Sophia Tabatadze and Xenia Hausner



Dear Sister, Where Are We From?
26th and 27th of April 2025


The exhibition "Dear Sister, Where Do We Come From?" is an artistic collaboration between three sibling pairs: Nora and Antonia Eckhart, Hannah and Alexander Gratzer, and Magdalena and Matthias Ramsey.

The show presents painting, film, and light installation — interwoven with questions of origin, memory, and artistic connections.

What can art tell us about shared roots? How do familial bonds shape our forms of expression?



TRÄUME...TRÄUMEN
12. April - 2. November 2025


In 2025, Schallaburg Castle invites you to an exhibition between dream and reality. The exhibition opens up spaces for daydreams and night fantasies, for personal dreams and communal utopias. It invites you to dream and encourages you to dream.


more at:

www.schallaburg.at

Would you like to learn more about my work?
Here are some texts and links:


- This must be the place (English) -> Artist Statement by Matthias Ramsey

- Serpents and Sediments (English) -> Artist Statement by Matthias Ramsey

- Tinatin Natsvlishvili über die Arbeiten von Matthias R. Ramsey (German) -> PDF

Tracing the Ethereal curated by Rosa Sancarlo at Parat, Zürich (Englisch) -> Kubaparis

Von Rabenreihern und Reiherraben (German)  -> Media Scholarship of the Nationalparks Austria


Diaries


I have decided to share two of my diaries.
These books are central to my work.
I continuously fill them with memories, dreams, and notes on all kinds of things.
Though deeply personal, they are the starting point for every painting I create.
They mean a lot to me, but feel free to browse.




Matthias Richard Ramsey was born on 2.9.1992 in Hall in Tirol.
He lives and Works in Vienna.

Ramsey employs the genre of world landscape to blend biological concepts and narratives with surreal elements. His paintings are characterized by playfully evolving motifs and symbols, often derived from biology but used to illustrate a wide range of very personal and political themes. Through numerous details, he simultaneously addresses the fear of ecological and political changes as well as his fascination with their interconnectedness.


Residencies

2023 „A place to live” Artist in Residence, Center for Contemporary Art Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
2022 „Kumanononisumu“ Artist in Residence in Kumano, Japan
2021 Media-sholarship for literature of the national-park- Neusiedlersee/Seewinkel, Austria 

Solo Exhibition

2022 Unruly Mobility // as part of Kumanonisumu, Kamikawa, JP
2022 The Hungry Ghosts // wasserwasser, Vienna
2022 Es gibt immer was zu tun // Obolo, Vienna
2018 Remove the Water from the Bottom of the Ocean //  wasserwasser, Vienna
2018 Serpents and Sediments // Kunstraum Haidgasse, Vienna

Group Exhibition (selection)

2024 Tracing the Ethreal // Parat, Zürich, Switzerland
2024 Utopia // Kulturbunt Neuperlach, Munich, Germany
2023 leerstoff // Eisenberger Kunstfabrik, Gmünd
2023 A place to live Center for Contemporary Art // Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
2023 Apoll seized by a guilty conscience // Offimage at Apollogarage, Vienna
2022 Über das Flattern // New Jörg, Vienna
2022 Lobausstellung, Kollektiv Kaorle // New Jörg, Vienna
2022 In search ofa cultural attractor //  Offimage at Mauve, Vienna
2022 Rebound/Echo // Sicczine,  Vienna
2021 Urban Biodiversity // Flederhaus,  Vienna
2020 Hinter uns die Sintflut // Kunstraum Grünspan, Feffernitz
2020 Über dem Sonnentau // Vienna
2019 Happy Fail - Das Glück ist ein fallender Vogel // Kaeschmaesch,  Vienna
2018 Die Ahnung eines größeren Gefühls // Radiokulturhaus,  Vienna
2017 exchange // Schloss Esterhazy, Eisenstadt
2017 atlas. axis. eine subtile Kommunikation // die Schöne,  Vienna
2016 We all fall up // Collateral Event of the Kochin Biennale Mill Hall, Kochin IN
2016 Festival ofStories // Cubbon Park, Bengaluru IN
2016 Junge Kunst in alten Mauern // Schloss Spielfeld
2016 schier heiter- für die Gang und so... // Sala Terena,  Vienna
2016 Ex und Hopp // die Bäckerei, Innsbruck
2015 Artunanchored Festival MS // Stadt Wien, Tulln, Wien, Krems
2015 Three weeks off... // Obegg, Spielfeld
2015 Riches and Realities // Sowie, Innsbruck

Education

currently pursuing a masters degree in Applied Limnology (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna)
2020 BSc in Zoology (University of Vienna)
2018 Diploma in Painting in the class of Prof. Judith Eisler  (University of Applied Arts Vienna)
2016 Guest Semester at Srishti College of Art, Design and Technology in Bengaluru, India (Contemporary Art Practice)
2016 Guest Semester in the class of Prof. Jan Svenungsson, Drawing and Printmaking, University of Applied Arts Vienna