Hillerbrand+Magsamen

Hillerbrand+Magsamen
Born	Denver, Colorado, USA and Durham, North Carolina, USA
Nationality	American and German
Education	Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Children	Madeleine (b. 2002) Emmett (b. 2006)
Awards	Fulbright Fellowship, Austin Film Society, Houston Arts Alliance
Website	hillerbrandmagsamen.com

Hillerbrand+Magsamen is the collaborative artistic team of Mary Magsamen and Stephan Hillerbrand who live and work in Houston, Texas.

Background

Mary Magsamen and Stephan Hillerbrand met at Cranbrook Academy of Art, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where each of them earned a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Sculpture (1994). Prior to meeting Mary Magsamen earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture from University of Denver, Denver, Colorado (1991) and Stephan Hillerbrand earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Sculpture from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas (1989); a Masters of Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (Akademie der Bildenden Künste München), Munich, Germany (1992).

Mary Magsamen is currently the curator of Media and Film at the Aurora Picture Show.^[1] Stephan Hillerbrand is currently an Associate Professor and Honors College Fellow in the School of Art at the University of Houston.

Bio

The artistic team of Hillerbrand+Magsamen have presented their videos in international film and media festivals including SCOPE Basel, WAND V Stuttgarter Filmwinter, Taiwan International Video Art Exhibition, New York Underground Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Brooklyn Underground Film Festival, LA Freewaves New Media Art Festival and Currents Media Festival. Their cinematic based installations have been seen in the Everson Museum of Art.^[2] Cardiff International Festival of Photography by Ffotogallery, the Hudson River Museum, the Center for Photography at Woodstock,^[3] Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Blue Sky Gallery^[4] and Houston Center for Photography.

Their work has been cited in publications such as The New York Times,^[5][6] Glasstire,^[7] The Houston Press,^[8][9][10] Culture Map^[11] and television^[12]

Magsamen+Hillerbrand have lectured internationally about their work including, TEDxHouston (2015) ^[13] the Society for Photographic Education (2013, 2012, 2006^[14]); the College Art Association (2009, 2007, 2006); the University Film and Video Association (2006); and the Foundations in Art, Theory and Education (2007, 2005).

Awards

• Cinespace, Houston Cinema Arts Festival (2015) 1st Place Winner, juried by Richard Linklater.^[15]
• The Sustainable Art Foundation (2015)^[16]
• Santa Fe Art Institute Residency (2014)
• The Lawndale Art Center Residency in Houston, Texas (2010)^[17]
• Texas Filmmakers’ Production Fund grant (2010)^[18]
• Houston Arts Alliance, Individual Artists Grant (2009)
• Carol Crow Fellowship from the Houston Center for Photography in Houston, TX (2008)^[19]
• Fuse Box Collaboration Series, Refraction Arts (2008)
• Fulbright Junior Scholar Fellowship (2006)
• Ohio Arts Council, Individual Creativity Award in Media Installation (2005)
• Experimental Television Center Residencies in Owego, NY (2003 and 2005)
• Lower Manhattan Cultural Council at the Woolworth Building in New York, NY (2004)
• MacDowell Colony Fellow in Peterborough, NH (2001)

Notable Work

• 'Higher Ground^[20][21]' is an interdisciplinary work consisting of video, sculpture and photography commissioned by the Houston Airport System and the City of Houston. In the spirit of George Méliès landmark illusionistic film, “A Trip to the Moon,” the artists with their children embark on an adventure to construct and fly a rocket ship to the moon by taking apart their Houston, Texas suburban home.
• 'Whole^[22]' is a single channel video that embarks on an epic adventure, this family creates new levels of interaction, communication and exploration by breaking and cutting holes into their actual home to make a habitrail-like environment where they go nowhere fast.
• 'House/hold^[23]' a series of 20 Archival Pigement Prints, 20"x28", Edition 1/3. The House/hold photograph series are portraits of our family that playfully capture slices of our daily life with surreal viewpoints and dark humor inspired by actual events from bath time to laundry.
• 'DIY Love^[24]' Seat is a playful single channel video that reinterprets our family and its identity. In this dark comedy a woman takes the family couch and cuts out a section with a chainsaw.

Bibliography

Madeline Schwartzman, See Yourself Sensing: Redefining Human Perception, Black Dog Publishing, June 28, 2011.ISBN 1907317295

References

External links

• Website for Hillerbrand+Magsamen
• White Columns - Artist Registry
• Mary Magsamen: Aurora Picture Show Staff
• Stephan Hillerbrand: The University of Houston, School of Art, Faculty