Simon Mullan German, b. 1981

Simon Mullan (born 1981 in Kiel, Germany) lives and works in Berlin, with a large factory studio near Angermünde (Germany). He studied transmedia and video art at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and at the Royal College of Art in Stockholm.

Working across painting, sculpture, and installation, Mullan also incorporates video and performance into his practice. He employs commodity, functional, and non-art materials, as well as working tools such as sandpaper, razor blades, ceramic tiles and grout, workwear, and mechanical components. These materials are dismantled, cut, and reassembled to form a distinct visual language characterised by segmented lines and modular structures that recall architectural or coded systems.

Mullan’s works engage with the conditions of manual and industrial labour and the material cultures of the working class. Rather than depicting labour directly, he abstracts its gestures, rhythms, and organisational logics into formal systems. Processes of cutting, abrasion, and assembly remain visible, foregrounding embodied knowledge and skill developed through repetition and physical engagement. Through the use of everyday and work-related materials, the works suggest how abstraction can emerge from lived, utilitarian contexts.