I am Veronika Merklein. Later, I will be asked, several times, if I haven't performed. I say yes.

Veronika Merklein (*1982) is a German performance and photo artist, political activist and author. She lives and works in Vienna, Austria.

Veronika Merklein's artistic gaze focuses on social injustices in (Western) societies, the silent pain and soundless scratching of the ground of nightmarish life events, depressive depths of feeling, and silent conversations between people. Merklein's works are always personal, but not necessarily autobiographical. While her body-political works are mostly loud, garish, and brash, her quieter works often reveal a delicate and poetic (written) language. Her artistic strategy consists in capturing inexpressible personal, social or political problems and events humorously to painfully - in image and text. Food is always part of her work - in performances, on paper, photographs, and even breadcrumbs on her t-shirt bear witness to this. An earlier cycle of work (2006-2012) dealt with the theme of "performance art and its documentation".

Veronika Merklein enjoyed her artistic education at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (AT) and the Kunsthochschule Kassel (DE). She has presented her work at the Wiener Festwochen (AT), Dom Museum Wien (AT), Defibrillator Gallery, Chicago (US), Neuer Kunstverein Wien (AT), Kaskadenkondensator, Basel (CH), Fridericianum, Kassel (D), Secession, Vienna (AT), Kiasma, Helsinki (FI) and repeatedly at home. Veronika Merklein has received grants & fellowships from among others the Austrian Cultural Forum New York City (US) & Ottawa (CA), from Austrian federal grants, the City of Vienna and the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (AT). In 2023 she received the Federal Scholarship for Fine Arts of the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport.

The artist is represented by gallery michaela stock in Vienna (AT). In addition, some of her works are available for purchase on Artsy.