Matthias Laurenz Gräff

Matthias Laurenz Graff (also known as Matthias Laurenz Graff Ilpenstein; born 19 July 1984) is an Austrian painter. He is also a historian, politician and political activist. Graff is also chairman of the worldwide Family Association Graff-Graeff (Familienverband Graff-Graeff e.V.) and organizer of the non-partisan political platform Dialog im Kamptal.
Early life and education
Matthias laurenz Graff is the son of the artist Helmuth Graff and the art professor Martina Maria Elisabeth Graff, daughter of the architect Richard Gach. His paternal ancestors were politically active and religious free thinkers with their own coat of arms. He studied art at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. He get his master degree in 2008. He lives in Gars am Kamp.
Works
Graff paints still lifes, pieces of flowers, interiors, landscapes, architecture, allegories, nudes, compositions. His political paintings are published by national and international books, magazines and blogs.
In 2010 he received the "Adolf Peschek Preis" (Adolf Peschek Public Award) in the Museum of the City of St. Polten. In 2012 Graff created the painting for the vine etiquette of the Red Cross in Lower Austria. In 2013 he and his girlfriend Georgia Kazantzidu organized a concert of the Mojo Blues Band in Gars am Kamp. The same year Graff created the officiel twin city painting for Gars am Inn (Germany). The same year Matthias Laurenz Graff became a co-founder and chairman of the worldwide Family Association Graff-Graeff ("Familienverband Graff-Graeff e.V.").
In 2014, he received a contract to create three paintings for the vine etiquettes "Garser Wein 2014". A local businessman boycott the publishing of the etiquettes about the illustration of Georgia Kazantzidu as a half naked woman. This led to a little media scandal in Austria.
In 2015 and 2017, Graff organized artist meetings with Nick Simper and Don Airey, musiciens of Deep Purple in Vienna. In the same year together with Roger Glover he take part at "50 Years Deep Purple. Art and History" at Cologne.
In 2017 he organized a non-profit campaign for people with polyneuropathy (generic term for various diseases of the peripheral nervous system) at WUK Vienna.
Graff's various painting themes are also used internationally, for example by Asle Toje, a member of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
In his paintings, Graff also deals with literary themes, including the implementation of the content of the writer Erich Maria Remarque. He participated in large memorial exhibitions in the Erich Maria Remarque Peace Center in Osnabruck. The museum also features paintings by Graff.
Politics
Art and politics
Matthias Laurenz Graff has been working on contemporary images of political and social criticism since 2015, which have been published several times in newspapers, blogs and books on national and international politics. Important topics are anti-fascism, socialism, anti-nationalist, pro-European, liberalism and tradition. Graff deals with national and global issues and personalities. He also deals with socio-political issues and critical processes in Austrian society and politics.
In relation of the 2019 European Parliament election, Graff created a pro-European painting in collaboration with the Austrian party NEOS.
The Erich Maria Remarque-Friedenszentrum (University of Osnabruck) wrote about Graff: He consistently represents humanistic, anti-nationalist and pro-European positions both in his art and in various exchange and discussion programs organized by him.
Dialog im Kamptal
Matthias Laurenz Graff organizes the non-partisan political and diplomatic platform Dialog im Kamptal (Dialogue in Kamptal) with Georgia Kazantzidu in his art studio in Gars am Kamp.
Politician
Matthias Laurenz Graff has been politically active as a community representative in Gars am Kamp for the liberal NEOS party since 2022. He is also a candidate for the Lower Austrian state elections in 2023, and here as a candidate for the Waldviertel region and as a top candidate for the Horn district.