110110: Kunsthalle Krems: Mark Dion

Kunsthalle Krems: Mark Dion – Concerning Hunting Proud prey Golf was once the favoured pastime – now it’s hunting – at least in Austria: the country’s elite prefers to meet on the deer stand. Mark Dion’s show “Concerning Hunting” excellently matches the Kunsthalle Krems, as the town of Krems is considered the secret capital of the Province of Lower Austria, ruled by the powerful Raiffeisenbank and Erwin Pröll. But these regional affairs are of no concern to the American artist. Dion’s solo presentation – already partly displayed at the Gallery Georg Kargl and the Kunstraum Dornbirn – deals with the cultural exaggeration of hunting and nature. In his work “Tar Museum” Dion shows tar-covered animals standing on boxes and creates associations to photos published in the aftermath of oil tanker accidents as well as presentation-techniques of museums. The artist then devotes himself to the utensils and clichés related to hunting and hunters: he presents dummies draped in an elegant red jacket and holding a hunting horn or in a camouflage jacket and rubber boots, each representing certain stereotypes. He also shows standards decorated with comic-like boar heads, deer or bears, and an assemblage of targets decorated with animal images. Individually equipped deer stands are meant to identify certain types of hunters: the “gourmand” who lays the table with meticulously chosen dishes or the “librarian”, with a stand full of literature. Even if all of this is rather amusing, the most revealing part of the exhibition is the hunting photos, mounted randomly on a wall: the pride with which children, men and women present their prey, and with which cadavers are arranged next to one another, speaks volumes. By Nina Schedlmayer Kunsthalle Krems 3504 Krems, Steiner Landstrasse 8, until 28.02.10 http://www.kunsthalle.krems.at

Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville

110110

Kunsthalle Krems
3500 Krems, Franz-Zeller-Platz 3
Tel: +43-2732 90 80 10, Fax: +43-2732 90 80 11
Email: office@kunstalle.at
http://www.kunsthalle.at
Öffnungszeiten: Di - So und Mo wenn Feiertag 10-18 Uhr; in den Wintermonaten 10-17 Uh

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