translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville,
210211: Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis Miriam Prantl, Peter Matzalik, Erich Smodics
Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis
Miriam Prantl, Peter Matzalik, Erich Smodics
15.01.11 - 27.02.11
It's worth it ...
If ever there was someone in Vorarlberg who personifies a walking advertisement for today's art production, then it's Wilhelm Meusburger, president of the local artists' association. Whilst quite a number lose their originality in the storm of the art in-crowd, he, in his friendly understatement - as opposed to all the others who know themselves to be bound up in a subversively understood art scene - is the recognized promoter of the Künstlerhaus Thurn and Taxis in Bregenz, a bulwark of the authenticity in the often mendacious picture world of the present media.
The quality of the ten new members plus three established art personalities speaks for itself. In the centre room on the ground floor, Miriam Prantl has conjured up a wonderful miracle of light; the fleetingness of every existential experience gives rise to something like a secularized meditative mood, and the comparison between the great tradition of the art of metaphysic light streaming from Gothic cathedrals with their divine sparkling rose windows and a James Turrell may seem far reaching, but is certainly not incorrect. While the name of Erich Smodics stands for an artistically well made, academic type of art here in Bregenz - although from the point of view of artistic innovation he has not truly emancipated himself from the classical discipline of nude painting - Peter Matzalik has decorated the attic rooms with graphite pen work, which, judging by the vigorous lines of application, appears to have been inspired by Arnulf Rainer.
In any case, it's the ten new members who are so amazing. There is no central content - it is each individual artist chosen by the jury, be it because they were able to produce an academic degree quasi as a master craftsman's certificate, or be it that the specialists on the jury - six artists and two architects - recognized an art house's autodidactic. It truly is "a house of artists for artists", as Wilhelm Meusberger proudly points out. Basic democracy and quality are certainly not opposites here. Whether classical expressive painting (Rita Moosbrugger), screen printing (Anne Zwiener), textile sculptures (Maria Baumschlager), subtle pencil portraits of cows (Helmut Osterloher), cinematic self-protraits (Martina Feichtinger), a filigreed tale of woe in a mix of materials (Simon Vith), a parody about Alemannic clothes lines (Rouven Duerr), humorous, caricature-like ink drawings (Sophia Lipurger) or panel paintings in oil (Lorenz Helfer and Katharina Olschbaur), each position deserves its own write-up. And this leaves just one tip: go and see it for yourself. It's worth it!
By Wolfgang Ölz
Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn and Taxis
6900 Bregenz, Gallusstraße 10
Tel: +43 (0) 55 74 / 427 51
Fax: +43 (0) 55 74 / 440 29
E-mail: bvkv@kuenstlerhaus-bregenz.at
http://www.kuenstlerhaus-bregenz.at
Opening hours: Tue-Sat 2 p.m. – 6 p.m. – Sun 10 a.m. – noon, and 2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
210211
Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis
6900 Bregenz, Gallusstraße 10
Tel: +43 (0) 55 74 / 427 51, Fax: +43 (0) 55 74 / 440 29
Email: bvkv@kuenstlerhaus-bregenz.at
http://www.kuenstlerhaus-bregenz.at
Öffnungszeiten: Di-Sa 14-18, So 10-12, 14-18 h
Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis
6900 Bregenz, Gallusstraße 10
Tel: +43 (0) 55 74 / 427 51, Fax: +43 (0) 55 74 / 440 29
Email: bvkv@kuenstlerhaus-bregenz.at
http://www.kuenstlerhaus-bregenz.at
Öffnungszeiten: Di-Sa 14-18, So 10-12, 14-18 h