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080413: Konzett Wien - A Tribute to Franz Wes
Konzett Wien
A Tribute to Franz West
220313 – 250513
Homage to the catalyst
By Margareta Sandhofer
"Je näher man ein Bild ansieht, desto ferner blickt es zurück" (“The closer one looks at a picture, the more obscure becomes its meaning”) Herbert Lachmayer was quoted in his brilliant speech on the occasion of the opening of the exhitbition “A Tribute to Franz West.” Strangely enough this quote has more relevance in connection to the large Franz West retrospective in the mumok than to the exhibition in Philip Konzett’s gallery. Franz West’s museumised pieces remain in their untouchable clean order that the institution might require – in any case, unreachable in the distanced manner that one would refrain from accrediting the deceased – and thus the whole thing is rather inanimate.
It is a wonderful paradox that despite – or because – there are almost no originals by West, but tributes by 71 artists reflecting the gist of Franz West’s personality in their differentiated commonality – and thereby complementing the museum exhibition with the essential aspect that is missing there. Not only the unconventional implementation of intellectual writings, i.e. philosophical and psychoanalytical texts, manifest themselves in West’s work. His anarchist attitude towards “good judgement of taste” in a bourgeois classification system primarily transports irony that is elegant and striking as well as inimitably amusing in its subversive presence. The lightness with which he attempted to pervert the dogma of authorship and was able to positively formulate it into the unexpected other, is for example, shown in his contribution for the Biennial 2011: in his Para Pavilion in the Arsenale he presented nothing but his own collection of works (by artists that were dear to him), mounted on the walls of his studio kitchen.
Anton Herzl, who accompanied West for many years, curated the exhibition. West was a catalyst in a network in whose center of attention stood an art term that was practiced as a life-overarching discourse. Hence, Herzl assembled works from artists that were close to him: they include works by his widow, Tamuna Sirbiladze, Rudolf Polanszky, Marina Faust, and Songül Boyraz, just to name a few. In addition, several original pieces displayed in a historical glass closet and early photographs from West’s private and professional life round the panopticon off.
Through neglecting any classification scheme, the arrangement of the works is completely non-didactic and non-hierarchic. Herzl orientated himself on West’s strategy to disqualify a common aesthetic value judgement thereby giving other judgements space. The reference to West is more apparent in some works and less in others; the more pronounced the more banal. Artistic emphasis dominates the atmosphere and liberates a tension-filled dynamic which potentiates the heterogeneous impression. West’s posthumous pulse is markedly palpable.
The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive catalogue.
(1) The quoted words have been often used in different contexts. They are based on Karl Kraus: “Je näher man ein Wort ansieht, desto ferner sieht es zurück.” (Die Fackel, Heft 236, 1911, Page 44).
Konzett Wien
1010 Vienna, Spiegelgasse 21
Tel: +43 (0)664 34 01 677
Fax: +43 (0)1 513 01 04
email: gallery@artkonzett.com
http://www.artkonzett.com
Opening hours: Tue – Fri: 10:00 - 18:00 hours, Sa: 11:00 - 16:00 hours
Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville
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080413
Konzett Wien
1010 Wien, Spiegelgasse 21
Tel: +43 (0)664 34 01 677, Fax: +43 (0)1 513 01 04
Email: gallery@artkonzett.com
http://www.artkonzett.com
Öffnungszeiten: Di - Fr: 10:00 - 18:00, Sa: 11:00 - 16:00 Uhr
Konzett Wien
1010 Wien, Spiegelgasse 21
Tel: +43 (0)664 34 01 677, Fax: +43 (0)1 513 01 04
Email: gallery@artkonzett.com
http://www.artkonzett.com
Öffnungszeiten: Di - Fr: 10:00 - 18:00, Sa: 11:00 - 16:00 Uhr
