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160913 : Kunsthalle Krems - Kiki Kogelnik Retrsopective
Kunsthalle Krems
Kiki Kogelnik – Retrospective
14.07.2013 – 06.10.2013
Pop art’s space girl
By Margareta Sandhofer
Her Murano glass heads, produced since 1994, made her famous. At the same time, the acknowledgment of her multifaceted creations were too dominated by her eagerness to experiment, thereby overshadowing the more meaningful aspects of her oeuvre.
Kiki Kogelnik (1935 – 1997) was one of the few female artists that was respected in Vienna’s post-war avant-garde, which was domineered by males. As of 1955, Msgr. Otto Mauer involved her in exhibitions and, In 1961, devoted a solo exhibition to her in the Galerie nächst St. Stephan.
From about 1962 she enjoyed and developed her irrepressibility in New York’s liberal atmosphere. New York’s liveliness and urbanity, the pop art scene involving Lichtenstein, Oldenburg and Warhol, in which she was quickly integrated and of which she became an active part, suited her character to a far greater extent than the claustrophobic Vienna. The positive atmosphere in the USA towards technological innovations and modern achievements gave Kiki Kogelnik the inspiration to create independent variations of pop art. Her fascination of space travel is clearly apparent in her “Space Art” works. Examples of her work also include “Loverboy” (1965), which she made of transparent food packaging, as well as “Space Angel” (1965), and “Bombs in Love” (1962).
The amusing outer appearance of her works often involves inner contextual cruelty. Among others, this is evident in her self-portraits that usually lack facial features, e.g. in “The Painter” (1975) – a black shadow figure with an aggressive posture, blotted with colour, holding a brush in hand as if it was a weapon. In “Self Portrait” (1964) she depicts herself with a torn body, somebody else’s hands attempting to grasp her and the margin is ornamented with skull heads. “Falling in Love again” (1962) resembles a disastrous collapse. The “Skeleton with glasses” (around 1963) is grinning under its sunglasses that are shaped like hearts.
Kiki Kogelnik’s humour is consequent and merciless. Even if it is subtle, it penetrates every type of artificial embellishment and induces eeriness and discomfort, which, at the same time, is what’s so fascinating about her work. Brigitte Borchhaardt-Bierbaumer and Hans-Peter Wipplinger curated the exhibition in chronological order in a respectful and restrained manner, allowing the relevance of Kiki Kogelnik’s art to unfold masterfully. The retrospective is comprehensive and at the same time not exhausting. One would wish to see more.
Kunsthalle Krems
3500 Krems, Franz-Heller-Platz 3
Tel: +43 2732 90 80 10
Fax: +43 2731 90 80 11
Email: office@kunsthalle.at
http://www.kunsthalle.at
Opening hours: daily 10 – 18 hours
Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville
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160913
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
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
