Teilen
English summaries June 16 - 29
Bank Austria Kunstforum
Stanley Kubrick – Eyes Wide Open
08.05.14 – 13.07.2014
By Patrick Schabus
Before Stanley Kubrick graduated from high school, he already sold his photos to the well-known magazine Look, in which photos were more important than text. And already the very first photo that he sold to Look was precisely composed. It depicts a newspaperman sitting in his shop and mourning. Several newspapers with the headline that Roosevelt had died surround him.
One of the highlights of the exhibition are the photos from his “Rocky Graziano” report, dated 1950. On the wall next to the photos one can watch a projection of Stanley Kubrick’s first film “The Day of the Fight” is, which is based on the Graziano report.
Since the objects presented in this exhibition are directly associated with the photos hanging on the walls, it would have been meaningful to create connections between the exhibited objects. The showcases appear as if they were a concession to those interested; no attempt was made to create a connection between the Look-editions and other objects. This is unfortunately the downside of an otherwise skilfully curated exhibition.
Bank Austria Kunstforum
1010 Vienna, Freyung 8
Tel: +43 1 537 33 26
email: office@bankaustria-kunstforum.at
www.bankaustria-kunstforum.at
Opening hours: Mon - Sun 10.00-18.00 hours Fri 10.00 - 21.00 hours
Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Self Timer Stories
18.06.2014 – 08.09. 2014
By Petra Zechmeister
Ellen DeGeneres produced the most widely spread tweet of all times at the last Oscar ceremony with a selfie, a cell phone photo of herself surrounded by dozens of Hollywood stars. Until the end of the gala, the number of retweets exceeded two million. “We made Twitter crash”, DeGeneres commented. “We made history”. Also art history? Selfies, self portraits, not painted, not in a museum or a gallery, but exhibited in social networks, are a contemporary phenomenon which, at least through Ellen DeGeneres Oscar selfie, have become socially acceptable.
With the exhibition “Self-timer stories” – following an invitation by the new head of the ACFNY, Christine Moser - the Austrian curator Felicitas Thun-Hohenstein gave this popular phenomenon of social media an art historic as well as a theoretical legitimation. In addition to a top quality selection of works from the federal Austrian photo collection (Fotosammlung des Bundes), she predominantly presents works by American video and photo artists. A differentiated discourse by three artist generations is shown on the three exhibition levels of the Austrian Culture Forum New York.
The exhibition includes works by Anja Manfredi, Katrina Caschner and Martha Wilson. Works by Renate Bertlmann, Friedl Kubelka (Friedl von Gröller), Matthias Herrmann, AA Bronson, Peter Weibel and VALIE EXPORT are also shown in New York.
This fall, an extended version of the exhibition with the title “Self-timer”, will be presented in the Museum Moderner Kunst in Salzburg.
Austrian Cultural Forum New York
10022 New York, 11 East 52nd Street
Tel: + 212 319 5300?Fax: + 212 644 8660 ?email: desk@acfny.org
www.acfny.org
Opening hours: daily 10-18 hours
Theseustempel
Edmund de Waal
30.04.2014 – 05.10.2014
By Nina Schedlmayer
In the context of art, ceramics currently does not have the best standing: it is associated with – ugh - handcrafted objects, which do enjoy much of a reputation. Forgotten the fact that ceramics once had a veritable tradition in Austria.
The works by Edmund de Waal, yes, “The Hare with the Amber Eyes” – only shares the technique with these works. In the meantime, de Waal, who is mainly known in Austria as an author, has become a true star on the art market. He is represented by Gagosian and allegedly his works are sold for six-digit amounts. His thin-walled cups – or maybe they should be called cylinders, were displayed at the Victoria & Albert Museum in 2009, and are now to be seen in the Theseus Temple in the Vienna’s Volksgarten: He calls his diptych “Lichtzwang” (Compulsion of light) – two white glass shelves, in which the white receptacles are placed, which he has so frequently presented in varying constellations – arranged in hundreds, irregularly shaped, and in various sizes. De Waal presents a close-knit network of references, beginning with the title that was taken from a poem by Paul Celan. The white colour of the Theseus Temple, its symmetry, the relationship between stringent structure and human shape, music ranging from Bach to Glass, light – he deals with all of this and so much more. One can hardly imagine a better place for the presentation of his diptych than the Theseus Temple, where the lighting changes constantly over the course of a day – and thus, the white of the small objects that sit like birds on a wire. De Waal’s art is open for associations – and does not shy away from contributing a new chapter to the big and difficult topic of beauty.
Theseustempel
1010 Vienna, Volksgarten
Opening hourse: daily 11-19 h
Stift Klosterneuburg
Hier und Jetzt /Hic et Nunc
25.05.2014 – 16.11.2014
By Nina Schedlmayer
For centuries, the church was one of the most important commissioners for artists, however, today, their relationship can at best be described as ambivalent. But time and again, individual clerics get involved in contemporary art - with rather rewarding results. The Augustinian canons have invited ten artists to create interventions in their monastery (Hier und Jetzt / Hic et Nunc”, curator: Cosima Rainer, section a).
Most of the interventions refer to the location itself: Manuel Gorkiewicz decorated the forecourt with linen with shining silver stripes – the trashy aesthetics of his work reminds of a used car market and thereby counteracts the imposing building; the same effect is achieved with Nicole Wermer’s bright purple gravel in front of the Sala Terrena. In the intimate cloister garden, Eva Chytilek’s cylinder-shaped Virginia fence forms both an open, as well as a closed space. Other works allude to the community of monks: Christoph Meier’s Ferris wheel, and Nilbar Güres’ photo series depicting a beekeeper in the midst of a bee collective: the veiled apiarist lets a piece of cloth float through the garden – as a reference to both the legend of the Agnes Veil, which is tightly associated with Klosterneuburg, as well as the current headscarf debate.
But not every work is capable of leaving an impression in this Baroque splendour: Mladen Bizumics reduced sculpture, for example, is hardly noticeable in the marble room. And it is significant that the artists only deal marginally with topics that may be contextually relevant at this location – of whatever nature they may be; many things are possible between heaven and earth. In any case, the interventions definitely create irritations.
Stift Klosterneuburg
3400 Klosterneuburg, Stiftsplatz 1
Tel: +43-2243-411-0
email: info@stift-klosterneuburg.at
www.stift-klosterneuburg.at
