Hanna Putz & FC Thallo for unu o unu, April 2017, text

So very delighted to announce this fantastic project:

http://www.unuounu.org/workshop/hanna-putz/

Julian Mullan, Galerie Nathalie Halgand, Vienna, Exhibition text, February 2017

This could be anywhere. Trying to locate Julian Mullan’s motives is thoroughly precluded by his accurate cropping of the image, the proximate step after deciding on the motive in the process of a geminated selection routine. The immanent calm evokes notions of emigration and deserted sites, the numerous towns left for better economic opportunities. Present fears due to the ever-growing industrial automation, including our means of transport, i.e. cars, and its impact on human work force emerge.

In the face of the upcoming changes technological progress enables, Mullan’s sculpturalisation of the everyday object can’t be read as merely aesthetic or as sheer capitalisation of shape and color for artistic purposes. Nor can it be considered as the means to force the audience to a more acute perception and focus (for instance, a reflecting puddle on concrete – simple but a fortiori radiant). It is rather a massively accelerated crescendo leading to the eve of the crisis, a documentary of the soon-to-be-discarded, a stroll through the still-there, which, in a not so far fetched future, can be viewed in museums only.

Mullan took some of the images years ago, as if intuiting the preciousness and fleeting of what we call commonplace now. The frequently occurring interruptions via diagonal lines are echoed in the selection of works for the exhibition, the “haunted” images are contrasted by images of somewhat untouched nature, resembling a different sort of human absence.

Simultaneously, he seems to present a possible pastime, for a future humanity: within the time won due to automatisation lurks the possibility of a return to delight in the given, the pristine.

His works might as well be diagnostic of a strange nostalgia, already somewhat palpable but yet to come, about the wistful enjoyment of apparently unaffected spots in growing awareness of the Anthropocene, the age in which one species has induced profound consequences by its various interventions on this planet.

I also have to think of the filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, who, like Mullan, valued color and contrast as an important element of his work. Both are incorporating architecture. Either are fond of ambiguity too. Like a string, from one to the other, one is confronted with the rise of classic industrialisation, while the other works in times of the fall thereof. The buildings depicted, respectively sections of, are in either case constructed for maximum utilisation, featuring nothing ornamental or too inviting, bleak and mistakable: a photograph is a copy after all, and the photographed buildings are, due to the schematic and simply viable repetition regarding structure, too.

But not only the death of a major portion of the work force and general conditions of a first world existence as we know it is surfacing as a theme, there are increasing rumors about the demise of photography. Well-known is the threat that photography at its advent posed to painting, and the following reinvention of the latter medium. Now the tables have turned and the time has come for photography to find ways to re-establish itself and secure its place in the wake of an egalitarian, more instant and less conscious practice of it.


Unflinching, Mullan is continuing to embrace the slowness of the trade. The indeterminable, cropped-away surroundings of the image he presents conjure intrigue. The gaze that his minute precision encourages could be the very essential characteristic that might translate into a new appreciation and survival of the medium in the end.

Rade Petrasevic, Soart @ Sofiensäle, Exhibition text, January 2017

Rade Petrasevic’s Gemälde orientieren sich an den Gesetzmäßigkeiten von Zeichnungen und erlauben so das Ineinanderfließen spezifischer Merkmale verschiedener Medien. Durch das artungerechte Benutzen traditionellen Malwerkzeugs steigert er jene Entfremdung noch, die in bislang unentdeckten Pfaden innerhalb der Malerei resultiert. Die Gewaltigkeit dieser überproportionalen Nicht-Zeichnungen hebt die durch die Maße unserer Körper gegebenen Sicherheiten gewohnter Perspektive auf.

Der Fokus liegt auf Interieur und Kunstwerken, Fragen zwischen Fetisch, Eigentum, Handelsware und einem sich dem Anthropozentrismus entziehendem Blickwinkel werden aufgewirbelt.

Curatorial project "Neoteric" at Parallel Art fair, Vienna 2016

Artists: Esther Vörösmarty & Elena Kristofor

FROM THEIR VERY EMERGENCE HORROR MOVIES PROVED TO BE A GREAT TOOL FOR EMPHASISING FEARS AND LATENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SOCIETY. RECENTLY, A CHANGE HAS TAKEN PLACE IN THAT THIS GENRE IS BECOMING EVER MORE PRESENT IN THE MAINSTREAM, POSSIBLY DUE TO AN INCREASE OF PEOPLE PRACTICING CRITICAL AND SOPHISTICATED THINKING.
IN THE 1970S SIGMUND FREUD’S DAUGHTER ANNA HELPED CHISEL OUT A NEW, MORE REFINED SELF-CONCEPT THAT HAS BEEN VIGOROUSLY SUGGESTED TO THE INDIVIDUAL: BY DELIBERATELY CREATING A NEED FOR INDIVIDUALITY, COMPANIES COULD SELL A MORE VARIED RANGE OF PRODUCTS, AND THOSE MORE OFTEN. THEREFORE, THIS NEW “NEED” COULD BE MONETISED.
AS A RESULT, A FEAR OF TOO MUCH CONFORMITY EMERGED, WHICH HAS BEEN VIRTUOUSLY REFLECTED IN HORROR MOVIES SUCH AS “INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS” FROM 1978.
SIMULTANEOUSLY, THERE WAS ONE SUBGENRE OF HORROR NAMED “GIALLO”, FEATURING A MAXIMUM OF STYLISATION AS ONE OF ITS MAIN ELEMENTS. GIALLO STUDIO MOVIES CONCENTRATED WITH A LYNCH-ESQUE HYPERBOLE ON THE REALM OF THE BEAUTIFUL AND PRIORITISED DESIGN AND FASHION ONLY IN ORDER TO ATTACK THIS WORLD WITH PRONOUNCED BRUTALITY.
GIVEN THAT INDIVIDUALITY AS A CONCEPT WAS BEING ENTWINED WITH CAPITALISM, WE CAN WATCH THE MARKET REACTING WITH EVER GROWING ACCELERATION TO THE INDIVIDUAL’S ATTEMPTS FOR DIFFERENTIATION. A SPLENDID EXAMPLE WOULD BE THE RAPID “SWALLOWING” OF ATTRIBUTES BELONGING TO SUBCULTURES AND THE SUBSEQUENT PROVISION OF AN EASIER DIGESTIBLE IMITATION THEREOF, ADAPTED TO THE MAINSTREAM’S TASTE. IT STILL WORKS, EVEN NOW THAT SELF-CONCEPTS ARE COMMONLY THOUGHT OF AS MORE FRAGILE AND IN A STATE OF FLUX, AND AT LEAST PARTIALLY ASSEMBLED AT WILL, WITH A POSTMODERN MIX-AND-MATCH MENTALITY.
THE TENSION BETWEEN THOSE TWO APPROACHES OF THE 1970s GENERATION OF HORROR MOVIES REGARDING IDENTITY, CONSUMER BEHAVIOuR, THE DAZZLING WORLD OF FASHION AND THE INHERENT DORMANT UNCANNINESS IS THE PRIMARY CONCERN OF THIS EXHIBITION, WHILE ALSO SIMPLY BEING A HOMAGE TO THE GAUDY EXAGGERATION IN GIALLO MOVIES. 

POST NAVIGATION

mit freundlicher Unterstützung des

Luan Bajrakti & Marko Markovic, Futur II, Vienna, Exhibition text, October 2016

Hin qetu e del qaty, is an albanian saying that means „going in and going out...“ representing a situation that is not too unpleasant, but not really welcomed either. There are two doorways leading into the exhibition space of Futur II. By connecting the two entrances via a a slim pathway consisting of a garden fence, Luan Bajraktari is rendering the much bigger rest of the room unusable, including the lavatory. The narrow route is going to be entered both ways, so space is going to become very scarce. Perhaps people will actually line up to use it just one way, in silent agreement, avoiding the otherwise inevitable closeness to a stranger, or worse: someone disliked. That would be sneaky, but still an unsuccessful evasion, for the run would be orchestrated by the artist in any case. The words manipulation and herd come to mind. Little room is left for self image when your only choice is to move forwards or backwards. Speaking of predetermination, the accessible sculpture is build as a reaction to the space as a given. Consequently, it is absorbing the room, claiming it as a part of itself. Possibly generating a claustrophobic feeling, the lenght of the walk is bearable, so one can rationalise that there is nothing to fear besides the probably unwanted proximity. But then again, barbed wire is mounted on top of the fence, aggravating the transit and further shaping ones movements. The assumption that it could prove awkward might be entirely wrong, for it may turn out jolly good fun too, evoking a connection that elsewise never could have been made. Perhaps this is where human adaptability and resilience will find expression once again, turning the coercion into folksiness. Bajraktari’s origin (Kosovo) suggests other interpretations, just as his love for gardens, as it is very common for people from the Balkans, but he will have none of it. It’s about the here and now, the confinement and its subtle effects, the reduction of ones will and the handling of that fact within this space.

Marko Markovic’s practice is more often than not pushing him to the utmost limit. Sometimes, if the audience is meant to participate, he will lure them slowly over some threshold too. In his performance Self eater (2009), in order to object against warped values in our society, or „vampire culture“ as he calls it, and to underline an urgent need for drastic change thereof, he chose auto cannibalism, eating his own flesh and drinking his own blood directly from his blood vessel via tube. During this performance he maintained eye contact with the audience at all times. In another instance he brought the initially coy audience to attack him with straws attached to needles, instructing them how to target his body, and consequently steadily dulling their inhibitions to cause him pain. He is not even dreading to get himself into downright unsafe scenarios, such as insisting to enter the security zone in the financial district of New York in Sharpening (Wall Street, 2012,) during the occupy movement, demonstratively sharpening two knifes. Markovic is frequently reacting very fast to prevailing events, translating his take on them into performance, happening and video amongst other medias. His work being politically charged , the artist is attempting to fathom the distribution of power and oppression, especially regarding immigrants, minorities and the citizen in general. At this moment, his performance for the opening of the exhibition remains a secret, but one can safely expect a rather intense experience. 

Read my article >>> Art Collector Issue 78 (Oct-Dec 2016)

Alex Ruthner, Helmuts Art Club, Exhibition text, Vienna, June 2016

Der hohe Wiedererkennungswert von Schlüsselbildern aus der Kunstgeschichte steigert in der Vermarktung  von Produkten durch solche „Veredelung“ den Umsatz. Das Kunstwerk welches als Sujet für Luxuslabels benutzt wird suggeriert den Flair des alten Geldes. Möglicherweise soll es den Konsumenten grob einige der wichtigsten Bildungspfeiler vermitteln, die Kinder einer Elite nebenbei mitgegeben bekommen haben oder die intellektuelle Elite sich erarbeitet hat. Vielleicht ist es ein Pass zu tafelfertiger Schein-Zugehörigkeit dieser oder jener Art - an sich ist es ja auch gut, dass man heutzutage seine Persona gewählter meißeln darf. Schön ist es dennoch, dass Alex Ruthner die aus der Kunstgeschichte stammenden Referenzen aus dem sinnentleerten Grab der auf das Visuelle reduzierten Zeichenerkennung hebt. Das von der Konsumindustrie prozessierte, mit dem Produkt angereicherte Motiv wird hier wirklich belebt. Die Kennzeichen, die Louis Vuitton um für eine Tasche zu werben von den Prä-Raphaeliten stibitzt hat, fängt Ruthner wiederholt auf und verwandelt Vuitton’s Kopien in Simulacra. Die für unsere Zeit relevante Reflektion über den Umgang mit kulturgeschichtlichem Erbe, dem Bedürfnis nach augenblicklicher Anerkennung und sogar darüber, wie Medien den Bildfindungsprozess eines zeitgenössischen Künstlers häufig beeinflussen, kann man in Ruthner’s Werken erkennen. Man ist beinahe schon gezwungen daran zu denken, wie der Anspruch auf sofortige Befriedigung den heutigen Kunstmarkt geformt hat. Auch Film nutzt Ruthner als Pool. Das Fleischwerden der prä-raphaelitischen Blonden in der Kampagne als auch das Mozart’s in Milos Forman’s Amadeus wird in Ruthner’s Händen wieder zu Öl. Die Auffassung der Vergangenheit durch die Linse der neueren Medien, eingefangen in einem traditionellen Medium erfrischt eben dieses Medium selbst. In Ruthner’s Bildern ist die Geste der Malerei immer sichtbar, und wirft gleichzeitig die alte Frage auf, besonders durch die Quellen seiner Motive: wie kann man je malerisch gerecht werden? Und weiter: können neue Medien eine dem Gemälde würdige Hommage hervorbringen? Kann man Gesten darstellen? Auch den Hintergrund, das Grün auf dem die Blonde ruht, ist fester Bestandteil seiner Bilder. Untersucht man die Wiesen gründlicher, finden sich in ihnen Beweise rücksichtsloser menschlicher Anwesenheit, man ahnt so etwas wie ein kürzlich stattgefundenes Festival, Zigarettenstummel, Pillen - die dämonisierten, verdrängten Anteile von Subkulturen, oder auch Pilze, eine weitere Anspielung auf Drogenkonsum. Dennoch, irgendwie beruhigend: das Unheimliche, das der Idylle anhaftet, wird via Beschmutzung durch Artgenossen gebrochen. Manchmal kreiert Ruthner diesen Bruch nicht durch das Inkorporieren von Objekten in die Wiese, sondern indem er sie mit einer weiteren Ebene übermalt.  Comicelemente wie Micky Maus’ Köpfe sind mehreren Generationen sehr bekannt, das manisch anmutende an ihnen erinnert an einen eigentlich gut begonnenen Horror Trip, der das unterschwellig Bedrohliche überdeckt. Man weiß nicht, wohin man sich flüchten soll: in das Überdrehte, Laute, aber Vertraute oder lieber in den stillen, beunruhigenden, fremden Hintergrund. Aus den heute sehr gebräuchlichen Worten in einem der Bilder, sticht eines hervor – Neolith. Ruthner vermutet vielleicht den ausschlaggebenden Wendepunkt menschlicher Evolution, oder aber sieht eine derzeit rückläufige Entwicklung. Wie auch immer, er bewerkstelligt, dass man Malerei mit neuen Augen betrachtet.