Kunsthaus Kunsthaus Graz Graz Space02
p. 36 Zlatko Kopljar From: Reliquary
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Identification p. 34 Birgit Jürgenssen Untitled
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p. 33 Austrian (Styrian?) Portatile
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p. 31 Harun Farocki Übertragung
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Unknown German Master From: Die Wunder von Mariazell
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Inge Morath From: Grenz.Räume, Last Journey
p. 38 Karol Radziszewski The power of secrets
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Luc Tuymans The Spiritual Exercises
Miracle & Transfer
p. 24 p. 23 Styrian Iris Andraschek SchutzmantelI am /mein Mund, madonna meine Zunge
• • • p. 28 Kris Martin Fu Maria
p. 42 Artur Żmijewski Sztuka Kochania / The Art of Loving
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p. 40 Louise Bourgeois Busenanatomie
p. 41 Styrian Sitzende Madonna p. 29 mit Kind Danh Võ Do you know what she did, your cunting daughter?
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p. 14 Willem De Rooij Bouquet IX
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& Proximity
p. 15 Fritz Hartlauer Studie zu einer Urzelle
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Abstraction & Corporeality
p. 19 Berlinde De Bruyckere p. 21 p. 16 Glass Dome I Ulrike Rosenbach Adel Abdessemed Glauben Sie nicht, God is Design dass ich eine p. 17 Amazone bin Styrian/Carinthian p. 18 Flügelaltar Guillaume Bruère p. 27 16.02.2018 (Alte Galerie, Graz) VALIE EXPORT 15.02.2018 (Alte Galerie, Graz) Rekonstruktion/Body Position 14.02.2018 (Alte Galerie, Graz) p. 26 Linda Fregni Nagler p. 22 The Hidden Mother Christoph Schmidberger p. 23 House in the Wood Iris Andraschek Oh Tony! Martina J. Till the End of Times p. 25 Maja Bekan At Some Point We All Have to Dance
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Love & Self-determination
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Kunsthaus Graz Space01
p. 57 Hannes Priesch Göttlicher Humor
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p. 54 Johann Bernhard p. 55 Fischer von Erlach Guillaume Bruère Entwurf für Immaculata den Hochaltar (06.03.2017) in Mariazell
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p. 44 Markus Wilfling Schleuse
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p. 51 Slavs and Tatars Dear 1929, Meet 1989
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Birgit Jürgenssen Jeder hat seine eigene Ansicht
Slavs and Tatars Mystical Protest p. 49 Azra Akšamija Palimpsest of '89
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p. 48 Danh Võ Untitled
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p. 46 Franz Kapfer zur Errettung des Christentums – Aviano
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p. 52 Hermann Nitsch Blutorgelbild
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p. 52 Hermann Nitsch Partitur zur 66. Aktion (Städelschule Frankfurt)
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p. 46 Franz Kapfer MARIA Hülf
p. 47 TEER Weiße Fahne
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Oppression & Confession
p. 71 Santiago Sierra Person facing into a corner
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p. 57 Hannes Priesch Fahnen
p. 68 Maria Hahnenkamp Untitled
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Sacrifice & Ritual
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p. 61 Manfred Erjautz ME/WE
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p. 59 Manfred Willmann From: Das Land From: Die Welt ist schön
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p. 66 Maja Bajević Double-Bubble
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Maria Kramer Untitled (Madonnen-Serie) (Glaube Liebe Hoffnung) (Eva und Adam)
Inclusion & Exclusion
p. 62 Muntean/Rosenblum Untitled
p. 68 Maria Hahnenkamp V9/11 „Kirchenlieder – Psychoanalyse“
p. 68 Maria Hahnenkamp From: Regina Fritsch
Luc Tuymans Candle p. 65 Luc Tuymans The Worshipper
p. 60 Anna Jermolaewa Shopping with family
Guilt & Power
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Monica Bonvicini GUILT
p. 56 Kris Martin All Saints
p. 53 Alois Neuhold Es ist aufgetischt…
p. 69 Guillaume Bruère Untitled (Agnus Dei)
p. 62 Muntean/Rosenblum The White Exploit
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p. 63 Azra Akšamija Diaspora Scroll (Kapitel Graz)
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p. 79 Anna Baranowski, Luise Schröder Facing the Scene
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p. 81 Dan Graham Rock my Religion
Günter Brus Der helle Wahnsinn
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p. 74 Günter Brus Bittere Dekoration
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p. 73 Adrian Paci The Guardians
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Liberation & Continuity
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p. 82 p. 78 Franz West Hilde Fuchs Schnorre MINIDRAMEN
p. 80 Anna Meyer Sein oder Online...
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Commerce & Presentation
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p. 76 Werner Reiterer Gott erschafft das „Ewige Leben“
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p. 75 Norbert Trummer Seckau
Kulturzentrum bei den *Minoriten
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Pain & Identification p. 85 Anri Sala Uomoduomo
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p. 86 Berlinde De Styrian Bruyckere Stamen, 2017-2018 Auferstandener
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p. 84 Marlene Dumas Jesus-Serene
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p. 88 Artur Żmijewski The Singing Lesson 2 / Gesangsstunde 2
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Abstraction & Corporeality * Love & Self-determination Miracle & Transfer Identification & Proximity Oppression & Confession Sacrifice & Ritual Inclusion & Exclusion Guilt & Power Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification
“800 Years of the Diocese of Graz-Seckau” at Kunsthaus Graz? “800 Years of the Diocese of Graz-Seckau”— this title sounds more like a Christian celebration of the anniversary of a special founding date than a critical stocktaking of the relationship between religion, contemporary art and society. So why such a local focus? At first glance, this focus seems somewhat unusual. In Styria, Christian values and Catholic imagery have shaped public life for some thousand years—church and politics were inextricably connected until the end of the Habsburg Monarchy. This alliance of throne and altar had an immediate effect on politics and the everyday lives of the people in this country. Even today we find co-operation models of church and state, especially in the field of education and social issues, which are beneficial for both partners. The building stock of rural and urban structures, architecture and artwork still reflect the dominance of the Catholic Church: The public space of Graz alone harbours approximately sixty churches and a great number of saint figures and Virgin Mary representations, while Styrian museum collections are rich in objects that reveal a Catholic heritage.
and forms of image-related ethical and social discourse remain an essential heritage of an ecclesiastical history of development today?
These reflections inspired the idea for the exhibition project Faith Love Hope, which was implemented by two partners: The Kunsthaus Graz considers itself an exhibition venue that relates global tendencies in contemporary art with regional and local agendas. The KULTUM (Minorites’ Cultural Centre, Graz) is a multidisciplinary venue for contemporary art, contemporary culture and religion. The latter is, thus expressly committed to both art and religion. KULTUM pursues a museum concept which is viewed as a process. In this context, the focus is not placed on what has been lost, but rather on frictions and resistances, as well as unexpected symbioses, for example in exhibitions such as Entgegen (1997); Himmelschwer (As Heavy as Heaven) or reliqte, reloaded (2015/16). The fact that Graz has become a centre for dialogue for church and art is in part thanks to Egon Kapellari (former student pastor and subsequent Bishop of Graz), Josef Fink (founder of the Minorites’ On the occasion of the 800th anniversary of Cultural Centre), Alois Kölbl (QL-Galerie, and the Graz-Seckau Diocese in 2018, we wished co-editor of kunst und kirche) and Hermann to explore how Catholicism shaped and Glettler (former priest of St. Andrä parish and moulded Western image culture and examcurrent Bishop of Innsbruck). The latter two ine this heritage, its traces and reflections in also played a decisive role in initiating this contemporary fine arts from a 21st-century co-operation. perspective: What is the standing and status of religion and spirituality in contemporary art? Departing from an ambivalent baseline What factors determine the complex relation- situation, the curators of the exhibition ship of attraction and rejection, where artists explore possible interfaces of church and art. have been addressing and working on the What divides them, what unites them both? questions of church and faith since the 20th What frictions turn out to be productive? Are century? And last but not least: what shapes there any areas where the co-operation 9
partners could or in fact need to go beyond their own limits? What communication levels can be developed from the selected works of contemporary art and objects of the Alte Galerie, the Folk Life Museum and the Diocesan Museum? These museum collections are an impressive reminder of the extent to which Catholic ideas dictated human life from birth to death throughout the centuries. Today, terms with an originally ecclesiastical connotation, such as “guilt” and “penance”, are often reflected in youth and popular culture, advertisements and TV series with excessive pathos. The title Faith Love Hope also carries a large portion of pathos with it: These “three divine virtues” are considered the cornerstones of the Christian culture of piety and became part of the cul-tural memory in the form of artistically displayed allegories and symbols. Today, the cross (“Faith”), the heart (“Love”) and the anchor (“Hope”) are amongst the most popular motives for a tattoo, which might be viewed as a contemporary example of the transfer, the acquisition or incorporation of Christian values—which is also what this exhibition is essentially about. The question of the power of definition is also a closely related one: What do terms like faith, love and hope actually mean today? What can they express in different contexts, what transformations are they subject to and how does this become manifest for both the individual and an increasingly secularised society? Can previously ecclesiastically connoted terms, such as faith, love and hope, in their profane uses “rereflect” their original sacred meanings?
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Essentially, the exhibition works are organised along terminological lines, i.e. controversial words, word pairs and semantic fields,which aim to open up varied perspectives and allow discussion to take place. The colour design used in the exhibition alludes to detected terminological and content-related relationships, spreading over four exhibition spaces—the exterior space, Space02 and Space01of the Kunsthaus, and at KULTUM— as a dazzling range of colours. When in the exterior space, the figure of Capuchin friar d’Aviano (Franz Kapfer) holds his crucifix up high in an imploring gesture, reminiscent of Christian victories over the hostile Orient still cited today, unresolved religious conflict is implied. This is reflected in the words oppression and confession, revealing that this exhibition takes a self-critical view of prevailing legends (and their formation). The invocation of Mary (Franz Kapfer) in the Needle and “GUILT” (Monica Bonvicini) on the BIX-façade are all about the public labelling of guilt and redemption. The exhibition starts with the question of the possible shape of the divine; as to whether the abstract, symbolic, or the figurative and corporeal could serve as representatives, which is a question that divides religions and cultures. The answer to that is partly dependent on different interpretations determined by subtle social, philosophical and power-related factors, and can even lead to fratricidal wars today. For Islam and Judaism, aniconism is a key issue. Ornamental art, which was brought to perfection in Islamic culture, confronts the concept of “God is Design” (Adel Abdessemed). Whether rivalry, degradation or banalisation take a leading role in the interpretation is decided by the relevant culture. The Catholic version of Christianity has opted for multiple physicality, largely divesting itself
bundle of words related to sacrifice, guilt and power, unveiling them as key emotive concepts in the history of religion and art. Feelings of guilt can have an oppressive effect. Highly pathological forms of piety reflect those sentiments. In the Baroque world of imagery, for instance, the relationship between suffering, love and guilt was taken to representational extremes. Criticism of this first emerged in modern times and is frequently found in contemporary art—after all, feelings of shame had devastated so many people’s lives. More often than not, this also had to do with misuse of power. This is astonishing, considering that cross and lamb symbolise the opposite of power and promise to take away sin. The exhibition also offers the opportunity to participate in discourse on the subject of inclusion and exclusion. They are of an ecclesiastical, social and individual nature, and negotiate patterns, language and formulae of an identity-generating affiliation (Azra Akšamija, Maria Hahnenkamp, Manfred Erjautz). Originally, the German word for church (Kirche) stems from the Latin form of ecclesia, meaning “the called up (ones)”, corresponding to Greek Kyriakos, An exhibition that explores the influences of “pertaining to the Lord”. Baptism is the ritual of contemporary art through religious cultural inclusion upon which the Church rests. Howimagery cannot be limited to images alone. ever, many processes and rites of exclusion, Rules, rituals and rites need to be taken into which have developed over time, are account as well, given that they play a crucial implicitly included in Space01, where artistic part in structuring religions and societies. Our works on different levels thematise inclusion daily lives are characterised by rituals. They and exclusion. are, of course, mostly non-religious ones. When different behaviour patterns, cultures The erosion of religious faith since modernity and religions encounter each other, norms is chiefly a consequence of hypotheses such are questioned, unhinged, or even make way as Nietzsche’s “God is Dead”, but also of the for new discoveries. Sometimes shifts and no less effective influence of our knowledge transfers happen, leaving room for humour and consumer society and a life of general and joviality. When memories of cathartic rites security that tends to foster people’s infatuaare subject to revision (Günter Brus, Hermann tion with the here and now. Last but not least, Nitsch, Hannes Priesch), they also evoke a the rejection of religion can be seen as the
of biblical aniconism. Accordingly, child, body, cross and transfiguration become visible in images. Physicality, however, is not to be had without emotions. Love and self-determination, which the exhibition addresses in terms of identity and body, were essentially redefined in the discourse of recent decades, i.e. in feminist discourse and in the redefinition of (non-)binary gender roles (Karol Radziszewski). So, too, the notion of “transfer”, for instance, which is a stereotypically female subject. Religious imagery, in particular, is said to possess magical healing powers: miracles and transfer, however, are not just religious subjects; art also harbours an array of impressive examples which facilitate possibilities of transfer to other contexts (Harun Farocki, Birgit Jürgenssen). Viewed through the prism of religious culture, an image will almost never be just an image, but require identification as well. Images evoke empathy and compassion; they create identification and proximity. In the exhibition, this aspect is investigated in works of contemporary art that consciously question today’s understanding of gender roles.
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reaction of a disappointed post-war generation that wished to start afresh following the catastrophe. Liberation and continuity, which is thematised in the last chapter of KULTUM, therefore encompasses works that “depose God” (Günter Brus) or—owing to unprecedented religious persecution—wish to rediscover divinity (Adrian Paci). These are immediately followed by artistic positions addressing commerce and the commercialisation of society and religion (Anna Meyer, Anna Baranowski and Luise Schröder, Werner Reiterer, for example). Finally, we conclude with the significance of pain, which takes a key position in the culture of Christian imagery (Berlinde De Bruyckere, Marlene Dumas, Anri Sala). The question as to how credibly identification could be created in that context is shown in KULTUM’s final installation, in which deaf people sing one of Johann Sebastian Bach’s most moving cantatas with the utmost devotion, facilitating an unexpected, yet quite natural, performance of the “other” in our society (Artur Żmijewski). Faith Love Hope—the exhibition strives to highlight a society which is characterised by a majority of relatively wealthy people and a growing decline in social solidarity. It is no coincidence that the title Faith Love Hope creates a reference to Ödön von Horváth’s drama with a similar title from 1932, in which he describes a time and a society where faith, love and hope seem to dwindle and compassion is lost. The three parts of Ulrich Seidl’s film trilogy Paradies (Paradise) are also titled Liebe (Love), Glaube (Faith) and Hoffnung (Hope)—they depict a cold, consumerist society and characters who are driven by oppressed desires.
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In recent decades museums and exhibition venues have frequently used faith, love and hope in their exhibition titles. Revisiting this title has been a great challenge for our cooperative project with committed partners, local collections, as well as lenders, which we were able to meet due to the initiative of many who contributed their brilliant ideas. Many thanks to everyone, especially to all participating artists who ventured into new terrain and engaged in a dialogue with the topics and venue in a spirit of curiosity and openness. As a critical appraisal of the relationship between religion, contemporary art, and society, this project is supported by the Diocese, the City of Graz, and the Province of Styria. Therein lies the political dimension of Faith Love Hope, today. Katrin Bucher Trantow, Johannes Rauchenberger, Barbara Steiner
Abstraction & Corporeality * Do Not Make for Yourself a Graven Image Effigy Becoming an Image Symbolics Purity Clarity Embodiment Figure Corporeality Incarnate Birth Fruit of the Womb
Love & Self-determination Miracle & Transfer Identification & Proximity Oppression & Confession Sacrifice & Ritual Inclusion & Exclusion Guilt & Power Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification
Willem De Rooij Bouquet IX
Reference image: Bouquet IX, 2012 – interpreted by Katarzyna Wardecka and Ula Klys Pedestal, ceramic vase, flowers: lily, gladiola, gerbera, rose, Eustoma grandiflorum, carnation, chrysanthemum, aster/Gypsophila paniculata, Anthurium, snapdragon Courtesy of the artist, Galerie Buchholz, Cologne/Berlin/New York, and Regen Projects, Los Angeles
*1969 in Beverwijk (NL), lives in Berlin (DE)
The work of the Dutch artist Willem De Rooij ‘addresses the seeing and making of images’1. Through shifts of context and time, his images, films or plastic objects work themselves through iconic image levels. Bouquet IX is part of a continuously growing series he initiated in 2002 with Jeroen De Rijke, who died at age 35 in 2006. It is comprised of exactly ten different white flowers which become real only in situ through the hands of a florist—following a precise written concept and photographic model. Hauntingly beautiful and always fresh: This glowing composition of cultivated nature might be expected in the lobby of a luxury hotel rather than in a museum. In the exhibition hall, however, the conceptual artwork becomes a temporary and unique picture puzzle within itself: The various non-seasonal flowers represent both worldwide flower trade and 17th-century Dutch still life painting—both are influential export goods in the cultural history in De Rooij’s home country. In addition, they refer to economic and symbolic levels of meanings behind the ornamental plant arrangement. In a general reference to the transience of all life, for instance, the white lily alone stands for sovereignty and power. Assigned to the antique goddess Hera thanks to its exceptional beauty, it is also a Christian symbol for chastity and—like the carnation and the rose— for the absolute purity of Mary. German original in: Dirck Möllmann: ‘Körper Teile. Briefe an Willem De Rooij’. In: Camera Austria 135 (2016), p. 35.
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Fritz Hartlauer Studie zu einer Urzelle
Studie zu einer Urzelle (Study of a primal cell), 1975 (cast 2005) Bronze; 25 × 25 × 25 cm Courtesy of Sammlung des Quartier Leech, Diözese Graz-Seckau
*1919 in Kumberg (AT), † 1985 in Graz (AT)
In 1948, Fritz Hartlauer began artistically analysing the human head and developed the primal cell from it as a key motif of his artistic research work. Based on that analysis of the head’s form and geometry, in 1955 he developed the primal cell into a dynamical-symmetrical system made up of basic structural elements that he referred to as “primal cell system” and which ‘he saw as a symbol of man’s interwovenness with creation as a whole. ’1 The principal element of the “primal cell” is the square, which, when placed at right angles forms an octagon and a cross. In addition to Christian interpretations, an elementary materiality appears that represents mass and energy in a three-dimensional form. The small “primal cell” shown here takes the form of a sphere-like bronze which can also be read as a metaphor for life and for cell growth. Hartlauer was interested in Jungian archetypes, comparative religious studies and metaphysics. He sought to visualise simultaneously the human frame of reference and the basic principles of animate and inanimate nature in his drawings, reliefs and sculptures in the round. He realised sculptures in public spaces on behalf of the Catholic Church. Alois Kölbl: “‘Urzelle’ und das Geheimnis des Kreuzes”, in: id. (ed.), Mit der Kunst im Gespräch. Die Sammlung des Quartier Leech. Weitra 2016, p. 9.
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Adel Abdessemed God is Design
*1971 in Constantine (DZ), lives in Paris (FR)
2005 Video; b/w, sound by Silvia Ocougne, 4 min 8 s Courtesy of the artist and the Christine König Gallery “God is Design”. A strong statement. The question of how God can be represented is viewed differently in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In the 3,050 drawings upon which this video is based, Abdessemed applies religious symbols, such as the Star of David, the cross or Islamic ornaments. He then overlays them with scientific illustrations of human cell structures, thereby creating geometric patterns that are combined in ever-changing ways. The peculiar rhythm and the intense attraction of this video are backed by the soundtrack composed by the Brazilian
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musician Silvia Ocougne. This is also how Abdessemed moves the topic to the field of popular culture to some extent. If one is unable to read the symbols projected in the video, one will not be able to perceive the enormous explosive power of their joint presence. They will remain a mere abstract pattern.
Styrian/Carinthian Flügelalter
Flügelaltar (Winged Altar) Outer wing: Proclamation, Backside: Vera Icon, Inside: Jesus and the Apostles, around 1490 Tempera on spruce; 68 × 72.5 cm (when open: 68 × 145 cm) Courtesy of the Alte Galerie, Universalmuseum Joanneum
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→ Provenance: from the region of Köflach
The closed winged altar from the late 15th century is an illustration of the two main reasons why Christianity opted for the image and not the ornament: On one side appears the “Vera Icon”, the “true image” of the face of Jesus. It is a veil that only reveals the face, marked with signs of suffering. The face is not dead, but vividly alive, with open, reddened eyes spilling two most plastically painted tears. From an historic point of view, this “Vera Icon” stands between the Veil of Veronica and the much older tradition of the Mandylion. The latter was brought to Rome with the Eastern iconic tradition and then to the Western pictorial world. It is a face that is alive and, according to the legend, bears healing powers in its look. On the other side, the angel proclaims the incarnation of the word to Mary—the beginning of the incarnation of God. Mary, absorbed in her book, receives the incarnation of God through a dove above her head. Inspiration is part of this incarnation. The angel fulfils its service as a messenger with a long scroll. The “Ave Maria, Gratia plena”, however, may only be imagined since it has no text lettering. Both the appearance on the veil and the materialisation of the divine in the human body of the Virgin Mary are ultimately reversed in the closed inside of the winged altar, where Jesus will appear with a golden globe.
Guillaume Bruère 16.02.2018 (Alte Galerie,Graz)
Oil crayon, crayon, watercolour on paper; 70 × 50 cm Courtesy of the artist → p. 55
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*1976 in Châtellerault (FR), lives in Berlin (DE)
Berlinde De Bruyckere Glass Dome I
2007 Wax, glass, timber; 77 × 50 cm Courtesy of Olbricht Collection
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*1964 in Ghent (BE), lives in Ghent (BE)
One might shudder from time to time at the look of Berlinde De Bruyckere’s works: What she presents to us as a scientific preparation worthy of protection under a glass cover appears to be the carnal remains of a living creature, even a human being perhaps. It looks unappealing, and yet it possesses a peculiar beauty. In De Bruyckere’s works, we frequently encounter maimed, fragmented bodies. They are a reminder of our own physicality and that we are, after all, merely flesh, perishable and sometimes weak. The way the people of a given society deal with their personal weaknesses ultimately reveals something about the humanity of this particular society. The central element in Christianity is faith in God who became flesh—and through this the incarnation and the corporeality of God. The earthly account of this ends with the suffering on the cross, upon which the Christian faith bases the story of redemption.
Abstraction & Corporeality * Love & Self-determination Maternal Love Paternal Love Filial Love Protection House Vessel Emancipation Obedience Devotion Sacrifice Mediation
Miracle & Transfer Identification & Proximity Oppression & Confession Sacrifice & Ritual Inclusion & Exclusion Guilt & Power Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification
Ulrike Rosenbach Glauben Sie nicht, dass ich eine Amazone bin
*1943 in Bad Salzdetfurth (DE), lives in Nettersheim-Roderath (DE)
Glauben Sie nicht, dass ich eine Amazone bin (Don't Believe I'm an Amazon), 1975 Video; b/w, sound, 10 min Courtesy of the artist In her video performance Glauben Sie nicht, dass ich eine Amazone bin (Don’t you believe that I’m an Amazon?), which she created on the occasion of the Biennale des Jeunes in 1975 in Paris, Ulrike Rosenbach— armed with a bow like an Amazon—takes aim at one of the art historical icons, the Madonna im Rosenhag (1451) by Stefan Lochner. She shoots a total of 15 arrows at the reproduction of the medieval Madonna image. In the video, the Madonna’s face is superimposed by her own; thus the arrows also strike the artist herself. In this video, we witness how Rosenbach processes different ideals, expectations and stereotypical clichés with which she finds herself confronted as a woman: 21
‘I am a Madonna. I am an Amazon. I am a Venus. I am all together and none of these’1 she writes in a statement about the presented work. The Madonna, as it has appeared during its long tradition in Christian pictorial motifs, is a loving mother, who is equally imbued with humility and grace and, especially in the 1970s, has been repeatedly deconstructed from a feminist perspective. The Amazon, on the other hand, is portraited as being aggressive and headstrong. Rosenbach finds aspects of herself in both women’s images, but is reluctant to let herself be categorised as one or the other. See Ulrike Rosenbach (ed.): “Ulrike Rosenbach. Videokunst, Foto, Aktion/Performance, feministische Kunst”. Cologne 1982, p. 3.
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Christoph Schmidberger House in the Wood
2017 Oil on wood; 74.5 × 53.5 cm Courtesy of the artist and Reinisch Contemporary
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*1974 in Eisenerz (AT), lives in Frauenberg (AT)
Styrian artist Christoph Schmidberger is famous for his hyper-realistic crayon drawings that confront us with a kind of makebelieve world. However, one could encounter them with scepticism—they are just too perfect to be true. Schmidberger’s focus, though, is on the gaze through which we observe others. His drawings are not portrayals of people, but rather portrayals of images; they seem to be overexposed and staged. This is the artist’s reaction to the everyday deluge of mass-media pictures, and to people’s urge to stage themselves in social networks—with pictures forgotten as swiftly as they appear. They tempt people to compare their presentations in the media—consciously or subconsciously— with other people’s. In both paintings, House in the Wood and Oh Tony!, we encounter tender depictions of particularly affectionate moments: the representations of a man carrying a child suggest that father and son have been staged together in a scene. Arranged as a triptych, the centrepiece of these pictures is an abstract, bright seascape (Till the End of Times). In an exhibition in which the Christian virtue of love plays a special role, maternal love (like that of Madonna to infant Jesus) is a matter of course. A mother’s love for her child is generally regarded as the supreme form of love. Paternal love, by comparison, is given less treatment.
Iris Andraschek Martina J.
2002 Photograph; 150 Ă— 100 cm Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Raum mit Licht
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*1963 in Horn (AT), lives in Vienna (AT) and Horn (AT)
A figure evolves from the ornament. Writing intermingles with the flowing order and becomes a graphically tattooed palimpsest of personal traumata. The drawing that Iris Andraschek places beneath the 14th-century Madonna of Mercy originated during a series of drawing afternoons together with women from the Caritas emergency shelter in Graz—a place of refuge. She brings the historical helper to the context of the here and now; the need for shelter, especially of women on the run, remains existentially significant. The blurring of rigid orders is a recurrent topic that runs through Iris Andraschek’s work. Since the late 1990s, the artist has created photographic and cinematic portraits of people who establish their existence outside of generally accepted norms. In her occasionally participative projects, she dedicates herself to ways out and existential alternatives per se. She repeatedly addresses the role of the woman, which is discernible in predetermined social patterns. Martina J. is the picture of a mother with there children whose motherhood is visibly inscribed in her breasts, belly and genitals. Almost naked, she gazes wilfully past the camera. The dispassionate sobriety of her motherly composure is unfamiliar and somehow reminiscent of ethnographic documentary photography, bearing witness to the self-awareness of her chosen path of life and its gravity. A co-operation with Akademie Graz and Marianum of Caritas Styria.
Styrian Schutzmantelmadonna
→ Provenance: from Schrems near Frohnleiten
“Maria, spread out your cloak, make an umbrella and shield for us; let us shelter beneath until all the storms pass by.” This folk hymn from 1640, which is still popular today, picks up on a pictorial motif that was created in the 13th century: the “Madonna of Mercy” (Madonna della Misericordia). The Madonna, who is depicted as standing, shields people who have sought refuge under her cloak. Later, different supplicants are represented in these images, ranging from simple peasants to the Duke, Emperor and Pope. Its legal-cultural foundation allowed this form of representation in the legal custom of “Mantelschutz” (protection), whereby a person grants legal protection to someone by shielding him or her with his cloak. Some of the supplicants seeking refuge under this cloak would have been able to take advantage of this practice themselves. Simple, small human beings with raised hands are depicted underneath the cloak in the early, almost 700-year-old, Styrian Madonna of Mercy, which is considered to have been made in1350 due to the fall of the Schutzmantelmadonna (Madonny of Mercy) folds of the cloak (though others date it back Around 1350/60 to the second half of the 13th century). The naivety of the depiction is captivating, as is Spruce, carved, polychrome painted; height: 84 cm the lack of differentiation of the supplicants Courtesy of the Alte Galerie, into social hierarchies. Everyone seems to be equal under this cloak. The Viennese artist Universalmuseum Joanneum Iris Andraschek places a drawing under this Madonna, which she created during a series of afternoons spent drawing with women at the emergency shelter in Graz.
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Maja Bekan At Some Point We All Have to Dance
*1975 in Trebinje (BA), lives in Rotterdam (NL)
2018 Video installation; colour, sound, approx. 57 min, construction elements, paint, text; dimensions variable Courtesy of the artist Work and (leisure) time, its use, form and ritualization are the fields of interest for the artist Maja Bekan. She turns the various forms of collaboration into a medium that is presented to the public in the form of a performance, film, text and interactive installation. She formulates questions in constructive situations about social composition, participation and creativity, but also about trust and mistrust in communal life. In At Some Point We All Have to Dance, Bekan brings together women who represent two institutions and hold public speeches in two locations: the museum and the church. Three nuns from religious orders in Graz cross paths with four educators from the Joanneum Museum and learn about their respective institutions and fields of work mutually and
reciprocally. Because it marks the 800th anniversary celebration of the Diocese of Graz-Seckau, this year some members—and especially female members—are opening the convents to the public. Bekan uses this circumstance as an opportunity to procedurally deal with the content and form of the mediation work performed by women. In a joint conversation about charged places, artwork and representative images of women, it is possible to create a sensitively drawn picture of female self-image and sense of mission. As a film and performative installation, a reflection on female work is produced that includes the concept of devotion as an existential and spiritual necessity as well as a feminist, intellectual act of personal development. With thanks to Stroom Den Haag
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Linda Fregni Nagler The Hidden Mother
Reference image: Linda Fregni Nagler, #0965, from: The Hidden Mother, 2006-2013 Courtesy of the Collection Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, № 2014.8.1
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*1976 in Stockholm (SE), lives in Milan (IT)
“My work is based on the analysis, recontextualization and reformulating of given material”, writes Linda Fregni Nagler in her 2013 monography titled The Hidden Mother. Her artistic, social and historical field of research is photographic archive material. Encompassing over one thousand photographs, the archive of hidden mothers represents a collection of a bygone iconographic convention. All motifs are the same, depicting a child that is offered devotedly to the camera, held by an invisibly rendered mother. Fregni Nagler has for several years painstakingly scoured the Internet for these expressive motifs from the 19th century. Partly hand-coloured daguerreotypes, Cartes de visite (photographs on Albumen print, which, originating in Paris around 1870, would become a global success) and ferrotypes testify to the prevailing practice up to 1920 that was a precursor to modern digitalised image processing programmes, “ erasing” an unwanted part from the photo. Due to long exposure times, parents, relatives or guardians had to take care that infants kept still in front of the camera. The mothers, whose contours are discernible behind rugs, curtains, shawls or chairs, are easily recognised by their supporting hands. Deeply moving, yet nonetheless irritating, the need to confirm the newborn child’s existence— owing to the relatively high infant mortality rate—transforms the familiar “mother and child” imagery into a veiled woman who willingly sacrifices herself.
VALIE EXPORT Rekonstruktion/ Body Position
Rekonstruktion/Body Position (Re-Enactment of Botticelli’s Madonna of the Pomegranate, 1487), 1973 Pencil on paper; 29 × 40.9 cm Courtesy of the Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum A woman sits on a stool in the centre of the living room, in front of a landscape view, framed on the sides by dark curtains. The woman is naked and cradles a vacuum cleaner as if it were her own child. Her long hair is parted in the middle, her head is slightly tilted. VALIE EXPORT establishes a relation to classical Madonna images in both the composition and the posture of the woman—in this particular case to those of the Renaissance by quoting the work of Botticelli. Even though Mary is not part of the triple deity, she is considered an essential
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*1940 in Linz (AT), lives in Vienna (AT)
and thus holy element. She is only seldom portrayed without her son. For a long time in Christian history, only men were allowed to create Madonna images. The male perspective frequently led to an idealised image of a mother, characterised by devotion and altruism. VALIE EXPORT, however, undresses her Madonna and shows her in all her bareness. Her work becomes a political description of an every-day domestic event, and refers to the female stereotype of the 1970s. VALIE EXPORT is considered an icon of feminist avant-garde. She began to address questions concerning social power and representation structures and the related role of the woman as early as the 1960s. In a series of works—this drawing is one of them— she enquires about the ideological message of Christian imagery. Which of these female role models are still relevant today?
Kris Martin Fu Maria
2015 Statuette, pipe; 30 × 10 × 10 cm Courtesy of the artist and KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin/London
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*1972 in Kortrijk (BE), lives in Ghent (BE)
The Belgian artist Kris Martin works with the vocabulary of that which exists, which he acquires, combines in unexpected ways with other things and shifts in context. In Fu Maria (translated as “Once upon a time there was Mary”, but also referencing the medicinal herb Fumania), a pipe is inserted into the delicate, porcelain statuette of a praying Madonna made for the faithful masses, and we can recognize this insertion as a multilayered, violent, iconoclastic act. Quite mischievously, the pipe is transformed into a surprisingly well-proportioned replacement of the head. While referring to the famous pipe of René Magritte, which questions the reality of the depiction, questions of image explanation and image worship in art and religion are also interwoven here. Martin’s artwork, which also includes drawings, fragile wax impressions and conceptual interventions, can take on a monumental character. In All Saints, we encounter a variable collection of antique glass covers which, if we read their titles, originally protected saint relics. Having now become thoughtful witnesses to the transience of items that were once revered, they refer to the beauty of absence. Martin’s poetic, experimental arrangements examine how objects and actions become imbued with questions of aesthetic values, the passing of time and human existence, as well as the transformation of cultural values.
Danh Võ Do you know what she did, your cunting daughter?
2018 gold on cardboard, writing by Phung Võ; 224 g Courtesy of the artist → p. 48
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*1975, Bà Ria (VN), lives in Berlin (DE) and Mexico City (MX)
Abstraction & Corporeality * Love & Self-determination Miracle & Transfer Gift Healing Sublimation Penetration Transmission Contagion Manipulation Propaganda Appropriation Adaptation
Identification & Proximity Oppression & Confession Sacrifice & Ritual Inclusion & Exclusion Guilt & Power Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification
Harun Farocki Übertragung
Übertragung (Transmission) 2007 Video; colour, sound, 43 min (loop) Courtesy of the Generali Foundation collection – Permanent loan to the Museum der Moderne Salzburg This video shows people who touch, kiss or step on objects made of marble, bronze metal or stone. Harun Farocki’s camera captures the interaction between humans and things and ritualised gestures. Intertitles describe the various objects and places—the devil’s footprint, the Stone of Anointing in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a memorial stone for the victims of the Buchenwald concentration camp, etc. The containers or repositories shown in the video store the collective, mystical and also economic or superstitious stories and meanings which are conveyed and passed on to future generations.1 Touch renders things physical—it permits their power and meaning to be acquired and transmitted. According to the art critic Jan Verwoert, Farocki’s films create a
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*1944 in Nový Jičín (CZ), † 2014 in Berlin (DE)
social momentum of perception. They deliver material for observation in such a way that the observation is perceived as a process which is deliberately carried out as a joint act. Farocki abstains from the hunt for a specific result based on a specific position. Instead, he seeks rather the position per se from which an object can be observed in such a way that it reveals its secret.2 Harun Farocki always approaches the depicted objects from different perspectives. He shared his ideas on the relations between society, politics and film in over 100 television and film productions, as an author and editor of the Filmkritik magazine and as a curator and guest professor at Berkeley, Harvard and in Vienna.3 See Tessa Giblin, steirischer herbst (ed.): “Hall of Half-Life”. Graz 2015, pp. 48–49. 2 See Jan Verwoert: “Sehen, was sich zeigt – Über die Arbeitsweise von Harun Farocki”, in: Yilmaz Dziewior (ed.): Harun Farocki. Weiche Montagen. Cologne 2011, pp. 17–32. 3 See Yilmaz Dziewior: “Harun Farocki. Weiche Montagen”. At: http://kulturhaeuserat.srv56.adino.at/ web/kunsthaus-bregenz.at/html/welcome00.htm? archiv2015.htm [accessed: 4th Jan. 2018].
1
Unknown German master Die Wunder von Mariazell
Die Wunder von Mariazell (The Miracles of Mariazell), 1883 25 woodcuts, around 1520, facsimiles; each 37.5 × 27 cm Courtesy of the Alte Galerie, Universalmuseum Joanneum
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→ Published by G. Hirth‘s Kunstverlag, Munich
& Leipzig
Paying a visit to “holy places” was a “solemn duty” in medieval times: initially those places included Rome, Santiago de Compostela and Jerusalem. Local places of pilgrimage, especially from the 14th century on, often rooted in specific narratives in the form of legends, relics or local miracle stories. With increasing mobility, however, pilgrims started to compare those sacred places: some pilgrimage sites were more successful than others. One of the most successful locations is today’s still highly frequented Marian Pilgrimage Church at Mariazell. The town not only rose to fame owing to the respective monarch’s preference, but also thanks to well thought-out public relations. Novel printing techniques emerging in the late Middle Ages were exploited precisely to that end. Almost at the same time, around 1500, the miracles of Regensburg, Altötting and Mariazell were circulated competitively. One woodcut series of an unknown German master appearing in 1520 related directly to the “Great Miracle Altar of Mariazell”, which was created at roughly the same time. It encompasses 47 scenes that recount the merits of the Mariazell Madonna in writing and scenes. Up to the mid-17th century, this large panel served as a choir screen in Mariazell, but in the course of Baroque reconstruction, it was moved to the rear of the Chapel of Our Lady. In the Age of Enlightenment, it was finally removed. It represents Austria’s most important document concerning the history of pilgrimage.
Austrian (styrian?) Portatile
→ Provenance: loan from the parish of Predlitz
bei Murau (AT)
If you turn this object into an image, its centre is empty and abstract: a dark stone slab with an ornamental, interior pattern. Single images appear on the frame: They are connected by a trellis, the path of which creates medallion-like openings. Individual names that are preserved—“Abakuk”, “Ezekiel”, “Ieremias”, “Iesaias”—identify these as prophets. But the Madonna and Saints can also be seen on the right-hand side. The tendrils grow out of a prostrate figure, which depicts the progenitor Jesse: ‘A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse’ (Isaiah 11:1). It is a very small form for an altar, but a dense one. For more than one thousand years, the canon law of the Catholic Church held that the Holy Mass had to be celebrated on a stone slab. Where no consecrated altar was available, a portable, small altar could also be used—as long as the priest was travelling Portable altar featuring Tree of Jesse with (a heavy piece of paraphernalia in the lugProphets and Saints, gage). One such “Altare portatile” comes Above, middle: Madonna Nicopeia, around from the parish of Predlitz bei Murau in Upper 1290/1300 Styria. The border—the family tree of Jesus Tempera on spruce, embedded in coquina Christ—provides the stone slab with its genfrom Fohnsdorf; 31.5 × 39.5 cm uine, ornamental, interior pattern: it marks Courtesy of the Alte Galerie, a place where the Eucharist was celebrated Universalmuseum Joanneum, on loan from more than 700 years ago. In 1215, only three the parish of Predlitz bei Murau years before the founding date of our diocese, the Church declared that the transformation—transubstantiation—of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ would take place during the Mass.
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Birgit Jürgenssen Untitled
*1949 in Vienna (AT), † 2003 in Vienna (AT)
1980 Photo collage; 29.7 × 21 cm Courtesy of the Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna → p. 45
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Inge Morath Grenz.Räume, Last Journey
*1923 in Graz (AT), † 2002 in New York (US)
present, biographical and historical retrospect, separation and reunion all flow together in this work. “I personally arrived slowly at photography. I studied languages at university, took some courses in journalism, worked first as a translator and then as an editor for the In 2002, 78-year-old Inge Morath fulfilled a Information Services Branch of the occupying “secret longing”: together with documentary American Forces in Salzburg, later in Vienna. filmmaker Regina Strassegger, she visited the After the war I had often suffered from the fact country of her forefathers, the borderland that my native language, German, was for between Styria and Slovenia that for cenmost of the world the language of the enemy, turies belonged to the Habsburg Monarchy and although I was able to write stories in and whose territory was divided by CapiEnglish or French it did not touch the roots. So talism and Communism after World War II. turning to the image felt both like a relief and The outcome of that photographic-cinematic an inner necessity.”2 In 1953, Inge Morath became one of the journey was a film, a book and an exhibifirst female members of world-famous tion for “Graz 2003—Cultural Capital of Europe”. The photographs presented in Graz Magnum Photos. Grenz.Räume was one of and Seggau1 show rooms with corner shrines, her last projects prior to her death in 2002. crucifixes and symbols such as boxwood 1 Further photographs from the Grenz.Räume series are sprigs that were used to bless the home and on display at the co-operational exhibition to mark the farmstead; they indicate a land where “800th Anniversary of the Diocese of Graz-Seckau”: hardship was a part of daily life. Past and Maria Tscheppes Elternhaus, Stalltüre, Langegg (Maria Tscheppe’s family home, stable door) from the series: Grenz.Räume, Last Journey, 1997–2001 black-and-white photography; 50 × 60 cm Courtesy of the Fotohof
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Borderland. Opening and Homeland at Seggau Castle in Southern Styria. 2 Inge Morath, at: http://ingemorath.org/ [accessed: 3rd Jan. 2018].
Zlatko Kopljar Reliquary
Reference image: Reliquary, 2015–2018 Silvered bronze; 60 × 17.5 × 80 cm Courtesy of the artist
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*1962 in Zenica (BA), lives in Zagreb (HR)
The Croatian artist Zlatko Kopljar has introduced his artistic identity into all conceivable constellations of society over the past 25 years. Representation, resistance, dignity, compassion and ethical action have been negotiated, often in the form of performances, stringently composed videos or elaborate photographic works. During the last ten years, Kopljar has increasingly focused his attention on disappearance and emptiness. In K16, which can be seen in the exhibition Last & Inspiration, the artist, who has always played the leading role in his films, shovels a hole—a grave?—as a figure of light until he disappears into the earth forever. Reliquary was transformed for this exhibition from K20, which shows a miniature architectural model in poured concrete, similar to touchable models for the blind. Both museum icons for contemporary art, the Tate Modern in London and the MOMA in New York, are presented here as reliquaries in the title. The bronze castings are silver-plated and have a patina. Art, as the self-appointed heiress of religion, has adopted the forces and claims of presence that once distinguished religious images: aura, truth, unconditionality, sovereignty of interpretation. Their sacrosanct status is transferred here to the image plane of former religious reliquaries: the cover, however, is firmly sealed.
Luc Tuymans The Spiritual Exercises
2007 Portfolio of 7 lithographs in colour from 7 stones; each 70 × 50 cm Courtesy of the artist → p. 65
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*1958 in Mortsel (BE), lives in Antwerp (BE)
Karol Radziszewski The power of secrets
2018, Courtesy of the artist and BWA Warszawa Reference image: Unknown, Hl. Kümmernis (Saint Wilgefortis), 2nd half 18th century wood, painted in colour; height: 107 cm Courtesy of the Diocesan Museum Graz
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*1980 in Białystok (PL), lives in Warsaw (PL)
Maria Padilha is a central figure who appears in Latin American Umbanda and Candomblé cults, which originated from a synthesis between African natural religions and Catholicism. Gods received a dual heathen-Catholic identity that has survived until today. Maria Padilha stands for unbridled sexuality and embodies the independent temptress, as reflected in the nature of sacrificial offerings, such as champagne, lipstick, perfume and roses. Together with Saint Wilgefortis from the Diocesan museum this figure forms the basis for Radziszewski’s installation, complemented by loans from the Graz Folk Life Museum that revolve around superstition, heathen and Christian rituals as well as the play of identities and gender roles. The objects are interpreted contemporarily: thus, “Saint Wilgefortis”, the female saint who became a man, is reminiscent of Conchita Wurst, for instance. Interviews with local representatives of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) communities give insight into a range of different, partly individually practised religious rituals and their adaptations. Radziszewski focuses on the liberating power of appropriation and redefinition—on “queering” in the best of senses, understood as emancipation from allotted and construed role ascriptions. Since 2005, he has published DIK Fagazine, a magazine dedicated to homosexuality and masculinity, and is also founder of the Queer Archives Institute.
* Abstraction & Corporeality Love & Self-determination Miracle & Transfer Identification & Proximity
Appropriation Transfer Empathy Compassion Mercy Nurture Desire Sexuality Incest Violence
Oppression & Confession Sacrifice & Ritual Inclusion & Exclusion Guilt & Power Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification
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Louise Bourgeois Busenanatomie
*1911 in Paris (FR), † 2010 in New York (US)
Busenanatomie (Breast Anatomy), from the series Anatomy, 1989/90 Etching on handmade paper; 63.5 x 45.8 cm Courtesy of the Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum The multiple breast evokes thoughts of archetypes and female idols and seems to represent the nourishment of many. “Sometimes I am totally concerned with female shapes”, Louise Bourgeois said once, “but I often merge male and female, active and passive.”1 Breasts, vulvae and uteri are recurrent motives in her œuvre, representing the maternal and protection. Bourgeois considered her work to be autobiographical. In her drawings, paintings, installations, sculptures and texts, she seeks to free herself
from the feelings of fear and hatred with regard to her father on the one hand, but on the other she also expressed her longing to be protected by her mother who died young. It was not until the age of 70 that the artist conquered the international art scene with her retrospective in the Museum of Modern Art in New York (1982). Since then she has been a celebrated artist at biennials, documentas and international exhibitions. Her œuvre addresses sexuality and vigour, chequered with archetypes of human mental images. Thomas McEvilley: “History and Prehistory in the Work of Louise Bourgeois”, in: Peter Weiermair: Louise Bourgeois. Frankfurt 1989, pp. 31–41.
1
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Styrian Sitzende Madonna mit Kind
Sitzende Madonna mit Kind (Seated Madonna with Child), around 1420/30 Limestone; height: 59 cm Courtesy of the Alte Galerie, Universalmuseum Joanneum
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→ Provenance: from castle Finstergrün (AT)
During the 14th and 15th centuries, the so-called “Beautiful Madonnas” of the international Gothic period were created, some outstanding examples of which exist in Styria: From the Admonter Madonna in the Alte Galerie to the Neuberger Madonna to those from Bad Aussee, Judenburg, or Übelbach. Mary is always standing upright and holds her child at her side. These statues frequently have a representative character. The early, Romanesque depictions of Mary with the Child indicate Our Lady also represented a throne for Christ: Mary is the Mother of God, the Theotokos. At about the same time as the “Beautiful Madonnas” appeared, the “Pietà” was created as a private, devotional picture outside of the official cult: Mary once again holds her son in her lap, but he is already dead, having just been removed form the cross. The Virgin Mary seen here holds her child in her lap, in a posture similar to that seen in the Pietà. It is not a proud display like the representative “Beautiful Madonnas”, but the cradling of a child who wants to be carried and rocked. Mary’s gaze is not directed towards the child, but towards the viewer. She also reveals a melancholic inwardness, which testifies to her timeless premonition of the last time she will cradle the child after His agonizing death on the cross.
Artur Żmijewski Sztuka Kochania / The Art of Loving
2000 Video; colour, sound, 5 min 54 s Courtesy of the artist, Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich, Foksal Gallery, Warsaw Collection from CNAP, Paris In both films, Artur Żmijewski explores the limits of what is imaginable, physically possible and socially appropriate. In Gesangsstunde 2 / Singing Lesson 2, a group of deaf people sing cantatas by Johann Sebastian Bach in St. Thomas Church in Leipzig. The young people can neither hear nor control their voices. During the choir rehearsals, they use sign language. What initially seems to be the destruction of Bach’s perfect composition turns out to be a touching and moving musical interpretation, which draws attention to a vocal, atonal level.
*1966 in Warsaw (PL), lives in Warsaw (PL)
By singing together with mezzo-soprano Ewa Lapińska, moments of harmony and disharmony are created. In the context of our exhibition Faith Love Hope, Żmijewski’s film reminds us of times when the church had divided opinions on whether the deaf and dumb would be admitted to holy communion.1 The Art of Loving shows people in advanced stages of Parkinson’s disease. This disease causes bodily functions to become uncontrollable due to a chemical disorder in the brain. In Żmijewski’s film, sick people—including a grandmother and grandchildren—caress each other by unconsciously twitching their hands, touch and kiss each other. Both films transcend imaginative, physical and social boundaries. Since the late 1990s, Żmijewski has also worked as a curator (Ich und Aids, 1996; Forget Fear, Berlin Biennale, 2012). See Gottfried Christian Friedrich Lücke and K. Wieseler (eds.): Vierteljahrschrift für Theologie und Kirche. Göttingen 1846.
1
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* Abstraction & Corporeality Love & Self-determination Miracle & Transfer Identification & Proximity Oppression & Confession
Shape Decision Concession Invocation Recognition Affiliation Designation Constriction Look the Other Way (Self)Denial Power
Sacrifice & Ritual Inclusion & Exclusion Guilt & Power Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification
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Markus Wilfling Schleuse
*1966 in Innsbruck (AT), lives in Graz and Vienna (AT)
2017 Schleuse (Lock) Stainless steel, steel; 200 × 108 × 25 cm Courtesy of the artist The rectangular stainless-steel frame appears to invite use as a floodgate in a canal lock for getting from one place to another. The way this change of location is carried out depends on what one allows to happen—are we ready to change our status quo? Markus Wilfling works with seemingly simple objects or things we are familiar with from everyday life. They appear so ordinary to us that we cease to perceive them: a table, a chair or a park bench. Wilfing also attempts to transfer the phenomenon of two-dimensionality in space to the area of sculptures. The play with illusion is a central element of his work, since only shadows and mirrors are capable of capturing bodies 1:1, directly and 44
in real time on a surface area. In his work, he frequently freezes the temporary shadow or mirrored image and creates a sculptural moment. The shadow of the Clock Tower in Graz captured in 2003 is certainly his most popular example. His artwork Schleuse also acts as a threshold. What are we to expect on the other side—a mirror image perhaps? Our shadow? Or will it reveal the new path we are to embark on?
Birgit Jürgenssen Jeder hat seine eigene Ansicht
1975/2006 Jeder hat seine eigene Ansicht (Everyone Has His Own Point of View), black-and-white photography on baryta paper; 40 × 30 cm Courtesy of Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna
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*1949 in Vienna (AT), † 2003 in Vienna (AT)
The collage Untitled, 1980, uses the structure of a family tree to formulate an inner kinship and fundamental scepticism towards female religious role models. Chain elements are synthesised and appear in the supporting belt of the Greek goddess just as in the poisonous snake or gold ring of the Mother of God. In the lapidary recurrence of the same old female attributes, Jürgenssen associates women’s jewellery with fetters of power, capital and the church. From the late 1960s until her early death in 2003, Jürgenssen was above all involved in photography, collage and drawing, but also in the theory of female stereotypes, their fetishisation and possible transformation. As one of the Austrian feminist avant-garde together with VALIE EXPORT, Renate Bertlmann and Maria Lassnig, she taught for over 20 years at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and shaped an entire generation. Rediscovered only a few years ago, her impressive internationally acknowledged œuvre is said to be one of the most productive studies on psychoanalysis and surrealism. Jeder hat seine eigene Ansicht—written in clay on the artist’s naked back—formulates the ambiguity of the body as a desirable stereotype object of fetish and a place of personal, individually formable existence.
Franz Kapfer zur Errettung des Christentums – Aviano
*1941 in Fürstenfeld (AT), lives in Vienna (AT)
2015 zur Errettung des Christentums – Aviano (In Deliverance of Christianity–Aviano) Installation, lacquer on wood; 400 × 110 × 180 cm Courtesy of the artist The discourse that takes place in this exhibilater, when a dictatorship existed in the “Austion consciously addresses questions about tro-Fascist” corporate state, and historical fear and their connections to power and figures involved in the salvation of the Christian religion: Aviano, Franz Kapfer’s striding saint, Occident were to be shown, Engelbert Dollfuß confronts the visitors at the forecourt of the cleverly captured Aviano. Kunsthaus as a whimsical cardboard figure Kapfer reminds us of the underlying politiwith a raised cross and reminds them of films cal-religious roots of our culture. such as The Exorcist, as well as of one or In the Kunsthaus Needle, “MARIA” blinks on two slapdash election posters. Aviano was lettering made of large wooden slats. This can a sermonizing Capuchin priest, who held a be interpreted as an artistic reference to the fiery sermon on 12th September 1683, shortly location: Many statues of Maria can be found not only in the nearby church, but also on before the decisive battle fought in Vienna, the building façades in the Mariahilferstraße. which had been besieged by the Ottomans In the context of the Kunsthaus, the blinking for months. The army then entered the battle led by Polish King Jan III Sobieski and won. “MARIA” does not seem to allude directly to the The Christian Occident was saved. Centuries supportive mother of God. Instead, the history of the Lend district and the flickering red light of 46 the name could remind us of a bar.
TEER Wolfgang Temmel & Fedo Ertl Weiße Fahne
Wolfgang Temmel *1953 in Deutschlandsberg (AT), lives in Vienna (AT) Fedo Ertl *1952 in Graz (AT), † 2014 in Graz (AT)
1987/2018 Weiße Fahne (White Flag) Flag, projection; 150 × 400 cm Courtesy of Wolfgang Temmel Conceptualised in 1987 by the artist duo TEER for the Schlossbergplatz square in Graz, pentagram, cross, crescent, swastika, hammer and sickle were projected onto a white canvas attached to a flagpole for one week. Despite the fact that certain meanings of these symbols have become more prevalent through the course of time— such as the swastika in National Socialism, the crescent in Islam or hammer and sickle in communism—these centuries-old signs were ascribed multiple symbolic meanings. For instance: In Early Christian iconography, the pentagram was a symbol for the five wounds of Christ, but it is also considered a magical sign for fending off evil, a
symbol of the freemasons and part of many national flags. The reversed pentagram is associated with Satanism. All the projected symbols share a common trait: they all did or do appear on national flags. TEER overlay these symbols. The white flag (Weiße Fahne) hence becomes a symbol for protection and warning, a sign for surrender to the enemy, a carrier of various mutually exclusive, but also complicit symbolic meanings. The public installation was destroyed by vandals who were never found. In 2018, it will be reinstalled in front of the Kunsthaus and complemented with a symbol that was missing in the first version: the Star of David. TEER realised joint projects from 1985 to 1995.
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Danh Võ Untitled
*1975, Bà Ria (VN), lives in Berlin (DE) and Mexico City (MX)
2018, Courtesy of the artist Reference image: Cimon and Pero, known as Caritas Romana, 18th century Oil on canvas; 91.7 × 120.5 cm Courtesy of the Alte Galerie, Universalmuseum Joanneum Danh Võ’s installation is based on a picture titled Caritas Romana from the Alte Galerie of Universalmuseum Joanneum. Pero, a young woman, visited her father Cimon every day in prison in order to breastfeed him and thus to save him from certain death. In this frequently painted story, two powerful taboos are broken: one of them concerns breastfeeding an adult and the other, incestuous relationships. Võ focusses on the thin line between a daughter’s selfless love for her father and eroticsexual innuendos, being fully aware of the duality of sacrificial love and physical desire.
Besides the father-daughter relationship, Danh Võ turns his attention to that of father and son: he co-operates again with his father Phong. For the exhibition in Graz, Phong Võ copies text passages selected by Heinz Peter Knes from seven of Josef Winkler’s books in which the Austrian author sheds light on the narrow confines of rural life in his native Carinthia with its often relentless rituals and social taboos. According to his son, “Phong Võ is not familiar with any Western languages”. When he copies them, “he recognises the letters of the alphabet, but doesn’t understand a single word.”1 As a result, the calligraphic aspect favouring the form and beauty of writing, and Knes’ selection of text fragments, which testify to both greatest love and gross brutality, together form an intriguing contrast. Danh Vo: “Fathe-dland”, in: Danh Võ Vô Danh, exhibition catalogue. Kunsthaus Bregenz 2012, p. 226f.
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Azra Akšamija Palimpsest of '89 (Post-Socialist)
2017 4 pieces, plywood, acrylic paint; each 123 × 123 × 30 cm Courtesy of the artist and Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana → p. 63
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*1976 in Sarajevo (BA), lives in Massachusetts (US) and Vienna (AT)
* Abstraction & Corporeality Love & Self-determination Miracle & Transfer Identification & Proximity Oppression & Confession Sacrifice & Ritual
Dominance Hierarchy Shame Body Suffering Original Sin Heritage Deliverance Redemption Destruction
Inclusion & Exclusion Guilt & Power Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification
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Slavs and Tatars Mystical Protest
* Founded in 2006 in Berlin (DE)
2011 Fluorescent colour, Muharram fabric, fluoresencent lights, cotton; 240 × 620 × 15 cm Courtesy of Slavs and Tatars and Raster Gallery, Warsaw The installation, part of Friendship of Nations: Shia Islam, Catholicism and secularism, between tradition and modernity and between Polish Shi’ite Showbiz, juxtaposes Shia Euro-American and Eurasian cultures. An Islam and Catholic rites, Muharram/Ashura English aphorism, inspired by a Russian provand processions of the Stations of the erb, and serially arranged, green-fluorescent Cross as well as devotions. Slavs and Tatars tubes, invoking minimalist art as well as Islam, is interested in the expressions of protest establish a connection with textile patterns seen in today’s world, which are inherent in of the Shia Islamic culture. A table with archithese rites, as well as the commemoration val material and books is devoted to depicting of present-day sufferers and the often overlooked forms of resistance that are expressed the interrelationships between cultures and religions. in songs, rituals, jokes and folk tales. These Through humour, hybridisation and playful act in subliminal ways, giving underprivicombinations, the boundaries that can be leged groups a voice and opportunities to present in communities based on faith and challenge power. religion, begin to shift. Slavs and Tatars view In their work, Slavs and Tatars address themselves as a practice that examines a common foundations, but also ambiguities, mistranslations, language barriers between “region east of the former Berlin Wall and west of the Chinese Wall”. 51
Hermann Nitsch Blutorgelbild
*1938 in Vienna (AT), lives in Prinzendorf (AT)
1962 Blood, dispersion, chalk ground on jute; 190 x 900 cm Courtesy of the artist and Stiftung Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst in Leipzig “The more ecstatically one has lived, the more the reality becomes real”1, says Hermann Nitsch, who understands life as an act of passion that included fervour and suffering. Since the 1950s, the Austrian artist has been using his own, characteristic pouring technique. His choice of materials, such as blood, guts, or carcasses, made him the target of a great deal of malice and scolding during the period of Austrian actionism after the Second World War. This nine-metre-long Blutorgelbild was created during one of his first actions, which took place over several days in Vienna— together with Adolf Frohner and Otto Muehl, and to whom a Blutorgelmanifest has also been bequeathed. The picture consists of trickles of blood that have flowed in thin sheets in one direction across the canvas. “My work is strongly influenced by the Greek tragedies”, said Hermann Nitsch in a newspaper interview in 52
2016.2 “It [my work] is always about death, suffering and resurrection”. It is the cycle of life that interests him and which, from his point of view, exists around the world through the change of seasons. Nitsch wants to provide his audience with intense experiences and, above all, intense sensations. Even the canvases which were painted with blood in the 1960s sometimes still allow the audience to experience unfamiliar odors. “Hermann Nitsch”, in: Britta Schmitz (ed.): Hermann Nitsch, Orgien Mysterien Theater Retrospektive. Cologne 2006, p 22. 2 “Hermann Nitsch”, at: https://kurier.at/kultur/kuenstleram-wort-hermann-nitsch-im-gespraech-ueber-erwinproell-die-tagespolitik-seine-blutkunst-und-die-nachkriegszeit/242.662.153 [accessed: 23rd Feb. 2018]
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Alois Neuhold *1951 in Eggersdorf (AT), lives in St. Georgen an der Stiefing (AT) Es ist aufgetischt: Fülletafel und Flugschanze aus der Schöpfungsküche eines reichgedeckten Lebens
is sacred’, the artist likes to comment with reference to his artwork. His aim is to repeat a few things in order to deepen them. Dozens of such small, often physically condensed pictures of this kind are now included in this exhibition and, in a way, lead a life of their own. He develops the picture with color, patiently paints colors over the forms shaped and allows the picture to grow organically. His sense of ritualistic repetition requires him to The imagery of Alois Neuhold is brought to adhere to strict discipline while painting, which life, above all, by the detailed forms and is not surprising in view of the existing series intensive colourfulness. The experience of of pictures, on which he often worked on volsacredness arises through the sensual overload: Everything seems to be vividly alive. The untarily for years: ‘I have to force myself. One has to stick with it. Reduce and tighten. There works convey an idea of a pictorial liturgy, is something spiritual about it’.1 The repeated which celebrates its existence through a theme, the constant deepening of detail, materialisation of light in colour. Nothing in Neuhold’s paintings is “Christian” in a narrow tracing and patient development, also has something sacrificial, something ritualistic and sense. And yet almost everything leads to and then away from this religion: faces, eyes, humble about it, which can be recognized as couples, vessels, shrines, flowers. ‘Everything a sign of Neuhold’s religious background. Es ist aufgetischt: Fülletafel und Flugschanze aus der Schöpfungsküche eines reichgedeckten Lebens (Dinner is Served: Full Table and Sky Jump from the Creative Kitchen of a Richly Laid Life) 2018 Reference images: Studio Courtesy of the artist
Alois Neuhold in a conversation with Katrin Bucher Trantow and Johannes Rauchenberger, 02.01.2018.
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Johann Bernhard *1656 in Graz (AT), †1723 in Vienna (AT) Fischer von Erlach Entwurf für den Hochaltar in Mariazell
Entwurf für den Hochaltar in Mariazell (Draft for the high altar in Mariazell), before 1704 Feather in brown, blue-grey wash; 47.2 × 28.6 cm Courtesy of the Alte Galerie, Universalmuseum Joanneum
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Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach’s design drawing for the high altar in Mariazell became reality when the altar was built between 1698 and 1704. The Crucified, who is illuminated from behind, is the centrepiece of this triumphal arch. It seems as if his God— who he thought had forsaken him during his death cry—is reaching down to him most dramatically in all his heavenly glory. The centrepiece is framed with a strong double series of columns offset in the cornices that form a semi-circle. The drama of the death of Christ becomes a drama of the triune God: Over the arch and in the centre of an intense, orbital mass of clouds populated by numerous putti is the dove of the Holy Spirit. From a pictorial perspective, the gesture of the Holy Father is a dissolved Seat of Mercy, where he accepts the “sacrifice of the cross”. The subject of the painting develops primarily along the “Te-Igitur” initials of the Canon of the Mass, where the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer says: “Te igitur—To you, therefore, most merciful Father, we make humble prayer and petition …” And after the transubstantiation it continues: “Command that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy Angel to your altar on high in the sight of your divine majesty.” Here, God himself has descended to earth to accept the cross in awe. At his feet lies the globe of the earth below the already elevated cross, and the snake coils around it. And within this—an exceptional version of a tabernacle—the Eucharist is kept.
Guillaume Bruère 06.03.2017 (Immaculata)
Acrylic paint and oil crayon on canvas; 200 × 150 cm Courtesy of the artist
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*1976 in Châtellerault (FR), lives in Berlin (DE)
The artist Guillaume Bruère was born in France and grew up without the influence of the Christian religion. He became fascinated by Christianity during the course of his artistic explorations, especially with reference to late medieval painting: He has drawn in major European museums in Zurich, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart and Berlin and during the period of this exhibition, he has also drawn a week in the outstanding medieval collection of the Alte Galerie at the Universalmuseum Joanneum. In the Kunsthaus Graz, he is represented by several works: among others with a red “Immaculata” picture, which he created after a visit to Graz last year, and a bright yellow lamb lying on a table, which—like the Immaculata—addresses the theme of “guilt” and overcoming guilt: The innocence of Mary, who prays for “us poor sinners, without being touched by original sin”. The guilt carried in the sacrificial lamb. The “model” for the unusual depiction of Mary was one of the representations of the Virgin Mary created in the 19th century, which are known worldwide as Our Lady of Fátima or Our Lady of Lourdes (Fátima- or Lourdes-Madonnas). Bruère’s painting, which at first glance appears “childlike and scrawly”, successfully depicts the “innocent body”, which has been painted millions of times, as both vulnerable and “naked” in a figurative sense. Bruère’s museum drawings often tentatively sound the depths of visualisations, and mostly late medieval, old German painting, in ways that turn them into shivery membranes of the existential.
Kris Martin All Saints
2007 Installation of 240 found bells; dimensions variable Courtesy of the artist and KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin/London → p. 28
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* 1972 in Kortrijk (BE), lives in Ghent (BE)
Hannes Priesch Fahnen
2015 Flags: 1. Red, white and red, 2. Motto, 3. Totally surrendered souls, 4. “Just do it” Arabic (Nike), 5. In this sign conquer!, 6. For God and Country Wood, wire, cloth, wool, embroidery, watercolours; each approx. 260 × 50 cm Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Artepari
*1954 in Volkersdorf (AT), lives in Semriach (AT)
transcribes the legends of the saints, although he—as in his other works as well—translates his sources into another materiality. Through the act of transcription, which is also a form of appropriation, he subjects himself to a kind of ritual, but does not subordinate himself to it. In addition, he presents small, reliquary gifts that come from himself: hair, a piece of cloth, The texts for Göttlicher Humor (Divine Humour) blood, etc. have been taken from the book Legende Priesch’s “flags” are derived from politivon den lieben Heiligen Gottes nach den cal-patriotic, religious and commercial sources, besten Quellen (Legends of the beloved holy whereby the transitions are fluid. During their God according to the best sources), which creation, the artist uses old textiles that are was edited and published by Georg Ott, a both sculpture and “rags” in equal measure, priest in the Diocese of Regensburg in 1854. i.e., they appear to be less patriotic and conThe stories attest to the cruel ways and means vey the sense of the transience of noble ideals by which one can be martyred, affirming the within them. Priesch, who lived in New York for willingness to make individual sacrifices for a long time, is interested in investigating the the collective, for a community of believers. relationships among language, representation, Whether it has to do with a misinterpretation power and politics as well as the deep sense of militant faith, which God must endure in of mistrust in the violent formation of a “feeling sanguine serenity, remains to be seen. Priesch of togetherness”. 57
* Abstraction & Corporeality Love & Self-determination Miracle & Transfer Identification & Proximity Oppression & Confession Sacrifice & Ritual Inclusion & Exclusion
Community Legacy Relations Belonging Solidarity Affinity Stratification Fragmentation Fusion Inclusion Incorporation Exclusion Elimination
Guilt & Power Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification
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Manfred Willmann Fischsuppe, Nibelungengasse 22
*1952 in Graz (AT), lives in Graz (AT)
Manfred Willmann calls Die Welt ist schön a series of photographic works, which he created in a documentary form at the age of thirty. These include motifs related to his family, his friends, everyday scenes and details from the natural environment around him. “If there is something visible on the surface, that’s enough for me”, says Manfred Willmann, who, with his sense of realism, refuses to use any form of staging and presents things in the—at that time still analog— square photo format, exactly as he finds Fischsuppe, Nibelungengasse 22 (Fish soup, them. The photographer’s view serves him as a selective and, thus, interpretative tool, Nibelungengasse 22), from: Die Welt ist which he uses to measure his environment schön (The World is Beautiful), 1981–1983 and his immediate relations—both in this C-Print and Cibachrome series, but also in other series such as Das Courtesy of the Neue Galerie Graz, Land—according to subjective criteria. With Universalmuseum Joanneum this series, Willmann responds to the wellknown photographer Albert Renger-Patzsch, who published a widely acclaimed, illustrated book under the same title in 1928. In this book, employing a great deal of clarity and simplicity, he directed the view of the beholder toward structures, surfaces and forms of objects. In Willmann’s work, the view is shifted from objects to the social networks of relationships to the traces that people leave while eating, spending time together and living.
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Anna Jermolaewa Shopping with family
*1970 in St. Petersburg (RU), lives in Vienna (AT)
2013 Video installation; colour, sound, 16 min 9 s (loop), flat screen, stand, wigs, media player, 2 headphones, approx. 130 × 80 × 30 cm Courtesy of the Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum “I definitely didn’t think about using this material for my work when I was actually shopping. This was a very difficult time for me, immediately following my operation and before the chemotherapy treatment. I was very afraid of the chemo and of losing my hair. Well, and of course my family was anxious for me too. The Shopping with family video talks about life’s good times and bad times, the ups and downs we encounter as life goes on. I am absolutely sure that the hardships we encounter during our lives first and foremost teach us things.” 1 The video shows the artist in an American wig shop and how she tries one wig after another with the help of a competent shop 60
assistant and the advice of her sister, daughter and husband. Her work is all about life, about its vulnerability and tragic and comical components.2 Anna Jermolaewa turns her attention to day-to-day matters. In the simplicity of her motifs she uncovers social structures, values and collective cultural heritage. In her work, she is interested in the “conditio humana”, human condition and the nature or essence of man. “Anna Jermolaewa in Conversation with Christiane Erharter”, in: Anna Jermolaewa, Christiane Erharter (eds.): Anna Jermolaewa. Dobre Czasy, Zle czasy – Good Times, Bad Times, Warsaw 2015, p. 9. 2 See Susanne Rohringer, at: http://www.jermolaewa. com/works/shoppingwithfamily.html [accessed 19th Dec. 2017]. 1
Manfred Erjautz ME/WE (Homeversion)
*1966 in Graz (AT), lives in Vienna (AT)
2003 Neon, acrylic glass, aluminium, wire cable, spotlight; 172 × 93 × 12.5 cm Courtesy of the artist and the Denise & Günther Leising collection, Graz Reference image: Manfred Erjautz, ME/WE, 2002, exhibition view Secession, Courtesy of the TBA21 Triggering irritation is an essential part of the artistic practice of Manfred Erjautz. Many things that might seem succinct everyday design at first glance, such as watches, lamps or billboards, turn out to be a critical comment on the hedonistically shaped Western culture at the second. The light object ME/WE also unites a variety of multiple facets: For one thing, “ME” can be interpreted as “me” or “I”—although in fact they are also the initials of the artist. On the other hand, the mirrored shadow of the light object “ME” reveals a “WE”, the “we” of a community or society which could not exist without the 61
“me”. The inclusion of the individual evokes a feeling of belonging. Societies in general, but also religious communities in particular face the questions: Where do we position ourselves and stand our grounds within the collective and which collective do we want to support? And not least: How do we deal with those who want to part from the community?
Muntean/Rosenblum The White Exploit
Markus Muntean *1962 in Graz (AT), lives in Vienna (AT) Adi Rosenblum *1962 in Haifa (IL), lives in Vienna (AT)
2018 Video still, approx. 6 min Courtesy of the artists The inspiration for the film made in the Grazer Priesterseminar by the duo Muntean/ Rosenblum, who have been working together since 1992, is an American television series entitled The Leftovers. This story begins three years after the sudden, inexplicable disappearance of three percent of the world’s population. While searching for the cause, more and more people turn away from the parish priest and instead join the sect “The Guilty Who Remain”. This serves as a “living reminder” to those who try to forget the day of disappearance. The members leave their families, communicate only by writing, dress uniformly in white and attract attention by their excessive cigarette consumption.
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The end of the world, guilt, representation, blame, penitence, purity, vows of silence, pain, purgatory and hell—the TV series and Muntean/Rosenblum draw from a Christian repertoire. As in their paintings and drawings, the artists take advantage of the fact that religious motifs, gestures, poses and compositions have long since found their way into advertising, social media, film and TV series. On the basis of these media and popular cultural transformations, and with the help of formulaic gestures of emotion and a showcased inwardness, Muntean/Rosenblum manage to create the psychogram of a community whose sterile, empty expression of emotion seems to reveal their phantom-like, insecure existences.
Azra Akšamija Diaspora Scroll (Kapitel Graz)
*1976 in Sarajevo (BA), lives in Massachusetts (US) and Vienna (AT)
Reference image: Azra Akšamija, Future Heritage Lab, draft sketch for Diaspora Scroll (chapter Graz), 2018, Courtesy of the artist Azra Akšamija, who grew up in Graz following the Yugoslav wars, focuses on cultural and religious constructions of identity. With the aim of fostering community, overcoming traumata and enabling valuable social and political innovation, the artist and architect, who works at MIT, tracks down technological and material knowledge. In Graz, she is developing the initial version of a growing cloth and memory roll that collects embroidery patterns and combines local and migrated knowledge. Loans from the Diocesan Museum, the Folk Life Museum and the Cultural History Collection, Joanneum as well as the Bosnian Community in Graz merge with digital pattern mutations and activities of knowledge bearers, creating
a participative installation that presents embroidery as a transnational evolutive cultural good. Based on four key aspects that build on the cross stitch and traditional local red and white colour combination, costly hand-made and time-consuming patterns interweave with fast and cheaper industrial produce. Here, the tree of life—also frequently used in a Christian context—acts as a connective symbol of diverse provenance. Akšamija’s bestknown works include amongst others the ornamental Schindel prayer wall at Vorarlberg’s first Islamic cemetery (2012) and the Dirndlmoschee / Dirndl Dress Mosque (2006), which is a piece of clothing that allows cultural transformation to take place. Recommendation: Workshops with embroidery clubs will be held. Get the latest information on all our events here: www.kunsthausgraz.at.
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* Abstraction & Corporeality Love & Self-determination Miracle & Transfer Identification & Proximity Oppression & Confession Sacrifice & Ritual Inclusion & Exclusion Guilt & Power
Dominance Hierarchy Shame Body Suffering Original Sin Heritage Deliverance Redemption Destruction
Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification
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Luc Tuymans Candle
2017 Oil on canvas; 134.6 × 108.5 cm Courtesy of the Studio Luc Tuymans
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*1958 in Mortsel (BE), lives in Antwerp (BE)
The paintings of the Belgian painter Luc Tuymans, one of the most sought-after painters of the present day, impress their audience formally with their markedly subdued colourfulness. They seem to be faded photographs that have been revived through the painting process. In terms of their content, Tuymans’s seemingly still pictures are full of allusions to history, pressing questions of time and politics—but are also retracted, as only a highly educated artist can convey while respecting the tradition of the symbolism in Flemish stilllife painting. Tuymans grew up in a country with historically deep Catholic roots. For this reason, this historical heritage—and especially that of the Jesuits— is repeatedly introduced into the theme of his imagery. Tuymans views the religious energies of the present with concern, for they also are charged with fanaticism. ‘It would have been better to have studied theology rather than art history, in order to understand what is currently happening in the world’, he says. In the Graz Mausoleum, he paints a genetically modified flower as a fresco in the burial chamber of Ferdinand II and his mother Maria Anna of Bavaria. In the Kunsthaus, he shows The Worshipper (a picture from the Musée du Masque in Binche), which displays the monumental figure of a clergyman. But he appears as though he is a ghost, trapped in his own body. The painting Candle, which was newly created for this exhibition, initially seems to depict the light of a candle. Or is it an apocalyptic fireball instead?
Maja Bajević Double-Bubble
*1967 in Sarajevo (BA), lives in Paris (FR)
2001 Video; colour, sound, 3 min 36 s Courtesy of the artist and the Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich Maja Bajević considers her work to be a critique aimed at the hypocritical double standards of institutionalised religion. In her video piece Double-Bubble, she condemns the abuse of power by religious dignitaries and also hypocrisy in believers. Her voice is deliberately unemotional; she speaks provocatively in the first person. Her terse and powerful statements shake us to the core. Against the backdrop of a growing interplay and interaction of religion and politics in this decade, the abuse of religious credos and the experience of war in her home city
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Sarajevo, the female performer Maja Bajević presents a tangle of contradictory statements in her video, such as: “I shot 55 people while I prayed in the name of God”, or “I free people from their sins. They give me money. Everything comes with a price.“ Double-Bubble becomes a reflection of the abuse of power and religion.
Monica Bonvicini GUILT
2017 Steel, stainless steel, reflective foil; 400 × 330 cm Courtesy of the artist and KÖNIG GALERIE, Berlin/London
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*1965 in Venice (IT), lives in Berlin (DE)
The letter sequence “GUILT” is a statement, a reminder and a denunciation without a specific addressee. Created using reflective foil, the object mirrors its surroundings. It is a term with many associations that subjectively evokes thoughts of a prohibited or reprehensible act, and objectively of the violation of moral or legally prohibited limitations. It is paramount to conceptualise it in relation to society, since avowing oneself guilty challenges communal life and simultaneously calls for communication with others when it comes to remorse and forgiveness. In the past decades, the term was detached from the ecclesiastical and theological context and moved towards the field of popular culture and psycho-coaching. “Guilt” is the title of several films, music albums and a US American television series. Confession, remorse and forgiveness are increasingly outsourced to talk shows and social media, and commercial service providers offer ways to free oneself from the feeling of guilt. A culture of guilt is most certainly also related to power since the creation of an exaggerated sense of guilt leads to power over people and their behaviour. This is where Bonvicini’s interest begins: In her cross-media works, the artist repeatedly deals with power structures and examines the complex relations between physical and social space and the historic, political and economic imprints that influence these spaces.
Maria Hahnenkamp V9/11 „Kirchenlieder – Psychoanalyse“
*1959 in Eisenstadt (AT), lives in Vienna (AT)
V9/11 “Kirchenlieder – Psychoanalyse” (Hymns – Psychoanalysis), 2011 Audio-visual installation; video 13 min 7 s (3 repetitions), 5-channel sound 39 min 49 s Courtesy of the artist Elaborately embroidered vestments from four centuries are put on and taken off according to a determined rhythm and acoustically accompanied by a choir singing hymns from “Gotteslob”, the Roman Catholic hymn and prayer book for German language dioceses. A solo soprano overlays, interrupts or complements the Christian song-singing with psychoanalytical texts or philosophical fragments by Antonin Artaud and Sophocles set to music. Sound and images overlap and interweave to form ever new constellations, underlining, questioning or contradicting each other. Valuable liturgical vestments made of luxurious materials such as damask, 68
linen, silk, velvet or brocade effectively demonstrate their representative function, which plays an important role in a ceremony exclusively reserved for men. In the works from the Regina Fritsch series, blind spots, voids, psychoanalytical reflections and ornaments overlay the surface of the image, attesting to the relationship of the effigy to the imaginary of the gaze and symbolism of language. Identities remain fragile and fragmented. Perforations and the cut-out appearance of the stone plasterboard leave gaps, also undermining the concept of wholeness, integrity and invulnerability. All ornaments were derived from the following books of reference: Kirchenschmuck. Ein Archiv für kirchliche Kunstschöpfungen und christliche Alterthumskunde, Stuttgart 1857–1865.
Guillaume Bruère Untitled (Agnus Dei)
2007 Various materials; 33 × 67 × 38cm Courtesy of the artist → p. 55
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*1976 in Châtellerault (FR), lives in Berlin (DE)
Maria Kramer Untitled (Madonnen-Serie)
2014 Wool on jute, embroidery; approx. 52 × 39 cm Courtesy of a private owner
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*1919 in Semriach (AT), † 2017 in Semriach
The self-taught artist Maria Kramer uses motifs from her environment: flowers, Mary and the Saints, family and “her Semriach” again and again. After suffering a fall from a cherry tree and paraplegia, she learned to turn wood, carve, lay inlays, draw and paint. Later, she devoted herself more intensively to writing and easier handicrafts such as wall hangings, plaster ornaments and furniture painting. After experiencing a stroke in 1996, Kramer could only move her right hand reliably, and she turned to embroidery and “painted” with a needle and wool. Most of the colourful pieces of embroidery, mainly created for cushions, were made for her children, children-in-law, grandchildren, friends and neighbours and display the dates of their births, typical objects and religious motifs. Faith, love and hope appear again and again as symbols. Over time, Kramer’s embroidery became more abstract and expressive. Embroidered pictures of the Virgin Mary, made in memory of pilgrimages, were imbued with particular importance. Kramer wove a souvenir from Medjugorje into one of the embroidery pieces. The images of the Virgin Mary are an expression of deep religious impressions and strong faith. They serve as a testimony to the fervent belief that overcomes physical disabilities. The pictures also reveal the consolation they offered through their creation and the religious dialogue that took place, as well as the call made to Our Lady as the protector and helper of all those in need.
Santiago Sierra Person facing into a corner
2002 Black-and-white photography; framed 225 × 150 cm Courtesy of Dr. Markus Gugatschka Collection, Graz
*1966 in Madrid (ES), lives in Mexico City (MX)
Santiago Sierra belongs to those contemporary artists whose œuvre is discussed particularly controversially. In his works, he denounces capitalist power structures by applying them himself. He pays people the local minimum wage for doing pointless jobs or for performing huge manipulations on their bodies, such as tattoos. Person facing into a corner emerged in the course of a work Sierra was realising at the London Lisson Gallery in October 2002: seven participants were recruited through a Christian organisation focussing on social hotspots in London. Sierra paid them to stand motionless facing the wall for an hour every day in the gallery’s rooms over a period of three weeks. One of those people was told to stand in the corner.1 This positioning evokes associations with punishment for disobedience in authoritative contexts. Standing in the corner excludes a person from their group or community and aims to produce feelings of guilt and regret. To us, the man Sierra assigned to the corner seems to be automatically subordinate in the hierarchy, and, as such, also shamed. To whom does he owe obedience? Gazing into the void, he is no longer aware of what is happening behind his back. At the same time, however, he is helplessly exposed to onlookers—and whatever they might do to him. See Thomas R. Huber, Ästhetik der Begegnung. Kunst als Erfahrungsraum der Anderen. Bielefeld 2013, p. 149f.
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Abstraction&&Corporeality Corporeality Abstraction * Love&&Self-determination Self-determination Love Miracle&&Transfer Transfer Miracle Identification cation&&Proximity Proximity Identifi Oppression&&Confession Confession Oppression Sacrifice ce&&Ritual Ritual Sacrifi Inclusion&&Exclusion Exclusion Inclusion Guilt&&Power Power Guilt Liberation&&Continuity Continuity Liberation Commerce Rebellion & Presentation Pain & Identification Resistance Legacy Emancipation Appropriation Vitalisation Disruption Distancing Criticism
Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification
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Adrian Paci The Guardians
*1969 in Shkodra (AL), lives in Milan (IT)
2015 Video; colour, sound, 6 min 22 s Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann, Zurich Adrian Paci’s film, The Guardians, is set in an abandoned, Catholic graveyard of his Albanian home town Shkodra, one of the few places which escaped the destruction of religious symbols through Enver Hoxha’s Communist regime during the 1960s. The film shows children cleaning and caring for the surrounding graves in the graveyard. In the process, they not only uncover the names of the dead, but also the symbols with which they were buried. The shift from detailed shots to the overall view gradually moving away achieves a wordless, poetic rhythm that detaches itself from time and finds a nuanced balance between allusion, staging and spirituality.
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Adrian Paci’s work questions the relationship between art and religion in his native Albania, which he left in 1997. Like no other country, the Albanian regime enforced strict atheism in the second half of the 20th century with the aim of forming a “new man” without God or religion. Although Adrian Paci grew up in that era, he had access to Christian imagery of Western art through his father’s books on art history, to which he frequently alludes in his works.
Günter Brus Der helle Wahnsinn
Der helle Wahnsinn (Sheer Madness), 1968 Photo: Hennig Wolters Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Gerhard Sommer, Graz
*1938 in Ardning (AT), lives in Graz (AT)
Günter Brus, whose action art caused public scandal during the 1960s, has been working since the 1970s on so-called Bild-Dichtungen (picture poems). In essence, they represent an unconventional alliance between word and picture. Here, neither the picture illustrates the text, nor does the text serve as a description or explanation of the picture. Side by side or together, both forms of expression relate to each other in a specific way in that they enter into a kind of dialogue.1 Similar to his picture poems, the documentation of Der helle Wahnsinn (Sheer madness) also focusses on the victim, on self-absorption and self-surrender as a sensual occurrence that is frequently used and transfigured in liturgical imagery. The young Brus exhibits himself in various stations of suffering and ecstasy, but also exposes himself as an animalistic and destructive body: urinating and guilt-ridden, he inflicts injuries on himself in a visible state of profound emotion. Ultimately, the action becomes a form of self-purification and erotic borderline experience. 1 See Roman Grabner, Peter Peer, Peter Pakesch (eds.): Günter Brus. Die Gärten in der Exosphäre. Dichtungen und Bilddichtungen, exhibition catalogue, Neue Galerie Graz. Graz 2012.
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Norbert Trummer Seckau
*1962 in Leibnitz (AT), lives in Vienna (AT)
Die Heilung des Blinden (The Healing of the Blind Man), 2017 from: Seckau, 2018 Ink pencil, coloured crayons on paper; 12.5 × 21 cm Courtesy of the artist Norbert Trummer is known for his animated Trummer’s drawings are like a storyboard films which are based on a series of fine for an animated film. The film is based on a drawings with coloured crayons, where he series of paintings in which Trummer repeats captures his subjective view of various iconic the subject of the coloured crayon drawplaces and architectures. The drawings for ings up to six times. In the repetitions, small, Seckau were produced during three sojourns detailed differences appear which create in the local Abbey, where Trummer gained in their further application in an animated film insight into the everyday lives of the monastic a characteristically pulsating—breathing— community of the Benedictine monks. The movement. The preliminary results of the three drawings are dedicated to exemplary painting process that produced the finished and decorative details, which portray a pur- works are literally a part of the animations suit of the perfect form within the monastery that enliven the film. walls and translate religiosity into active design: such as the filigree details of a ribbed vault, a thanksgiving crown or the view onto the cloister built for contemplation.
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Werner Reiterer *1964 in Leibnitz (AT), lives in Vienna (AT) Gott erschafft das „Ewige Leben“ indem er den Anfang des Lebens mit seinem Ende verbindet
Gott erschafft das „Ewige Leben“ indem er den Anfang des Lebens mit seinem Ende verbindet (God creates “Eternal Life” by connecting the beginning of life with its end), 2017 LED-chain, flexible tube, electronics; 180 × 180 × 7 cm Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Ursula Krinzinger, Vienna Reference image: Werner Reiterer, 2-/4-dimensionaler Heiligenschein (2-/4-dimensional halo), 2017, from: Die gezeichneten Ausstellungen (the drawn exhibitions), pencil on paper; 70 × 50 cm 76
“God creates ‘Eternal Life’ by connecting the beginning of life with its end”, claims Werner Reiterer in his drawing of a light sculpture of the same name. Religions play an important part in Reiterer’s perception of time, because they enable people to imagine things that do not exist in physical reality. For example, you can believe in life after death. Thus, Reiterer envisions the time axis as a circle whose beginning is also its end. Within the luminous densification of the circle, birth and death merge to form a circle of life that resembles a halo—one of the most powerful symbols in the history of Christian imagery. In his work, Reiterer frequently places daily commodities in new contexts, opening up humorous spaces for thought that stimulate contemplation. The halo offered to us by Reiterer—also as a sculptur—contains eight LED chains that light up a transparent tube differently, thus changing the appearance of the sacred form into a design object.
Abstraction & Corporeality * Love & Self-determination Miracle & Transfer Identification & Proximity Oppression & Confession Sacrifice & Ritual Inclusion & Exclusion Guilt & Power Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Representation Hypocrisy Advertisement Commercialisation Ersatz Religion Economising Secularisation Propaganda Double Standard
Pain & Identification
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Hilde Fuchs MINIDRAMEN
*1964 in Orth (AT), lives in Vienna (AT)
Reference image: GOD, from: MINIDRAMEN, 1992 Works on paper in black-and-white Coated on MDF; 31.5 × 17 cm Courtesy of the artist In her drawing series MINIDRAMEN Hilde Fuchs reflects on the promises of salvation and eternal happiness in consumerist societies. The enormous billboards in public space are her inspiration: true to scale, she shrinks the billboards to 8% of their original size. The drawings and text collages are based on the eye-catching slogans from the advertising images and headlines Fuchs collected from magazines and advertisements. Her MINIDRAMEN could be interpreted as critical “snapshots” of society and consumerism from the early 1990s, where cloning, AIDS protection, computers as the miracles of technology, church scandals, pressure at work, compulsive shopping, class struggles 78
and gender relations were amongst the most prevalent topics. GOD is only one of the six other chapters: WOMAN, MAN, HUMAN, CAR and CRIME. “God” has become replaceable. The repetitiveness of this work, which encompasses 46 boards, creates the impression of a serial production. In analogy to the seriality of sales messages, it is also a work that could possibly be continued. The title MINIDRAMEN, or mini dramas, is a reference to Fuchs’ involvement in experimental theatre methods since 1986. Mini dramas (also known as flash dramas or micro dramas) are often absurd, grotesque or macabre pieces of art.
Anna Baranowski Luise Schröder Facing the Scene
*1983 in Bytom (PL), lives in Leipzig (DE) *1982 in Potsdam (DE), lives in Leipzig (DE) and Berlin (DE)
2011 Video; colour, sound, 16 min 49 s Courtesy of the artists The largest figure of Christ on earth was consecrated in the small Polish town of Świebodzin in November 2010. Some sixty kilometres from the German-Polish border, on a field close to the motorway, a 38-metrehigh statue of Christ the King rises into the sky on an artificial mound. The dimensions surpass even the famous Cristo Redentor in Rio de Janeiro. In Facing the Scene, Anna Baranowski and Luise Schröder allow us to take part in the preparations for this major event and also let us participate in the consecration ceremony. Tents are erected where sausages are grilled, the square is equipped with mobile toilets, barrier tapes are fitted to keep the expected crowds in line. The reason for the busy bustling—the statue of Christ
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itself—is never displayed in its entirety. The reactions of the people alone are presented, and the amazed or sometimes moved expressions on their faces as they see the colossal monument, which was initiated by the late Catholic priest of the small town. Some media cite him as saying it was Jesus himself who gave him the task. The question arises to what extent religious monuments are a necessary means for the passionate expression of faith, an effective demonstration of power or merely a lucrative business.
Anna Meyer Smartphonemadonna
*1964 in Schaffhausen (CH), lives in Vienna (AT)
2014 Oil on canvas; 130 × 170 cm Courtesy of the artist and Krobath, Vienna In the series entitled Sein oder Online (Being or Online) and Digitale Wesen (Digital Beings), Anna Meyer dedicates herself to describing the increasingly influential role of smartphones, tablets and social networks in society. The penetration of mobile devices into all spheres of life and the invasion of digitalisation into everyday life is illustrated gloomily in Meyer’s pictures and plastic models, such as: “Together with others”, “Explosions App” or “Post your existence”. The new religions—Facebook, Twitter and video games like Pokémon Go—are replacing old connections and values. Mary is turned into a Smartphonemadonna; God becomes a “Pokégod”, who is “always online”; Jesus suffers another death on the cross, but this time, he is crucified on Facebook’s „f“; and Pokémons populate the apocalyptic 80
urban scenes. A highly contrasting, sometimes brightly coloured and striking painting style support this impression. Politics, investment, economic speculation, religion, esotericism and commerce form an alliance. Old cults such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, but also analogous and digital worlds, the longing for community and empty promises, are united in a new cult: that of commerce. Reality is revealed as a hybrid and shapes a global consumer culture and capitalization with various elements, in the sense that material and immaterial values are transformed into capital. This encompasses all areas of life and does not exclude religion and faith.
Dan Graham Rock my Religion
*1942 in Urbana (US), lives in New York (US)
1982–84 Video; colour, sound, 55 min 27 s Courtesy of the Neue Galerie Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum At the beginning of the film we hear Graham’s voice, interrupted and accompanied by punk rock singer Patti Smith’s music. It is the story of Ann Lee, a founder of the Shakers who predicted the second appearance of Christ, overlaid by pictures of the rock legend who compared rock culture with religion in her song texts. Based on film footage from archives and audio-visual montages, Rock my Religion analyses religious practices of the indigenous peoples of North America, for example, or of Christian free churches, and underlays them with excerpts from legendary rock concerts by Jerry Lee Lewis, Sonic Youth or The Doors. Getting into a frenzy, the montage focusses on collective extracorporeal experiences, delivering a brilliant analysis of various forms of stirring 81
rituals. Graham lets religion rock, shows rock as religion and simultaneously formulates a piece of rock for religions. Graham, whose works have consistently dealt with cultural phenomena, is one of the most important artists who have meticulously investigated social developments since the 1960s, using photography, text and image analysis, films, and installations, but also drawing from his early years as a gallerist. Besides his militant Rock my Religion, Graham’s best-known works since 1965 include the photographic essay Homes for America and his glass pavilions and mirror structures that are meanwhile publicly exhibited across the world.
Franz West Schnorre
Schnorre (Scrounging), 2007 Bamboo, hat, epoxy resin, gauze bandages; 300 × 30 × 13 cm Courtesy of diethARdT collection, Graz
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* 1947 in Vienna (AT), † 2012 in Vienna (AT)
In the 1970s, Franz West gained recognition primarily through artistic objects that question the passive observation of art and encourage users to take an active part in an art installation. The fact that this approach made users become peculiar pedestals or carriers of his works is part of their subversive quality. Schnorre is also one of West’s objects with practical benefits that allows speculation, both about the carrier and the activity per se. On the one hand, it is a sculptural object in an unconventional shape. On the other, the hat fitted to the pole evokes specific associations: First its shape seems to recall the collection bag held out to the congregation for a donation during a Catholic church service (this has been replaced today by a small basket). We are most familiar with the gesture of upsidedown headgear: if someone presents a hat bottoms up to us, we automatically conclude that the person is asking for money. The title Schnorre of Franz West’s piece refers to the negatively connoted German term “schnorren”, or “scrounging”, and in 2007 the piece was even displayed in the city centre of Graz. Schnorre reveals the idea of charity as possible bigotry on behalf of the givers. The fact that his work was shown in the Human Rights City of Graz, where a highly controversial begging ban had been issued, also questions the significance of the charity organisation Caritas in the society of today.
Abstraction & Corporeality * Love & Self-determination Miracle & Transfer Identification & Proximity Oppression & Confession Sacrifice & Ritual Inclusion & Exclusion Guilt & Power Liberation & Continuity Commerce & Presentation Pain & Identification Injury Sacrifice Victim Grief Devotion Fervour Touch Identification Affiliation Fellow Man
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Marlene Dumas Jesus-Serene
*1953 in Capetown (ZA), lives in Amsterdam (NL)
1994 21 parts, ink, watercolour and pencil on paper; 65 × 50 cm Courtesy of the De Heus-Zomer Collection 21 portraits—in black, white and grey In Jesus-Serene, Dumas presents the face nuances—hang side by side in an orderly of Jesus from a most subjective and personal fashion, displaying highly diverse and unperspective and intertwines his narrative labelled faces without specific names. Their with those of her portrayed friends and the differentiated physiognomic characteristics presence that surrounds them. give each an individual appearance. Things that appear to be the same but which Marlene Dumas frequently bases her work are not have always fascinated the artist: on photographs which serve as a template. “This ambiguity of things which only appear to In this particular case, she uses historic be one and the same”. Portrait painting is images of Christ, such as the Shroud of Turin one of her great passions, and her curiosity is or images from the Renaissance era. In directed towards both the individual and the same way, however, she also uses photo- the stereotype. Graphic work—drawings—are graphs of her friends. Thanks to this equivaalways a central element, and even if they lence of the portrayed individuals, the series might not always be an immediate template becomes an examination of the human for her paintings, they are a starting point for condition, regardless of gender, skin colour her existential creations. or age.
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Anri Sala Uomoduomo
*1974 in Tirana (AL), lives in Berlin (DE)
2000 Video; colour, no sound, 1 min 34 s (loop) Courtesy of Sammlung Goetz, Medienkunst, Munich An old man is sitting in the pews of Milan Cathedral. His posture indicates that he is asleep. Shortly before he falls forward, he sits up again. Who is this apparently selfimmersed man in the Cathedral? Is he seeking religious enlightenment or refuge, or is he simply resting? Throughout the endless cycle of the plot, although the noise has been faded out here, the man seems to be undisturbed by what is going on around him—after all, Milan Cathedral is a tourist hot spot. Albanian artist Anri Sala often dedicates his video works to existential questions—survival and continuity, but also transience play an important role in the sense of temporality. The short video, which captivates us due
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to the immediateness of the situation, while losing all sense of time in the constantly recurrent scene, aptly exploits the possibilities of the loop to break through the documentary and let a very intimate moment become endless. In 2001, Anri Sala’s film won the Young Artist Prize at the Venice Biennale.
Styrian Auferstandener
Auferstandener (Resurrected), around 1480/90 Carved lime wood, fragmented frame; height: 84 cm Courtesy of the Alte Galerie, Universalmuseum Joanneum
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→ Provenance: probably from the upper
Murtal (AT)
This figure does not differ greatly from the numerous “Man of Sorrows” representations of the Gothic era. Only the robe reveals that it is the Resurrected. Be it imagination or a real event: this is about observing the open, slit wound on the side and—like the Apostle Thomas—touching it: The invitation “tangere me” (“touch me”) to Thomas from the Easter stories in the Gospel of John (John 20) stands in contrast to the “noli me tangere“ (“do not hold me”) directed to Mary Magdalene. Between these narrations we can also find the act of showing: “Peace be with you! He said to them. After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side” (John 20: 19–20). The intense contemplation of the wounds of Christ in the late Middle Ages has cultivated blooms that are not readily accessible for people today. Not uncommonly, they escalate towards a merging of eroticism and devotion. Simultaneously, they display an image interference—particularly today— with the perfect bodies we see in the media and which were also propagated in past social utopias and dictatorships. The physicality of Christ is a wounded body. These old images remain, even if the intense focus on the suffering in Christianity has been mostly overcome. The same applies for the impulse that has such a disturbing effect beyond the smooth surface aesthetics, as captured by Joseph Beuys in his famous Zeige deine Wunde! (Show Your Wound!) installation (1976).
Berlinde De Bruyckere Stamen, 2017–2018
2018 Wax, textile, glass, timber, iron, epoxy; height: 103 cm Courtesy of the artist and Hauser & Wirth → p. 19
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*1964 in Ghent (BE), lives in Ghent (BE)
Artur Ĺťmijewski The Singing Lesson 2 / Gesangsstunde 2
2003 Video; colour, sound, 16 min 30 s Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Peter Kilchmann → p. 42
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*1966 in Warsaw (PL), lives in Warsaw (PL)
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Accompanying programme Fri, 13.04., 3–4pm, Kunsthaus Graz Friday at three: emotive words from religious history: COMMUNITY. Theological and artistic disputes with curator Johannes Rauchenberger. Thu, 19.04., 4–7pm, Kunsthaus Graz KoOgle Special: embroidering with embroiderer Emma De Ro. Sun, 22.04, 3pm, Kunsthaus Graz Dialogue with artist Iris Andraschek and curator Katrin Bucher Trantow: The Image of "Mother". Fri, 27.04., 3–4pm, Kunsthaus Graz Friday at three: emotive words from religious history: SACRIFICE. Theological and artistic disputes with curator Johannes Rauchenberger. Sat, 28.04., 3pm, Kunsthaus Graz, KULTUM Thematic dialogue with Teresa Schnider and Monika Holzer-Kernbichler: “Transition, Spirit and Renewal”, venue: KULTUM, Mariahilferplatz 3, 8020 Graz. Sat, 28.04., Kunsthaus Graz Events as part of “Klanglicht”, A. Akšamija, M. Bonvicini, see: www.kunsthausgraz.at Sun, 29.04., 11–12am, Kunsthaus Graz How to look at artwork: Hannes Priesch and Barbara Steiner. Sun, 29.04., 3.30pm, Kunsthaus Graz Guided tour of the exhibition with Christof Elpons.
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Fri, 04.05., 3–4pm, Kunsthaus Graz Friday at three: emotive words from religious history: INNOCENCE AND GUILT. Theological and artistic disputes with curators Katrin Bucher Trantow, Johannes Rauchenberger and Barbara Steiner. Sat, 05.05., 3pm, Kunsthaus Graz, Diocesan Museum / Priests’ Seminary Thematic dialogue with Monika Holzer-Kernbichler and Karin Weninger-Stößl: “Fate, Fear and Miracles”, venue: Kunsthaus Graz, Lendkai 1, 8020 Graz. Sun, 06.05., 11–12am, Kunsthaus Graz How to look at artwork: Maria Hahnenkamp. With Barbara Steiner. Fri, 11.05., 3–4pm, Kunsthaus Graz Friday at three: emotive words from religious history: LOVE. Theological and artistic disputes with curators Barbara Steiner, Katrin Bucher Trantow and Johannes Rauchenberger. Sun, 13.05., 3.30pm, Kunsthaus Graz Guided tour of the exhibition with Christof Elpons. Fri, 25.05., 6.15–7.45pm, Kunsthaus Graz, Diocesan Museum / Priests’ Seminar Guided tour with curator Johannes Rauchenberger during the “Long Night of Churches”, limited number of admission tickets available at KirchenEck, Herrengasse 23.
Fri, 25.05., 8.30pm, St. Andrä Parish Church, Kernstockgasse ANDRÄ KUNST—view from the outside. With curators Johannes Rauchenberger and Katrin Bucher Trantow. Fri, 01.06., 3–4pm, KULTUM Friday at three: emotive words from religious history: POWER(LESS). Theological and artistic disputes with curator Johannes Rauchenberger. Sun, 03.06., 3pm, Kunsthaus Graz Guided tour of the exhibition with Christof Elpons. Fri, 08.06., 3–4pm, KULTUM Friday at three: emotive words from religious history: CROSS. Theological and artistic disputes with curators Katrin Bucher Trantow, Johannes Rauchenberger and Barbara Steiner. Sat, 09.06., 3–5pm, Diocesan Museum / Priests’ Seminary, KULTUM Thematic dialogue with Florian Traussnig and Karin Weninger-Stößl: Beauty and Ambition, venue: Diocesan Museum. Sun, 10.06., 11am, Kunsthaus Graz How to look at artwork: Azra Akšamija. With Barbara Steiner. Fri, 15.06., 3–4pm, Kunsthaus Graz Friday at three: emotive words from religious history: MIRACLE. Theological and artistic disputes with curators Katrin Bucher Trantow and Johannes Rauchenberger.
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Fri, 22.06., 3–4pm, KULTUM Friday at three: emotive words from religious history: ENLIGHTENMENT. Theological and artistic disputes with curators Katrin Bucher Trantow and Johannes Rauchenberger. Sat, 23.06., 11am–12.30pm, Kunsthaus Graz Dialogue between artist Alois Neuhold and curator Johannes Rauchenberger: Faith Love Hope—“Holiness of Creation”. Fri, 13.07., 3–4pm, KULTUM Friday at three: emotive words from religious history: HOLINESS AND HYPOCRISY. Theological and artistic disputes with curators Johannes Rauchenberger and Barbara Steiner. Fri, 20.07., 3–4pm, Kunsthaus Graz Friday at three: emotive words from religious history: POVERTY. Theological and artistic disputes with curator Johannes Rauchenberger. Fri, 27.07., Sun, 29.07., Fri, 24.08., 3.30pm, Kunsthaus Graz Guided tour of the exhibition with Christof Elpons. Sun, 26.08., 11am–1pm, Kunsthaus Graz, KULTUM Guided tour of the exhibition with curators Johannes Rauchenberger, Katrin Bucher Trantow and Barbara Steiner, meeting point: Kunsthaus Graz. Workshops with embroidery clubs will be held at the exhibition Faith Love Hope. Get the latest information on all our events here: www.kunsthausgraz.at
800-JAHRE-GRAZ-SECKAU.AT*
Das 800-Jahr-Jubiläum der Diözese Graz-Seckau im Jahr 2018 gibt Anlass, in Form von Ausstellungen, die Geschichte und Gegenwart des Christentums in diesem Land zu reflektieren und dabei kulturgeschichtlich immer wieder auf die Fragen der Gegenwart Bezug zu nehmen. Kirchliche Partner haben sich mit dem Kunsthaus zusammengeschlossen um in einen intensiven Austausch zu treten und eine Brücke zwischen verschiedenen, häufig getrennten weltanschaulichen Bereichen zu schlagen.
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Glaube Liebe Hoffnung
*
KUNSTHAUS GRAZ & KULTUM 13. 4. – 26. 8. 2018
ABTEI SECKAU 2. 5. – 26.10. 2018
SCHLOSS SEGGAU 10. 5. – 26.10. 2018
STIFT ADMONT 24. 4. – 4.11. 2018
PRIESTERSEMINAR DIÖZESANMUSEUM • MAUSOLEUM STADTPFARRKIRCHE • QL-GALERIE
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13. 4. – 14.10. 2018
Imprint This exhibition guide is published on the occasion of the exhibition Faith Love Hope An exhibition to mark “800 Years of the Graz-Seckau Diocese” together with KULTUM—the Minorites Cultural Centre. In cooperation with Alte Galerie, Folk Life Museum and Diocesan Museum Graz. Kunsthaus Graz, KULTUM—Kulturzentrum bei den Minoriten April 13 – August 26, 2018 The Kunsthaus is a joint venture between the Province of Styria and the City of Graz within the context of the Universalmuseum Joanneum. The KULTUM—Kulturzentrum bei den Minoriten is a public corporation supported by the Diözese GrazSeckau, the City of Graz, the Province of Styria, and the Bundeskanzleramt Österreich Sektion II Kunst und Kultur. For the generous support Kunsthaus Graz and KULTUM would like to thank:
the general sponsor
and Verein Ausstellungshaus für christliche Kunst e.V.
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Kunsthaus Graz Universalmuseum Joanneum Lendkai 1 8020 Graz, Austria Ph: +43-(0)316/8017-9200 kunsthausgraz@museum-joanneum.at www.kunsthausgraz.at KULTUM – Kulturzentrum bei den Minoriten Mariahilferplatz 3 8020 Graz, Austria Ph. +43-(0)316/7111-33 office@kultum.at www.kultum.at Universalmuseum Joanneum Board Alexia Getzinger Wolfgang Muchitsch Kunsthaus Graz Head Barbara Steiner KULTUM—Kulturzentrum bei den Minoriten Head Johannes Rauchenberger Exhibition Curators Barbara Steiner, Katrin Bucher Trantow, Johannes Rauchenberger Assistant Curators Elisabeth Schlögl, Teresa Schnider Registrars Elisabeth Ganser, Magdalena Reininger Exhibition Design buero bauer; Erwin K. Bauer, Christian Konrad, Rainer Stadlbauer Construction Team Robert Bodlos, David Bosin, Ivan Drlje, Simon Duh, Fabian Egger, Helmut Fuchs, Ivan Gorickic, Bernd Klinger, Irmgard Knechtl, Andreas Lindbichler, Stefan Reichmann, Klaus Riegler, Michael Saupper, Peter Semlitsch, Johann Zuschnegg, Mit Loidl oder Co. GmbH Restoration/Conservation Paul-Bernhard Eipper, Julia Hüttmann, Anna Kozorovicka, Evgeniia Sannikova, Melitta Schmiedel, Fenna Yola Tykwer
Educational Team Monika Holzer-Kernbichler, Verena Borecky, Wanda Deutsch, Christof Elpons, Gabriele Gmeiner, Elisabeth Keler, Barbara Lainerberger, Marta Binder, Romana Schwarzenberger, Barbara Thaler, Antonia Veitschegger, Markus Waitschacher, Teresa Schnider Exhibition Guide Editors Barbara Steiner, Katrin Bucher Trantow, Johannes Rauchenberger Assistant Editor, Research Elisabeth Schlögl Research Antonia Veitschegger Texts pp. 9-12, 16, 19, 21, 22, 31, 35, 40, 61, 66, 75, 82: Katrin Bucher Trantow, Johannes Rauchenberger, Barbara Steiner pp. 14, 23, 25, 26, 28, 45, 63, 74, 81: Katrin Bucher Trantow pp. 27, 44, 52, 59, 68, 73, 76, 84, 85: Monika Holzer-Kernbichler pp. 15, 17, 24, 32, 33, 36, 41, 46, 53, 54, 55, 65, 86: Johannes Rauchenberger p. 60: Elisabeth Schlögl pp. 38, 42, 47, 48, 51, 57, 62, 67, 70, 78, 80: Barbara Steiner pp. 71, 79: Antonia Veitschegger Proofreading Caitlin Ahern Graphic Design buero bauer; Erwin K. Bauer, Christian Konrad Print Universitätsdruckerei Klampfer, St. Ruprecht an der Raab Paper Invercote G, 260 g/m² Recycling Cyclus Print, 90g/m² Published by Universalmuseum Joanneum GmbH ISBN 978-3-903179-01-1 The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.ddb.de.
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All rights reserved. © 2018 Kunsthaus Graz, Universalmuseum Joanneum © for the printed texts by the authors, translators or their estates © for the reproduced works by the architects, artists or their estates © Bildrecht Vienna, 2018: Adel Abdessemed, Iris Andraschek, Maja Bajević, Monica Bonvicini, Louise Bourgeois, Manfred Erjautz, VALIE EXPORT, Maria Hahnenkamp, Anna Jermolaewa, Birgit Jürgenssen, Franz Kapfer, Anna Meyer, Alois Neuhold, Hermann Nitsch, Werner Reiterer, Ulrike Rosenbach, Anri Sala, Santiago Sierra, Wolfgang Temmel, Norbert Trummer, Markus Wilfling Photos: Alexandra Gschiel: p. 44 Archiv Diözesanmuseum Graz: p. 38 buero bauer: Cover Croce & Wir: pp. 57, 70 Daniela Beranek: p. 61 E. Mathias: p. 52 Estate Birgit Jürgenssen: pp. 34, 45 Fotohof Archiv: p. 35 Hennig Wolters: p. 74 Ivan Vranjić: p. 36 Johannes Rauchenberger: pp. 7, 18, 24, 32, 33, 41, 53, 54, 86 Julia Gaisbacher: p. 78 Matthew Septimus p. 56 Michael Wolchover, Archiv Franz West: p. 82 Mirjam Devriendt: pp. 19, 87 Nick Ash: p. 29 Niki Pommer/Reinisch Contemporary: p. 22 Nikola Milatovic: p. 15 Roman März: p. 67 Studio Guillaume Bruère: pp. 55, 69 Studio Luc Tuymans: pp. 65, 37 The Easton Foundation: p. 40 Trevor Good, KÖNIG GALERIE: p. 28 Universalmuseum Joanneum: p. 27 Universalmuseum Joanneum /N. Lackner: p. 48 Wim Cox: p. 84
Kunsthaus Graz and Kultum would like to thank our friends at the Diocese of Graz-Seckau Thomas Bäckenberger, Heinrich Schnuderl our collaborators on the concept for the exhibition Hermann Glettler, Heimo Kaindl, Alois Kölbl the artists of the exhibition and especially the artists who produced new works for the exhibition Azra Akšamija, Iris Andraschek, Maja Bekan, Monica Bonvicini, Guillaume Bruère, Franz Kapfer, Muntean/Rosenblum, Alois Neuhold, Hannes Priesch, Karol Radziszewski, Slavs and Tatars, Norbert Trummer, Luc Tuymans, Danh Võ all lenders Alte Galerie, BRUSEUM, Kulturhistorische Sammlung, Neue Galerie Graz, Volkskundemuseum (Universalmuseum Joanneum); Gudrun Danzer, Renate Einsiedl, Roman Grabner, Ursula Grilnauer, Barbara Kaiser, Karin Leitner-Ruhe, Christine Rabensteiner, Roswitha Orač-Stipperger, Peter Peer, Christian Schmaranz artepari Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst, Graz; Peter Wildbacher Atelier VALIE EXPORT; Sigrid Guggenberger Collection Vanmoerkerke; Eline Jacobs Collection Victoria and Henk de Heus; Ilse de Heus diethARdT collection; Reinhard Diethardt Diözesanmuseum Graz; Heimo Kaindl, Karin Weninger-Stößl, Birgitta Kalcher, Bernadette Mussbacher Harun Farocki GbR; Antje Ehmann Fotohof; Kurt Kaindl, Eva Mitterndorfer Fundacja Raster; Łukasz Gorczyca, Suzann Sum, Wan Cheng Generali Foundation; Sabine Breitwieser, Antonia Lotz Galerie Buchholz Cologne/Berlin/New York; Anna Dobrucki Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna; Natascha Burger Galerie Kunst & Handel, Graz; Gerhard Sommer Galerie Reinisch Contemporary, Graz; Helmut Reinisch, Manuela Schlossinger Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst Leipzig; Franciska Zólyom, Lars Bergmann Peter Kilchmann Galerie; Annemarie Reichen, Nicola Hederich Christine König Galerie; Christine König,
Robby Greif Herta Kramer-Priesch Reza Akhavan Sammlung Götz; Susanne Touw Sammlung Markus Gugatschka, Graz Sammlung Denise & Günther Leising, Graz Sammlung des Quartier Leech, Diözese Graz Seckau Sammlung Olbricht, Berlin; Noelle von Galen Studio Monica Bonvicini; Frauke Nelißen Studio Berlinde De Bruyckere; Katrien Driesen Studio Guillaume Bruère, Berlin Studio Kris Martin; Tim Vanheers Studio Luc Tuymans; Bram Bots Studio Wolfgang Temmel; Animation: Michaela Humpel, Alexander Katz Studio Danh Võ; Marta Lusena, Stefan Pedersen Weizer Energie- und Innovationszentrum; Franz Kern Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp the participants of the project by Azra Akšamija Munira Akšamija, Sajra Burnić, Barbara Edlinger with the needleworkers of KLEIDERWERK, Barbara Ertl-Leitgeb, Roswitha Orač-Stippberger, Emma De Ro, Gerti Schaller, Pfarre Mariahilf; Pater Petru Farkas and Klanglicht; Bernhard Rinner, Brigit Lill, Oliver Kern, OchoResotto the participants of the project by Maja Bekan Paul Bernhard Eipper, Sr. Laetitia Hermann, Sr. Christa Bauer, Sr. Anna Elvira Kurz, Sr. Ruth Lackner, Juliane Nitsch, Nathalie Pollauf, Antonia Veitschegger the participants of the project by Muntean/Rosenblum Helga Bauer, Miriama Bea’kova‘, Tatjana Fiedler, Heide Gaidoschik, Nicolas Galani, Nasreddin Grilj, Eugen Gross, Lukas K., Alois Kronberger, Sophie Lagemann, Brigitte Laggner, Margareth Otti, Kerstin Pichler, Elisabeth Rainer, Ini Schnider, Peter Sura the participants of the project by Karol Radziszewski Michele Cribari, Victoria Dejaco, Gregor Feldgrill, Iris Forstenlechner, Thomas Gluderer, Georg Kroneis, Erhard Pieber, Lisa Rücker, Kasjan Rycklik, Johanna Schröttenhamer, Natalija Vörös, Markus Waitschacher