Chinese Contemporary Art #4

With this photo ends our short tour of the exhibition  "中国私语 CHINESE WHISPERS: Recent Art from the Sigg Collection" at the Museum of Applied Arts. In his works Shi Jinsong investigates the sociocultural transformation in China between tradition and modernity in the context of hybridity, synthesis and symbolism. The sculpture "Lack Pine Tree" (2011) is composed of the fragments of trees chopped down around his studio.

Chinese Contemporary Art #3

In his sculpture "The Death of Marat" He Xiangyu created a life-size fiberglass sculpture of the artist Ai Weiwei’s corpse lying contorted face down on the ground. The title of the work refers to the 18th century portrait by Jaques-Louis David of the French revolutionary leader murdered in his bath. In a similar vein, Xiangyu's work reflects the political persecution of progressive thinkers and artists who have been silenced and imprisoned; hence, the choice to use Ai Weiwei, most well-known for his openly critical stance against the Chinese government. Weiwei has become a symbol of the struggle for human rights in China.

Chinese Contemporary Art #2

The monumental chandelier ("Descending Light with A Missing Circle") by Ai Weiwei appears to have fallen to the floor and points to the decay and ruptures of modern society in China. In the 20th century, the colour red, in China traditionally a symbol of luck in all its conflictive facets, became the colour of revolution, progress and political power through the ideology of communism.

Contemporary Art

Here is a collage of four artworks that have been on show at the recent viennacontemporary art fair and that caught my eyes. Can you guess which of them was a big hit on the social media?

Parallel Vienna

Yesterday I attended the Parallel Vienna, a platform for innovative forms of presentation of contemporary art that occupies a niche between emerging and established art practices. The artworks were... um... well... interesting...

Contemporary Art

Last wednesday I attended the vernissage of the VIENNAFAIR, an art fair that presents a cross-section of Eastern and Southeastern European contemporary works of visual art, painting, graphics, sculpture, photography, installations and performances.
By the way, for art lovers there is another fixture tonight: the Long Night of Museums. Museums and galleries all over the city open their doors from 6 pm to 1 am and can be visited with only one ticket.

Silver Clouds

The kinetic space installation "Silver Clouds" by Andy Warhol is part of the current exhibition "Clouds. Fleeting Worlds" at the Leopold Museum. The clouds, filled with helium and oxygen, float through a room on air currents, bumping into each other and into the visitors. The clouds may be touched, and last Sunday some adolescents started a short "cloud fight". The exhibition runs through July 1.

21er Haus #5

The 21er Haus also houses the estate of Austrian sculptor Fritz Wotruba (1907-1975). Some of his sculptures are shown on the terrace in the basement.

Ants Pillar

I discovered this ants pillar yesterday on the ground floor of the auction house Dorotheum, it seems to be a foretaste of the contemporary art auctions at the end of the month. These ants and interlacing tubes are characteristic motifs of the Austrian multimedia artist Peter Kogler (*1959).

21er Haus #3

The red carpet by Austrian artist Markus Geiger seen from the first floor of the 21er Haus.

21er Haus #2

The opening exhibition at the 21er Haus deals with the building itself and its adapted architecture. In this photo you can see a red carpet by Marcus Geiger, laid crisscross and even wrapped around the balustrade, and a fluorescent sculpture by Lucio Fontana.

21er Haus #1

The 21er Haus was built in 1958 by the Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer as a pavilion or temporary showroom for the Universal Exhibition in Brussels. In the same year Schwanzer won the Grand Prix d´Architecture for his visionary and technologically innovative design. From 1962 to 2001 the building served as an exhibition hall for the Museum of Modern Art until its collection was moved to the Museum of Modern Art - Ludwig Foundation in Vienna’s new MuseumsQuartier. In 2002 the 21er Haus was incorporated into the Belvedere museum. During the past few years the building was adapted to the purposes of a modern museum and finally reopened last week.

MuseumsQuartier 5

The modern building on the left side, clad in anthracite grey basalt lava, is the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien (MUMOK), the largest Austrian museum for international modern and contemporary art.