Museums Will be Reopened

Museums are allowed to open their door to visitors again from mid-May. The Austrian Federal Museums (Albertina, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Belvedere, MAK, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Museum of Natural History Vienna, Museum of Technology, Austrian National Library) have already communicated that for economic reasons they will reopen only at the end of June. Let's see when the Clock Museum (in this photo) will be open again...

A New Museum for Modern Art

The opening of the ALBERTINA modern was planned for last week, but had to be postponed until further notice due to the coronavirus crisis. The collection of this new museum for modern art encompasses over 60.000 works by 5.000 important Austrian and international artists. ALBERTINA modern is located in the freshly renovated Künstlerhaus (built between 1865 and 1868 by the Austrian Artists' Society, the oldest surviving artists' society in Austria).

Time to Relax

Visiting a museum can be tiring. Gladly the Museum of Applied Arts has prepared some beds where the visitors can relax, take a nap, have a look at the beautiful ceiling or just check their phones...

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.

Chinese Contemporary Art #1

Yesterday I went to see the exhibition "中国私语 CHINESE WHISPERS: Recent Art from the Sigg Collection" at the Museum of Applied Arts. The collector Uli Sigg has been following the development of contemporary art in China since the late 1970s. In the mid-1990s, he started putting together the world’s most significant and representative collection of Chinese art. In this photo you can see the work "Temporary Actor A" by Liu Ding. The painting can be viewed as a comment on the interpretation of the ideals of aniquity in the display of male and female figures for Maoist propaganda language. (Yes, I copied the label of the painting...)

A Special Guided Tour

On Sunday afternoon I participated for the second time in a guided tour at the Kunsthistorisches Museum by drag queen and art educator Tiefe Kümmernis. This time the focus of the tour was on the fashion in the paintings. It was an interesting afternoon, and the styling of the drag queen was as spectacular as always.

A New Kind of Painting

The exhibition "Painting with Method. Neoavantgarde Positions from the mumok Collection" at the MUMOK Museum Moderner Kunst presents different lines of development in painting from the 1950s to the 1970s. During the 1950s there was a radical shift and break with tradition in the fundamentals of painting in favor of new media-based forms of art. Key impulses came from minimal art and conceptual art. Their sober principles are reflected in abstract and geometrical painting with its formally reduced compositions and its rejection of narrative and illusionist representation. 

Reflections #34

This sculptural object ("Unitled. (To my friend De Wain Valentine),1990) by American artist Dan Flavin is part of the exhibition "Painting With Method. Neoavantgarde Positions from the mumok Collection" at the MUMOK Museum Moderner Kunst. I like its reflection on the floor.

Art Lovers

A young couple in front of a snare-picture by Swiss artist Daniel Spoerri in the "55 Dates" exhibition at the MUMOK Museum Modernern Kunst.

55 Dates

Recently I visited the exhibition "55 Dates" at the MUMOK Museum Moderner Kunst. The presented 55 works from the MUMOK collection are a mix of the known and the lesser known, with artists whose names and works have entered art history and others still to be discovered. The selected works do not present a classical perspective on art history but rather a diverse coexistence of ways of thinking, themes, and artistic media.

Skin Deep #4

One of my personal highlights of the exhibition "Skin Deep. Hair dressers, barbers, beauticians" at the Wien Museum was the assemblage of covers of professional journals for hairdressers. The covers in this photo (that shows only a detail of the assemblage) are from 1927 to 1951. The subtitle of one of the journals was "the gate to the world of the hairdo" - I think this sounds great.

Skin Deep #3

Up until World War I a fair skin was among the most important attributes of feminine beauty. This was a status symbol that only members of the upper class could afford as they did not have to work outdoors, unlike the majority of the population. Further, the cult of white skin was strongly associated with the dividing line between white and non-white ethnicities. This sun hat is made of hemp lace and dates from ca. 1910, as does the ceramic figure in rococo style "At her toilet".

Skin Deep #2

Some hairdresser instruments from the 1930s to the 1960s: an electrical hair drying hood, two electrical perming devices, an electrical hair dryer and a wash basin. Two of these instruments look rather scary, don't you think?

Skin Deep #1

Last Sunday I visited the exhibition "Skin Deep. Hair dressers, barbers, beauticians" at the Wien Museum. The exhibition deals with the practices and meanings of modern body care and styling from the 18th century onwards and focuses on shaving, hair care and cosmetics in the Viennese context. The objects in this photo are from the hairdressing salon "Marko's" opened in 1899. The salon was considered a top-class-establishment and counted numerous prominent people, inlcuding high nobility, as clientele. Regular clients' personal razors were kept in the small drawers of the cabinet.

Museum Visitor #2

An Italian tourist attentively looking at the artworks at the Albertina museum...

Museum Visitor #1

During my last visit at the Albertina museum this girl caught my eyes not only because of her styling but also because of her enthusiasm for the artworks. I think she photographed every single painting in this room.

Keith Haring Stairs

I'm back! The break of the last few months wasn't planned, it was a consequence of a lack of time, photos and inspiration. I hope that now I can get back to the old rhythm...
The Albertina museum uses to cover the external staircase with artworks to promote its exhibitions. From March to June the museum dedicated a comprehensive exhibition to American artist Keith Haring who would have turned 60 this year.

People Matching Art Works #2