THE ARTIST AS TROUBLEMAKER
December 10, 2008 - March 28, 2009
Artists
Günter BRUS, CLEGG and GUTTMANN, Olafur ELIASSON, Martin KIPPENBERGER, Dorit MARGREITER, Diana THATER, Sofie THORSEN
The Austrian Cultural Forum New York is entering the year 2009 with a group show featuring works by well-known Austrian and international "troublemaker" artists.
The objective of the exhibition is to visualize the meeting of artistic provocation and creativity with institutional practice. Artistic positions have a formative influence on institutional structures on various levels. Museums are the focal point and testing ground of the encounter.
Artists are the actual critical and transformative potential; they are the "troublemakers" who want to reflect, reconstruct, rethink, and reinvent the existing social order and its conditions. Throughout art history they have evoked reactions ranging from press agitation to the resignation of politicians, the birth of social movements, acts of emancipation, the destruction of works of art, and even the arrest of artists. Many of these provocateurs experienced horrific processes of public rejection and discrimination. Independent of sociopolitical conditions, however, some achieved recognition, and occasionally their works became the subject of institutional and academic studies.
Günter Brus is one such artist. In the 1960s, the oeuvre of this actionist was the quintessence of resistance. On June 7, 1968, Günter Brus, Oswald Wiener, Otto Mühl, and several others organized the large-scale action titled Kunst und Revolution (Art and Revolution) in the main auditorium at Vienna University. It was denounced by the press as the "university obscenity" and led to the criminal prosecution of several artists, above all Günter Brus. Representatives of the more recent generation, such as Martin Kippenberger, Dorit Margreiter, Sofie Thorsen, Olafur Eliasson and Diana Thater have also been actively involved in utopian and scientifically and politically radical issues.
Creative artists often move in a utopian arena and in their radicalism are important reflectors of society. In the context of this exhibition, the museum as an institution returns to its beginnings as a place for the documentation of resistance and as a corrective force in a contradictory society.
Producer Andreas Stadler Curator Peter Pakesch Curatorial Consulting Elisabeth Fiedler
Exhibition Coordination Elisabeth Haider (New York), Elisabeth Ganser (Graz)
Editorial Assistance Karin Meisel Exhibition Assistants Natascha Boojar, Karin Meisel, Isabella Schrammel, Kerstin Schuetz-Mueller, Maria Simma
In cooperation with Landesmuseum Joanneum, Kunsthaus Graz, Neue Galerie Graz
With generous support from the Office of the Styrian Government, Austrian Airlines, NOUS-Guide
Supporting institutions of the Austrian Cultural Forum New York: Austrian Airlines, Botstiber Foundation, RZB Finance, Zumtobel Staff
CREATIVE MIGRATION - AUSTRIAN ARTISTS IN THE US
During its 2009 spring season, the Austrian Cultural Forum New York will be transformed into an open space for emerging Austrian artists who live and work in the US. What all of these artists have in common is a desire to establish a position and reputation in New York and/or the USA.
The upcoming OPEN SPACE PROJECT - CREATIVE MIGRATION at the ACF surveys the emerging Austrian art scene in the US and sheds light on a new form of migration movement. It examines the artists' motives for choosing the US as their cultural and creative working environment.
Migration as such has always figured prominently in the USA and Austria. Both Vienna and New York gained their cultural attraction by virtue of being "melting pots" as a result of various migration movements. For more than a hundred years, Austrian immigrants have actively contributed to the arts in the USA. However, their motives and reasons for migration have changed dramatically. Originally, many were forced to leave their homeland due to poverty, war, and dictatorship. Today, most are driven by the search for ideal working conditions within a globalized cultural market.
PARTICIPANTS
A jury of artists, art critics, and art historians selected the most interesting projects from more than 30 submissions. The objective was to identify ideas most likely to provide fertile ground for creative cross-disciplinary collaboration. After many hours of discussion, the jury chose the following finalists (listed in alphabetical order):
Christoph Pepe AUER (Saxophonist & Composer)
Patrizia FERRARA (Singer)
Walter FISCHBACHER (Jazz Musician, Piano/Keyboard)
Zipora FRIED (Artist)
Johannes GIRARDONI (Sculptor & Installation Artist)
Anja HITZENBERGER (Photographer & Filmmaker)
Patrick KLAUSS (Immigration Attorney, Partner at Berd & Klauss, PLLC)
Melanie MAAR (Dance Artist)
Maria NECKAM (Singer)
Maria PETSCHNIG (Multidisciplinary Artist)
Annette SONNEWEND (Artist)
Astrid STEINER (Visual Artist)
Michael STRASSER (Photographer, Video & Installation Artist)
During the three-week project in April/May 2009, the artists will be asked to work with each other and ideally refer to other displayed and presented works.
CREATIVE MIGRATION is an interdisciplinary project that promotes many possible combinations and uses of the premises of the Austrian Cultural Forum.
The artists will have the freedom to decide how to use the space in the context of the project.
We owe special thanks to our jury committee:
Barbara BRYAN (Movement Research New York)
Chase GRANOFF (Choreographer)
Franz HACKL (Jazz Musician)
Christopher JUST (DJ, Producer)
Mel MERIO (Singer, Moderator)
Katharina POSCH (Design Historian)
Tina PRESCHITZ (Design/Architecture/Fashion Editor)
Serge SPITZER (Artist)
Elga WIMMER (Galerist)
Bettina ZERZA (Architect)
Joseph ZUTELGTE (Artist)
Project Coordinator Natascha Boojar
OPENING
TUESDAY, APRIL 14, 6 PM
OPEN SPACE PROJECT
ACF
PROJECT DURATION
April 14 - May 2, 2009
