Johanna Kandl
dal 19/11/2002 al 18/1/2003
Segnalato da
19/11/2002
Johanna Kandl
Christine Koenig Galerie, Wien
In this, Johanna Kandl's first solo exhibition at the gallery, new large-scale works are being shown Âtogether with original cut-outs from regional newspapers Âon a coloured display made of plastic awnings, of the kind familiar from market booths.
KÄMPFER FÜR´S GLÜCK
Opening: 20th November, 7.00-9.00 p.m. Exhibition showing until 18th January 03
Johanna Kandl, born in Vienna in 1954, studied painting and restoration at
the Academies of Fine Art in Vienna and Belgrade. Numerous travels and
longer sojourns in conjunction with various artistic and curatorial projects
in Eastern Europe and in the former Soviet Union: Georgia, Azerbaijan,
Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Romania, Lithuania, the former Republic of
Yugoslavia and the Czech Republic. Solo exhibitions: Kunstverein Ulm (2003);
Galerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig (2002); Fotohof Salzburg (2001);
Secession, Vienna (1999/2000). Participation in the group shows: Å’Painting
on the Move', Kunsthalle Basel (2002); Å’Uncommon Denominator', MassMOCA,
North Adams, USA (2002/03); Å’(un)gemalt', Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg
(2002); Å’Mia san mia', Generali Foundation, Vienna (2001); Å’Desire', Ursula
Blickle Stiftung, Kraichtal (2001). Work in public spaces in co-operation
with Å’museum in progress' and Der Standard (2000/2001).
In this, Johanna Kandl's first solo exhibition at the gallery, new
large-scale works are being shown  together with original cut-outs from
regional newspapers  on a coloured display made of plastic awnings, of the
kind familiar from market booths. The sources of her pictures are
photographs from travelling or transregional projects involving people
living behind and in front of the former Å’Iron Curtain'. The increasingly
perfect and lucid manner of her painting of the past few years has been
achieved by employing the rare technique of egg tempera on wood. "The
deceleration effect achieved through the attitude of Å’keep on painting'
turns the original snapshot into a history picture, or at least into a genre
scene." (quot.by Borchardt-Bierbaumer). Inserted written quotes from
specialist books for managers or from international business magazines place
the pictorial content in an ironical state of suspension that both touches
and rouses one.
Since the political and economic opening-up of Eastern Europe, a wildly
proliferating Å’free zone' has developed between Austria and the Czech
Republic, one which obeys its own laws and rules. On the Czech side,
Vietnamese traders sell carvings, electrical goods and Gucci and Prada
fakes. "This free zone could be anywhere, the pictures of these markets are
the same all over the world. How many million people live from this kind of
small-scale economy? WE HAVE ALREADY ACHIEVED EXPANDING MARKETS is what
these small-time traders seem to be saying, yet paradoxically they are not
interesting for the business gazettes, although it is precisely microcosms
such as this which reflect global processes." (quot.by J. Kandl). Another
picture, IT´S THE ECONOMY, STUPID, shows a relief at the University of
Leipzig, in front of which is a market stall with T-shirts and handbags and
two stallholders engaged in discussion....
Incidentally, the title of the exhibition KÄMPFER FÜRS GLÜCK (ŒFighters for
Happiness') is the title of a song by a youth band from the former GDR. But
the right to happiness is also anchored in the American constitution as one
of the citizens' fundamental rights. And, in one way or another, all the
people in Johanna Kandl's pictures are FIGHTERS FOR HAPPINESS.
In the image: 'modernize or die...', 2002.
NOCTURNE:
late night opening every Tuesday: until 12 pm.
NOCTURNAL VIDEO PROGRAMME IN
THE GALLERY WINDOW. Curated by SKIP ARNOLD:
"stuff from LA and other places":
For the season 2002 / 2003 the Californian video artist SKIP ARNOLD has put
together a nocturnal programme which passers-by can view in the window of
the gallery. The videos are by artists from Los Angeles and its environs and
were specially selected by Skip Arnold for this occasion. They are all
silent videos and will change on a weekly basis.
"When asked to organize this program, I thought WHAT would I want to see?
And for me it became landscape and not really repetition like mondane but
more like the mondane becomes the action which is repetition  like
masturbation or maybe like taking a walk. So the works that I have been
collecting are various views of landscape and repetition. And when I say
landscape I mean it in the broadest sense of the word." (quot.Skip Arnold)
GALERIE CHRISTINE KOENIG
Schleifmuehlgasse 1A
A-1040 VIENNA
t: +43 1 585 74 74
f: +43 1 585 74 74-24