Diane Arbus
Matthew Barney
Julian Bismuth
Rhona Bitner
Peter Blake
Olaf Breuning
Bernhard Buhmann
Charlie Chaplin
Clifton Childree
Charles & Ray Eames
Federico Fellini
Daniel Firman
Thilo Frank
Jeppe Hein
Roni Horn
Anna Jermolaewa
Anna Kolodziejska
Tomasz Kowalski
Zilla Leutenegger
Ulrike Lienbacher
Jonathan Monk
Bruce Nauman
Ulrike Ottinger
Marion Peck
Ugo Rondinone
Joe Scanlan
Elisabeth Schmirl
Deborah Sengl
Cindy Sherman
Simmons & Burke
Kristian Sverdrup
Javier Téllez
Joe Wagner
Martin Walde
William Wegman
Nives Widauer
Erwin Wurm
Rona Yefman
Presenting a number of contemporary works of art, the exhibition offers an introduction into the universe of the circus and highlights a wondrous place full of knowledge of the world, surprises and sensations, a place of poetry, but also of excitement, confusion, and unease. On show Jonathan Monk, Bruce Nauman, Diane Arbus, Matthew Barney, Ugo Rondinone and many more.
Clear the ring for the world of acrobats, clowns, and exotic animals!
Presenting a number of contemporary works of art, the exhibition The Circus
as a Parallel Universe offers an introduction into the universe of the
circus and highlights a wondrous place full of knowledge of the world,
surprises and sensations, a place of poetry, but also of excitement,
confusion, and unease.
The circus as a parallel world has become a projection surface in film and
literature, but also in the fine arts. Fascinated with the circus, its
forms, and its practice, Peter Blake has created his own personal company
of acrobats and fabulous circus creatures, for example. Federico Fellini
has made the circus the subject of numerous films, and Charlie Chaplin's
figure of the tramp transcends the norms of social life. Ulrike Ottinger's
works confront us with the circus as a metaphor of an utopian perspective
in which its sphere features as the gentle twin of revolution. Besides
animals and acrobats, it is primarily the figure of the clown whose
complexity oscillating between good and bad, funny and sad has always
inspired the arts. Reaching far beyond the actual fringes of the circus's
ring, the exhibition assembles international artistic positions that
thematize the world of the circus outside the big top and draw on its
figures, forms, and metaphors.
Participating Artists:
Diane Arbus, Matthew Barney, Julian Bismuth, Rhona Bitner, Peter Blake,
Olaf Breuning, Bernhard Buhmann, Charlie Chaplin, Clifton Childree, Charles
& Ray Eames, Federico Fellini, Daniel Firman, Thilo Frank, Jeppe Hein, Roni
Horn, Anna Jermolaewa, Anna Kolodziejska, Tomasz Kowalski, Zilla
Leutenegger, Ulrike Lienbacher, Jonathan Monk, Bruce Nauman, Ulrike
Ottinger, Marion Peck, Ugo Rondinone, Joe Scanlan, Elisabeth Schmirl,
Deborah Sengl, Cindy Sherman, Simmons & Burke, Kristian Sverdrup, Javier
Téllez, Joe Wagner, Martin Walde, William Wegman, Nives Widauer, Erwin Wurm
and Rona Yefman.
Press contact: Katharina Murschetz phone: +43-1-521 89-1221 presse@kunsthallewien.at
Opening: Thursday, 3 May, 2012, 7 p.m., KUNSTHALLE wien museumsquartier
Kunsthalle Wien
Museumsplatz 1 - Wien
Daily from 1 p.m. to midnight, Sun and Mon from 1 to 7 p.m