At home: an invitation to an informal drinks party in the early evening. There is no drinks party in the gallery, the exhibition shows the informal formality of home as an already bygone form of protective space. Quinn addresses the artist's position in society, and here he attempts to counter the declassification of elegant solutions in an art historical context and in the history of taste
At home
Elegant Approaches to Bygone Issues
'At home': an invitation to an informal drinks party in the early evening. The informal formality of such a gathering provides an opportunity to do business too, in a private and more relaxed situation. This sociological mix of rituals has found its way into the scenario of the exhibition opening, where growing numbers of freelance cultural producers do their wheeling and dealing in an ostensibly easygoing setting.
In the kunstbuero gallery Jonathan Quinn conceptually recreates an elegant solution for an interior for just such a party. Although the furniture is only outlined in the space with hardly visible fishing line and thread held in position by chewing gum weights. In the Kunsthalle 8 two reproductions of lamps designed by Gerrit Rietveld illuminate a subjectively highlighted spatial framework established with reduced means, and a chewing gum sculpture.
Due to the fragility of the work on show and the difficulty in actually seeing it, the space can only be viewed in small groups at the opening. There is no drinks party in the gallery, the exhibition shows the informal formality of home as an already bygone form of protective space. The space in which the art is produced itself gains the attributes of museum space. The wheeling and dealing will carry on, the rites of the exhibition opening props-up the fading bonds of friendship between competitors. Jonathan Quinn addresses the artist's position in society, and here he attempts to counter the declassification of elegant solutions in an art historical context and in the history of taste. It's just that the problems for these solutions only continue to exist in our memories of bygone times  when art still unleashed energy.
Thomas Raab
Image: Jonathan Quinn Ground Plan of Kunstburo and Kunsthalle 8, 2004
Opening: Ttuesday, 16th of November, 7 p.m
Kunstbuero
Schadekgasse 6, A-1060 Wien