Emanuel Danesch
David Rych
Judith Fegerl
Christoph Hinterhuber
Siggi Hofer
Sonia Leimer
Werner Reiterer
Gregor Sailer
Sofie Thorsen
Jun Yang
Beate Palfrader
Beate Ermacora
Christina Nagele
The exhibition traces the positions of 9 different artists living in Austria and so investigates the increasingly staged, emblematic quality of our real environment. Employing different media the artists participating in this show examine those mechanisms and visibility fields which turn the world into a backdrop for everyday productions and performances.
Thematically and spatially, the exhibition The World as a Backdrop traces the positions of nine different
artists living in Austria and so investigates the increasingly staged, emblematic quality of our real
environment.
As a result of mass media such as mobile telephones, Internet or advertising displays, we perceive the
reality around us more and more as a space defined by the media; as an experiential and artistic sphere
designed and developed for cultural performances like sporting and cultural events, tourism or the
evolution of social identities. Landscape and architecture are interpreted as signs and – supplemented
by factors such as language, music or social interaction – used as the basis for the generation of
identity. Landscape and the city become a theme park capable of being transferred into different
contexts and always appearing authentic, since it is a mixture of shifted or manipulated reality and
invention from the outset. The subject him- or herself becomes an actor on the stage of everyday life.
Employing different media like sculpture, spatial and light installation, video, photography and
interactive works, the artists participating in this exhibition examine those mechanisms and visibility
fields which turn the world into a backdrop for everyday productions and performances. The works,
some of which have been conceived specifically for the venue, pursue various wide-ranging emphases
such as the debate with illusionary cinematic techniques, investigation into optical or acoustic
perceptual patterns, and the examination and acquisition of cultural design procedures that adopt media
processes such as montage, symbolisation and shifts in meaning.
Emanuel Danesch (*1976 in Innsbruck, lives in Vienna) and David Rych (*1975 in Innsbruck, lives in
Berlin) use the filmic medium to investigate the transfer of cultural identity and conservation of culture in
the form of stereotypes and reminiscences, specifically examining the dislocation of the “Tyrolean” and
its metamorphosis into “museum material” among descendants of Tyrolean emigrants in Brazil.
The concept of home and the construction of alpine identity is also a key theme in the work of Siggi
Hofer (*1970 in Bruneck, lives in Vienna). The nature of the backdrop is employed as a formal principle
in his work, revealing how the “alpine style” regarded as traditional is idealised in the contradictory
character of a landscape overdeveloped with industry and detached family houses.
Artist talks
Wed, 15/12/10, 7 pm Emanuel Danesch / David Rych & Siggi Hofer in conversation with
Dr. Beate Ermacora
Fri, 14/1/11, 7 pm Judith Fegerl & Christoph Hinterhuber in conversation with Dr.
Jürgen Tabor
Wed, 19/1/11, 7 pm Sofie Thorsen & Werner Reiterer in conversation with Mag. Julia
Brennacher
Wed, 2/2/11, 7 pm Sonia Leimer & Gregor Sailer in conversation with Mag. Christina
Nägele
Catalogue Presentation
Wed, 2/2/11, 7.30 p.m.
An exhibition catalogue will be published in the Verlag für moderne Kunst Nürnberg,
including illustrations and essay contributions by Julia Brennacher, Beate Ermacora,
Christina Nägele and Jürgen Tabor.
Image: Jun Yang, Paris Syndrome, 2007. Courtesy Gallery Martin Janda, Vienna
Opening: 10 December 2010, 7 pm
Speakers at the opening
LR Dr. Beate Palfrader, Member of the Tyrolean Regional Government Responsible for Education and
Culture
Dr. Beate Ermacora, Director, Galerie im Taxispalais
Mag. Christina Nägele, Curator, Galerie im Taxispalais
Afterwards Christoph Hinterhuber DJ
Galerie im Taxispalais
Maria-Theresien-Straße 45 6020 Innsbruck