Utopia Gesamtkunstwerk

21er Haus, Wien

A contemporary perspective of the historical idea of the total work of art. In the exhibition, over 50 national and international positions explore art after 1960 as to the possibilities and impossibilities of reinterpreting the remaining fragments of the notion of Gesamtkunstwerk. A comprehensive display, conceived by the artist Esther Stocker serves as a stage for works by Joseph Beuys, Monica Bonvicini, Christian Boltanski, Marcel Broodthaers, Gunter Brus, Daniel Buren, Tom Burr...

comunicato stampa

Curators: Bettina Steinbrügge and Harald Krejci

The exhibition Utopia Gesamtkunstwerk presents a contemporary perspective of the historical idea of the total work of art. With appropriate scepticism, artists have undertaken to review this legendary figure of thought, thereby casting a critical eye on the history of Modernism: with the upheaval caused by the avant-garde after 1918 and the work theories developed by Schwitters, Duchamp, or Artaud, a holistic and socially critical way of thinking set in as a relevant force.

The idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, originally a purely aesthetic concept, underwent a redefinition aimed at a renewal of society through an art that was critical of the latter’s mechanisms and institutions.

Social developments like neo-liberalization, standardization, and functionalization, but also the political reorganization after the fall of the Iron Curtain or the events of 9/11 have an impact on today’s social dynamics and cause feelings of insecurity. The desire to improve life in our society and the question of what models of living are still or again possible today are therefore also increasingly in the focus of artistic interest.

In Utopia Gesamtkunstwerk, over 50 national and international positions explore art after 1960 as to the possibilities and impossibilities of reinterpreting the remaining fragments of the notion of Gesamtkunstwerk.

A comprehensive display, conceived by the artist Esther Stocker for Utopia Gesamtkunstwerk, serves as a stage for works by Marc Adrian, Klaus Auderer, Josef Bauer, Joseph Beuys, Monica Bonvicini, Christian Boltanski, Marcel Broodthaers, Günter Brus, Daniel Buren, Tom Burr, Ernst Caramelle, Bernhard Cella, Cityrama, Heinz Emigholz, VALIE EXPORT, Claire Fontaine, Peter Friedl, gelatin, Inspection Medical Hermeneutics (Pavel Pepperstein, Sergej Anufriew), Isa Genzken, Liam Gillick, Franz Graf, Thomas Hirschhorn, Julia Hohenwarter, Hans Hollein, Christian Jankowski, Ilya Kabakov, Tillman Kaiser, Jean Kalman, Ian Kiaer, Friedrich Kiesler, Martin Kippenberger, Mahony, Gordon Matta-Clark, Ralo Mayer, Paul McCarthy, Jonathan Meese, Hermann Nitsch, Oswald Oberhuber, Hermann Painitz, Seb Patane, Helga Philipp, Walter Pichler, Marjetica Potrc, Jason Rhoades, Thiago Rocha Pitta, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Constanze Ruhm, Gerhard Rühm, Markus Schinwald, Jörg Schlick, Christoph Schlingensief, Gregor Schneider, SUPERFLEX, Una Szeemann, Peter Weibel, Franz West, WochenKlausur, Fritz Wotruba, Heimo Zobernig and others.

Friday, 2 March at 5 p.m.
Positions, Intentions, and Generations! The artists Ralo Mayer und Seb Patane will meet in the exhibition for a talk (in english) about Utopia Gesamtkunstwerk.

Press contact:
Niklas Jelinek, MAS Head of the Department Press, Senior PR-Consultant T +43 1 795 57-185 F +43 1 795 57-250 N.Jelinek@belvedere.at
Klara Böhm T +43 1 795 57-177 F +43 1 795 57-250 K.Boehm@belvedere.at

21er Haus
Schweizergarten, Arsenalstraße 1, 1030 Wien
Hours
Wednesday to Sunday 10 am to 6 pm
Admission
Adults € 7,-
Elderly person (from age 60) € 5,50
Students (under 27) € 5,50
Groups of 10 Persons and over € 5,50
Children & teenager (under 19) free

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permanent link

21er Haus

IN ARCHIVIO [21]

Three exhibitions
dal 20/6/2015 al 15/8/2015