20/11/2012
Lisa Oppenheim / Agnieszka Polska
21er Haus, Wien
Intervention. Works by two female artists reflecting on the collections of the Belvedere
Intervention: Lisa Oppenheim/Agnieszka Polska, curated by Martha Kirszenbaum, presents works by two female artists reflecting on the collections of the Belvedere. Both artists' practices are ingrained in film and photography, and their works share a common interest for the avant-garde and historical practices. Influenced by the contrasting architecture oft the two museums-buildings - the Baroque, darker Upper Belvedere and the luminous glass-house of the 21er Haus, the intervention aims to create a connection between the two edifices while evoking the visual opposition of the moon and the sun. Lisa Oppenheim's (born 1975, lives and works in New York City) new series of Heliograms exhibited in the 21er Haus is based on images of suns existing from the paintings of the Belvedere's collection, while Agnieszka Polska's (born 1985, lives and works in Krakow) animated movie projected in the Upper Belvedere revisits the archives of the museum related to lunar and natural phenomena. Conceived as a whole and viewed together, the two parts of the intervention and their thematic focus result in a complex visual discourse that oscillates between darkness and light, the Baroque and Modernism, as well as contrasting views of the world and systems of thought.