Kunsthaus Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum
Eye Sucks World. The works of the artist are characterised by dialogue and communication. In addition to sculptural works, it is mainly drawings that serve as an outlet for the play of Reiterer's thoughts. Curated by Peter Pakesch and Katia Schurl.
Eye Sucks World
Curators: Peter Pakesch, Katia Schurl
The works of Styrian artist Werner Reiterer are characterised by dialogue and
communication. The
beholder “may feel addressed”*, as the artist invites him to reflect on the sense
and senselessness of the world we live in. “I believe that art per se is actually
always about to develop new rules as to how one may perceive the world”, says
Reiterer finding himself in the lucky position of someone capable of turning the
world upside down and make new rules.
In addition to sculptural works, it is mainly drawings that serve as an outlet for
the play of Reiterer’s thoughts. The artist’s constant formalism, expressed in the
consistent use of exactly 17 pencils all differing in thickness for 17 different
shades of grey and the consistent format (70 x 50 cm) recall drafts on a sketch pad.
Many works from the “Gezeichnete Ausstellungen (Drawn exhibitions)” series,
constantly expanded and complemented by the artist, were implemented in the form of
installations and sculptures.
Seemingly familiar as these sculptures are at first glance, they are very irritating
on closer inspection. The works appear like a source of irritation in a normal world
and quite often it is only small details that are confusing and they involve the
person who notices them in a private dialogue. It is a strategy of the paradox
Reiterer uses to deprive us of the implicitness, we need to understand reality. It
is very evident here that the artist takes pleasure in testing the recipients of his
art, undermining expectations vis-a-vis pieces of art per se.
A lapidary note, for instance, mounted on the wall of the exhibition room, invites
visitors to roar as loud as they possibly can. Whoever succeeds in overcome his or
her cultural education forbidding him or her to be loud in the public space, will be
rewarded by a reaction from outside: the exhibition lighting in Space02 starts
breathing, both visually and acoustically (Breath [Kunsthaus Graz], 2007).
Reiterer’s principle, to let both objects and material act in a human way stems from
an absurd tradition.
In fact, the artist admits, “to rape, abuse, ravish and form various objects of
everyday life, according to various different rules”**, in reality, however, he
liberates them from the prison of pre-determined contexts rather than tormenting
them. “The lapidary creep (like a virus) into unexpected contexts with conscious
platitude, but without doubt in a somewhat cryptic manner […]“*** Lapidary is the
term one might also use for Reiterer’s way of dealing with his own person, being
used as a tool in numerous sculptural casts to represent the unacceptable.
Opening: Friday, March 2 / 7pm
Kunsthaus Graz am Landesmuseum Joanneum
Lendkai 1, A - Graz