CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL
Mario Mauroner Contemporary Art
Weihburggasse 26 - Vienna
15 November 2011 - 31 January 2012
Nowadays our system of values is more and more defined by the power of the economy.
We watch how our frenzy of consumerism is pushing the financially weakest to the lowest level. People responsible for it seem to act without human values nor solidarity, and harm the underdog without cease.
Based on this situation it is now time to set a "tribunal":
The common ground for the works of this exhibition lays within the formation of a human existence combined with the hope for a better life. This is not a simple utopia, because to hope must be permitted, like the piece "In the Spotlight" demonstrates: A big petroleum lamp lightens up the shattering effect of this topic. On the lamp's glass we see texts and drawings overlapping, they symbolize how challenging the search for happiness can be. Various themes are being dealt with: a nuclear threat, air pollution, war, globalization, but also human sensations like lust and beauty. The lamp, as an object from the past, turns into supporting material for our era. It represents essential past times, a solid base for us today and lightens up our today's world, a world that is not always bright. At the same time this piece looks at Diogenes' lamp with a blinking eye, like analyzing the impossible search for an ideal world.
The work "The Doctor" displays a man searching for an appropriate instrument to handle his situation, which is defined by self-criticism. He has to bear in mind, every single day, to spend his time with joy and humor and not with fatalism like the pieces "Wedding Day in the City", "The Tired Dancer" and "The Smoker Marihuana at the Vatican 1,2" illustrate.
Men in the 21st century are demanded to contribute more humanism to society and to try to abandon thoughts that put economic power above human values. Pieces like "Hand Feeder" and "Honest Man" are just demonstrating this, whilst hoping for a divine remuneration, that finally finds its fulfillment in the work "The Giving Person at the Holy Ghost's Place".
(Barthélémy Toguo)
