ABSTRACT LOOP AUSTRIA
curated by Axel Köhne
21er Haus - Wien
28/1/2016 - 29/5/2016
Marc Adrian, Richard Kriesche, Helga Philipp, Gerwald Rockenschaub
With Abstract Loop Austria, the 21er Haus is dedicating its first exhibition of the year to the constructive and concrete artistic trends in post-war Austria, which have often been overlooked. The display will be a concentrated group exhibition focusing on four Austrian artists: Marc Adrian, Richard Kriesche, Helga Philipp and Gerwald Rockenschaub. In order to give the show a broader international scope, works by Josef Albers, Marina Apollonio, François Morellet, Uli Pohl and many more will be featured.
The foundation for the constructive, concrete art of post-war Austria had been laid by the radical ideas of modernism (Wiener Kreis, twelve-tone music) at the beginning of the 20th century, the rejection of the figurative tendencies of Austrian expressionism and the more general notion of a new beginning after the end of the Second World War.
Almost 50 years later, these approaches are returning to the 21er Haus, thereby drawing attention to a generation of artists who were—and are—an important source of inspiration.
By means of a concentrated juxtaposition of works by Marc Adrian, Richard Kriesche and Helga Philipp, Abstract Loop Austria demonstrates how Austria made an important contribution to Constructivist and Op Art in the late 1950s, the 1960s and 1970s, and how Gerwald Rockenschaub has continued this tradition in the next generation of artists, bringing it into postmodernism and the present day.
Image: Marc Adrian, Sprungperspektive, 1953. Acrylic on wood. Private collection. Photo: Cornelia Cabuk / Bildrecht, Vienna, 2016.
curated by Axel Köhne
21er Haus - Wien
28/1/2016 - 29/5/2016
Marc Adrian, Richard Kriesche, Helga Philipp, Gerwald Rockenschaub
With Abstract Loop Austria, the 21er Haus is dedicating its first exhibition of the year to the constructive and concrete artistic trends in post-war Austria, which have often been overlooked. The display will be a concentrated group exhibition focusing on four Austrian artists: Marc Adrian, Richard Kriesche, Helga Philipp and Gerwald Rockenschaub. In order to give the show a broader international scope, works by Josef Albers, Marina Apollonio, François Morellet, Uli Pohl and many more will be featured.
The foundation for the constructive, concrete art of post-war Austria had been laid by the radical ideas of modernism (Wiener Kreis, twelve-tone music) at the beginning of the 20th century, the rejection of the figurative tendencies of Austrian expressionism and the more general notion of a new beginning after the end of the Second World War.
Almost 50 years later, these approaches are returning to the 21er Haus, thereby drawing attention to a generation of artists who were—and are—an important source of inspiration.
By means of a concentrated juxtaposition of works by Marc Adrian, Richard Kriesche and Helga Philipp, Abstract Loop Austria demonstrates how Austria made an important contribution to Constructivist and Op Art in the late 1950s, the 1960s and 1970s, and how Gerwald Rockenschaub has continued this tradition in the next generation of artists, bringing it into postmodernism and the present day.
Image: Marc Adrian, Sprungperspektive, 1953. Acrylic on wood. Private collection. Photo: Cornelia Cabuk / Bildrecht, Vienna, 2016.
