 02/15/07 Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Opening reception: Tuesday, February 20 | 2007 | 6 pm 8 pm Remarks at 7 pm VALIE EXPORT will perform her expanded cinema film action Up Down On Off (1968) Panel Discussion: Saturday | February 24 | 2007 | 5 7 pm Exhibition dates: February 21 May 3 | 2007 Gallery hours: Monday Saturday | 10 am 6 pm Gottfried Bechtold Ernst Caramelle Maria Eichhorn VALIE EXPORT VALIE EXPORT / Peter Weibel Harun Farocki Andrea Fraser Isa Genzken Dan Graham / Robin Hurst Hans Haacke Hans Hollein Werner Kaligofsky Klub Zwei Jaroslaw Kozlowski Edward Krasinski / Eustachy Kossakowski Dorit Margreiter / Mathias Poledna / Florian Pumhösl Gordon Matta-Clark Dora Maurer Gustav Metzger Ewa Partum Walter Pichler Adrian Piper Martha Rosler Allan Sekula Franz West Heimo Zobernig On February 20, 2007 the Austrian Cultural Forum will open FOR A SPECIAL PLACE: DOCUMENTS AND WORKS FROM THE GENERALI FOUNDATION COLLECTION. The Generali Foundation, based in Vienna (http://foundation.generali.at/), presents a small but exclusive selection of its extensive collection at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York (ACF). Contrary to most public collections, the Generali Foundation Collection is very specific, with a focus on Conceptual art, crossovers between art, architecture, and design, and artistic practices critically analyzing (mass) media and addressing social and political issues. Established in 1988, the Generali Foundation promotes critical dialogue between the public and contemporary works of art, pursuing a distinctive program of exhibitions and publications, often in the context of broader research projects. The Generali Foundation Collection, which has been expanding steadily for nearly 20 years, represents the core activity of the Foundation and comprises more than 2,100 works by approximately 170 artists. Installation works, film, photography, and video; in general, media that allow the production of art as a process have defined this unique collection for many years. Key works by pioneering Austrian artists of the 1960s and 1970s, such as VALIE EXPORT, Hans Hollein, Walter Pichler, Gerhard Rühm, and Peter Weibel comprise the core of this collection. These works, some of which were considered radical in their time, are juxtaposed with works by international artists, such as Dan Graham, Hans Haacke, Gordon Matta-Clark, Martha Rosler, and younger artists including Maria Eichhorn, Andrea Fraser, Klub Zwei, Dorit Margreiter, Mathias Poledna, and Florian Pumhösl. Over the past years, special attention has been paid to artists and works from former socialist countries near Austria dealing with these topics. An important group of works by artists including Sanja Ivekovic, Július Koller, Jaroslaw Kozloswki, Edward Krasinski, Ewa Partum, Marjetica Potrc, and Goran Trbuljak has thus entered the collection. FOR A SPECIAL PLACE is obviously a reference to the extraordinary site of the Austrian Cultural Forum. It also refers to space as the element that connects the displayed documents and art works while at the same time reflecting the special context of the Generali Foundation in general. The reference to space is sometimes present in artistic procedures related to the possibilities and methodologies of art practice; some of the works offer a pointed and concrete critique of contemporary social constructs or sociopolitical situations. Within the very limited space at ACF, this exhibition is not intended as a "best of" show of the Generali Foundation Collection, but rather, the exhibitions discursive presentation highlights links between individual works in this "corporate" collection. Exhibition Curator: Sabine Breitwieser, Director, Generali Foundation Assistant Curator: Bettina Spörr, Generali Foundation An exhibition catalogue will be published in conjunction with the exhibition. Concurrent with the exhibition at the Austrian Cultural Forum, seminal works by Gordon Matta-Clark from the Generali Foundation Collection are on view in the exhibition Gordon Matta-Clark at the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Austrian Cultural Forum will be exhibiting Untitled (Proposals for Museum of Modern Art, New York) - ten drawings Matta-Clark made in 1978 featuring his ideas for a then planned extension of the MoMA. Panel Discussion Saturday | February 24 | 2007 | 57 pm Organized by the Generali Foundation Vienna in cooperation with the Austrian Cultural Forum, New York TAKE THE MONEY AND RUN? CAN POLITICAL AND SOCIO-CRITICAL ART "SURVIVE" IN AN INCREASINGLY COMMERCIALIZED ENVIRONMENT? Welcome by Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, Director ACF, New York Introduction by Sabine Breitwieser, Director Generali Foundation, Vienna Alexander Alberro, Associate Professor of Art History, University of Florida, Gainesville Andrea Fraser, Artist, Los Angeles Mathias Poledna, Artist, Los Angeles Martha Rosler, Artist, New York Elisabeth Sussman, Curator, and Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Ann Temkin, Curator, Department of Painting & Sculpture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York Moderator: Chris Dercon, Director Haus der Kunst, Munich Free admission. Reservations are required for the panel discussion. Contact rsvp@acfny.org or 212 319 5300 x 222. This exhibition is supported by Generali Group Austria | Generali Group Poland | Generali US Branch Admission to all ACF exhibitions, concerts, and other events is free. Gallery Hours: Monday through Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm. The Austrian Cultural Forum is located at 11 East 52nd Street in Manhattan. For additional information call 212 319 5300 or visit http://www.acfny.org. Directions Subway: E, V Train to Fifth Avenue/53rd Street B, D, F, V Train to 47-50 Street/Rockefeller Center E, V, 6 Train to 51st Street/Lexington Avenue Bus: M 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 to 53rd Street |
