Katrin Plavčak: Painting Reality in Surreal Times

Katrin Plavčak’s paintings reveal a rich visual world of colors, shapes and figures—yet the cheerfulness of the color palette and the subjects depicted appears to belie, for one brief moment only, the seriousness with which the artist addresses scientific, social and political issues.

Painting Reality in Surreal Times reflects on life and painting in times of upheaval and raises questions about how we view the world in the face of fake news, political instability and impending crises.

The exhibition invites visitors not to accept the status quo blindly but to rebel against it and, confronted with the challenges of our time—from social media and artificial intelligence through to the climate crisis—not to undermine themselves, but instead to respond with self-determination and resistance.

Four key themes provide a common thread running through the surrealities of our time; these take a critical look at the growing tendency towards violence in geopolitics, reflect on the importance of democracy, explore gender roles, and even venture into the realms of real-life spirit worlds.

Plavčak’s artworks draw on pop culture, psychoanalysis and references to art history, thereby creating an exhibition space much like an idiosyncratic and humorous cosmos that encourages visitors to reflect and at the same time simply to look.

Curator: Hemma Schmutz
Curatorial Assistant: Sandra Eichinger
Publication: Katrin Plavčak. Painting Reality in Surreal Times. Verlag für moderne Kunst. Featuring texts in German and English by Danica Đorđević Janković, Gabriele Mackert, Katrin Plavčak, Hemma Schmutz und Bart Verschaffel. 192 pages. Available in the Lentos Shop, or online: Publikationen | Shop der Museen der Stadt Linz

Press inquiries: clarissa.ujvari-hanten@lentos.at, or download materials from Presse | Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz