<vienna><ARTweek/2011>
REFLECTING REALITY - VIENNA ART WEEK 2011
Monday, November 14 to Sunday, November 20
Following six successful years, ART&IDEA is very pleased to announce the opening of the seventh edition of the VIENNA ART WEEK on Monday, November 14, 2011. The VIENNA ART WEEK, an initiative of the Vienna Dorotheum conceived by the Viennese art institutions, academies and galleries as well as numerous off-scene programme partners, offers a unique opportunity to experience the dynamic Viennese art scene, meet some of the most challenging minds of the international art world and exchange views on the latest tendencies in the arts. The theme of this year's programme is Reflecting Reality.
At the end of the 19th century, one of Vienna's most prominent citizens, Sigmund Freud, completely revolutionised the way how the Western world thought of not only the mind and human behaviour, but also arts and culture. "With regard to Freud's classical psychoanalysis and his writings on art and culture, new aesthetic practices have developed in the field of tension between cutting-edge individual, psychic and social issues in art", states Robert Punkenhofer, founder/director of ART&IDEA and artistic director of the VIENNA ART WEEK. In recent years, the psychoanalytic approach to the arts has experienced an important upswing.
Against this background, the focus of this year's VIENNA ART WEEK is directed on the psychological dynamics of art production and passion of collecting in the context of numerous theme-specific contributions. The extensive programme includes special exhibitions, a Gallery Weekend, high-calibre podium discussions on subjects such as collecting, science and art and curatorial praxis, extended artist talks, public art installations, interventions and performances.
SPECIAL EXHIBITION "REFLECTING REALITY – THE REALITY MODELS OF ART"
The exhibition Reflecting Reality – The Reality Models of Art, curated by Robert Punkenhofer and freelance curator Ursula Maria Probst, is especially developed for this year's VIENNA ART WEEK and will be on show from November 15 – 20 at the Freud Museum, Berggasse 19, 1090 Vienna. The exhibition focuses on site-specific installations that are located at the intersection between institution and public space and form various models of reality. The aesthetic and thematic modes of artistic access to reality are exemplified in media- and genre-crossing methods and in strategies to employ extraordinary materials and psychic principles of organisation. On show are installations by AND_i, Judith Fegerl, Gelitin, Roger Hiorns, Edgar Honetschläger, Luisa Kasalicky, Barbara Kapusta, Iwajla Klinke, Joseph Kosuth, Stephan Lugbauer, Manu Luksch, Elisabeth von Samsonow, SPAN and others. The opening takes place on Monday, November 14 at 1 p.m.
"REFLECTING REALITY" INTERVIEW MARATHON
On Monday, November 14, 2011, the Reflecting Reality interview series , hosted by Robert Punkenhofer, seeks to answer the question which psychological drive is behind contemporary art. Art's approaches to psychoanalysis are being addressed in the context of a range of artist interviews and performances:
1:00 p.m. – Iwajla Klinke (Germany)
2:00 p.m. – Behrang Samadzadegan (Iran)
3:00 p.m. – Manu Luksch (Austria/UK)
4:00 p.m. – Roger Hiorns (UK)
5:00 p.m. – Egar Honetschläger (Austria/Japan)
– Joseph Kosuth (USA/Italy)
7:00 p.m. – Performance by Elisabeth von Samsonow (Germany/Austria) – Hypno Hippo Schizo
Hoch Zeit – a dream action with Claudia Weinzierl and Wolfgang Staribacher
8:30 p.m. – Performance by Stephan Lugbauer (Austria) – About me – A Szene
The interview marathon will take place at the Freud Museum, Berggasse 19, 1090 Vienna.
Featuring more than 100 individual events, the VIENNA ART WEEK has developed into a successful European art festival and the largest annual festival spanning art from the Baroque to the present day in Austria.
The uniqueness of the festival is further underlined by the participation of more than 40 programme partners: the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Albertina, the Austrian Film Museum, Association of Austrian Galleries of Modern Art, Architekturzentrum Wien, Belvedere, departure – the creative agency of the city of Vienna, DOROTHEUM, Essl Museum, Generali Foundation Vienna, Jewish Museum Vienna, KÖR Kunst im öffentlichen Raum Wien, KUNSTHALLE wien, KUNST HAUS WIEN, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Künstlerhaus k/haus, Leopold Museum, LIECHTENSTEIN MUSEUM, MAK – Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art, mumok Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, MuseumsQuartier Wien, Secession, Sigmund Freud Museum, ThyssenBornemisza Art Contemporary, the University of Applied Arts Vienna and WIEN MUSEUM. The VIENNA ART WEEK runs through Sunday, November 20, 2011. For more information about the entire programme and its participants, please visit www.viennaartweek.at.