PEOPLE / DIVERSITY 2.0 2023
Portrait painting is a mirror of our times and has played an essential role in the history of art since the beginning of artistic expression. Influenced by political and social conditions, it has developed over the centuries into one of the most important genres in art. However, with the invention of photography 180 years ago, portraiture suddenly had a formidable competitor. Despite this, the painted portrait continues to flourish. This exhibition explores the significance of the depiction of the human figure in contemporary art and the paths individual artists have taken to create modern, meaningful portraits.
Man is always a product of the society and time in which he lives. In a globalised world, it is tempting to question the role of the individual and to capture it in painting. The expressive figure paintings of Michela Ghisetti and Ingrid Brandstetter are worth mentioning here. Martin Schnur also deals with existential questions and literally holds a mirror up to society. The human figure, often just the human head, can take on a representative function for the whole of humanity or of certain characteristics, as in Alfred Haberpointner's work or in Kiki Kogelnik's glass heads. Kogelnik, like Gabi Trinkaus and Eva Schlegel, also focuses on the image of man shaped by the mass media. Harding Meyer plucks his female figures from the stream of anonymous digital images. Erwin Wurm's works move between the seemingly banal and the existential. Maria Lassnig's introspective "Body Awareness" works are also always impressive. Her important oil painting "Death is a Sphinx" and the watercolour "Sea Thoughts" will be on display.
Gottfried Helnwein's impressive portraits of children are being shown at the gallery for the first time. In an eerily concise pictorial language, he depicts the cruelty of humankind through these innocent, not yet corrupted creatures. One cannot escape the intensity of this painting. The artist's daughter, Mercedes Helnwein, has made a name for herself internationally and in her adopted country, America. Her protagonists find themselves in enigmatic, mysterious settings. In her tense compositions, she proves to be a master of suspense: we remain in anticipation of an event whose arrival remains uncertain.
Also to be mentioned are two representatives of the young African art scene. On display are works by the South African Jono Dry and Idowu Oluwaseun, who was born in Lagos, Nigeria. Their figures are representative of the newly awakened self-confidence of the African continent.
This combination of Austrian and international positions makes for an exciting mix, accompanied by a catalogue with numerous expertly researched texts.
