Wunderkammer - Künstlerhaus Wien
EDITOR
Künstlerhaus, Gesellschaft bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler Österreichs
TEXT
Melanie Brandstetter, Nikolaus Domes, Franzobel, Günther Oberhollenzer, Tanja Prušnik
DESIGNER
Leopold Šikoronja based on a design by Christian Satek
LANGUAGE
German, English
DETAILS
Softcover / 164 pages / 22 x 17 cm
PUBLICATION DATE
06/2024
ISBN
SPECIFICS
Inspired by historical cabinets of art and curiosities, the exhibition Wunderkammer explores the question of what can still amaze us today. In the Renaissance and Baroque, cabinets of art and wonder were encyclopaedic universal collections made by noble families and wealthy citizens seeking to capture the knowledge of their time. The intention was also to document the diversity of nature and our world. Above all, the unique and extraordinary, the special and outstanding, and the strange and curious were considered desirable and worthy of putting on display. This is taken into account in this members’ exhibition by works of 39 artists: Their works are expansive and colourful, playful and cheerful, but also irritating and surprising, mysterious, and thoughtful. A daring undertaking even back then, in our global and multimedia present-day any claim to represent the world is of course an illusion. Nevertheless, inventing, interpreting and questioning world(s) through art, and presenting these reflections in exhibitions seems to remain very much a fascination.