STEFAN SANDNER

EXHIBITION PROGRAM 2006

May 5 – June 25, 2006
Hauptraum



Stefan Sandner, Secession 2006


With the exhibition by Stefan Sandner, the Secession continues a tradition of presenting the oeuvre or a specific aspect of the recent work of an Austrian artist of the younger generation in a major show. A key element of Stefan Sandner’s work is the examination of the history of Minimalist painting, mainly from America (e.g., Kelly, Noland, Stella, and Mangold). His use of the shaped canvases of Noland or Stella, however, is not merely an art-historical quotation. Instead, Sandner uses this historical “technique” as a reference to the formal language of our everyday media world. Sandner’s interest focuses on the way images—regardless of their origin—are constructed and how they are related. In this sense, Sandner’s new works, in which fragments of hand-written notes (e.g., from Kurt Cobain’s diaries, anonymous scribblings on beer coasters, or private notes from friends) are applied to the canvas in isolation and out of context, can also be read as a meditation on the creation of meaning and (art) history.



Stefan Sandner, Secession 2006


“Zeug ist am Verschwinden“ (Stuff is disappearing) appears in giant hand-written letters. They do not just refer to the bulky items which a neighbour in Sandner’s studio building is apologizing for in a note jotted down on a piece of paper. Transported to the canvas and to the picture, the sentence relates to the destiny of the objects that meanwhile have vanished; moreover, it raises some fundamental issues of painting in general. While Sandner’s painting reproduces the handwritten letters on the note, the paint running down the canvas reveals the painter as a producer. The painting thus oscillates between original image and mimetic depiction.



Stefan Sandner, Secession 2006


Yet, these different and contradictory references do not result in an aesthetic of indifference. Quite the contrary: instead of allowing a perception that is infiltrated by the media in everyday life to find refuge in the protective space of arbitrariness, the artist makes repeated references in his work indicating that the relations between art and its contexts are variable, yet can be defined. Sandner’s imagery also finds contexts outside of the field of art. While the formal repertoire of minimalism became incorporated in the vocabulary of corporate design, he has adopted an opposite tack in his works, with large-format monochrome paintings triggering associations to the cool aesthetic of advertising. As the various modes of writing for the text paintings do, these abstract paintings, free of any manual signature, put the auctorial production at stake.



Stefan Sandner, Secession 2006



Stefan Sandner, Secession 2006


PUBLICATION

STEFAN SANDNER 80 pages, 33 color illustrations authors: Raimar Stange, Martin Prinzhorn Secession 2006, ISBN 3-901926-93-8 Distribution: Schlebrügge.Editor, Wien ___________________ available in the shop

STEFAN SANDNER, born 1968, lives and works in Vienna. SOLO EXHIBITIONS (selection): 2004 Wolves, Galerie Zell am See, with Christian Kobald; 2003 Puma, Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna; 2001 INLET, Landesgalerie am Oberösterreichischen Landesmuseum, Linz; 2000 Grazer Kunstverein; The Malinowski Project, Goldman Tevis, Los Angeles, with Christian Kobald; 1997 Pleinair, Zeichnung, David, Trabant, Vienna; Galerie CC, Graz; 1995 Kommunikationsbüro, Vienna; GROUP EXHIBITIONS (selection): 2005 In Concert, Schirn Kunsthallle Frankfurt, with Albers; Gegenwartsbild, Futuregarden, Vienna; Faistauer Preis 2005, Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg; 2004 Third Places, Steirischer Herbst, Graz; ...and in between, Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna; Tafelrunde, Galerie Kunstbüro, Vienna; 2003 arttirol, Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck; Projekt 21er, 20er Haus, Vienna; Abstraction Now, Künstlerhaus, Vienna; Gegenlicht, BUWOG, Vienna; Fenster zum..., Galerie der Stadt Wels; 2002; hinterlands, Kerstin Engholm Galerie, Vienna; Hear the Art, Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Vienna; Space off!, Supersaat, Vienna; Räume 2, Westbahnhof, Innsbruck; 2001 en avant, Galerie Grita Insam, Vienna; Vor Ort 1, Galerie der Stadt Schwaz; 2000 rosarot, Galerie Kunstbüro, Vienna; cultural sidewalk, Gumpendorferstraße, Vienna; camping, Galerie Lisi Hämmerle, Bregenz; Berlin.



Stefan Sandner, Secession 2006



Stefan Sandner, Secession 2006


Ausstellungsansichten Installation shots : Matthias Herrmann




Stefan Sander, ohne Titel, 2004/05, Courtesy: Kulturabteilung der Stadt Wien



Stefan Sandner, ohne Titel, 2006



The exhibitions are realized through support of:
Erste Bank – Partner of the Secession
Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur
Wien Kultur
Friends of the Secession

The exhibition Stefan Sandner is sponsored by Arbeiterkammer Wien.

DAVE HULLFISH BAILEY     KRISTINA LEKO

EXHIBITION PROGRAM 2006

For further information and photographic material please contact:
 
Urte Schmitt-Ulms
Secession, Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession
Friedrichstraße 12, 1010 Vienna
Tel: +43-1-5875307-21, Fax: +43-1-5875307-34
presse@secession.at