HEIMO ZOBERNIG
October 5 - 10, 2000
 
 

 
 
In the framework of the Secession's façade project Heimo Zobernig has been invited to produce a work commenting on the political situation in Austria which will now be presented on the front facade of the building for a week. (Open letter to the Austrian president by the board of the Secession).
 
 

 
 
The central themes of Heimo Zobernig's Œuvre are language, space, architecture, sculpture, colour and the notion of modernism or "modern"as such. In the late seventies and early eighties, Zobernig did performances; in the mid-eighties, his paintings came to notice under the sway of Neo Geo, and eventually, he switched to (large-scale) sculpture and graphic-art concepts.
 
For the Secession façade Zobernig uses a photograph showing people who prepare for one of the anti-government demonstrations in Vienna. The photo, executed in shades of grey, was digitally processed so as to give the flat surface the look of a relief. The documentary photograph is endowed with sculptural qualities, the character of art. Inter alia, this refers to a category of art mainly found on fascades of buildings, and directly provides for a potential link between the banner and the Secession.
 
It is not only the attitude of the artist who, by his choice of motif, refers to the political activities and his personal interest in these processes, it is also an indication of the institution on which the banner is attached: as a cultural institution grounded in the premises of modernism it has always been connected with the political history of the country, and now the "relief banner" on its fascade is a sign - albeit ephemeral in real and material terms reminding it of individual commitments.
 
 
Further artists include: Monica Bonvicini.
 
 
For updated information please contact Matthias Herrmann, Sylvie Liska and Eleonora Louis at the Vienna Secession on +43- 1- 587 53 07.