Knoll Galerie; Galerie Martin Janda; Atelier H + K

Paul Horn: 

Warum Immer Ich? (Why always me?)

I chance upon this gallery on my way home from work on Gumpendorferstrasse. The entrance is flanked by large canvases depicting giant waves, and I detect the faint smell of incense snaking its way through the room. The walls are covered with installations fabricated from myriad objects ranging from broken pots to old guitars and furnaces. The sculpture of a giant pizza hangs on one of the halls. Almost a little house of wonders, this is the world of Paul Horn, one of Galerie Knoll’s most important artists.

Austrian artist Paul Horn studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna. Working with a wide range of materials and mediums, his work asks questions about objects and the way we perceive them.

The exhibition is set up to lead the viewer through a variety of pieces seemingly at random. From amidst collages of waves at sea, one can walk to a group of prints or stand in front of an old furnace serving as a church pulpit. These numerous "pulpits" have a built-in flat screen that plays back sections out of speeches from famous political voices including Stalin, Martin Luther King, and Noam Chomsky.

Further inside, a giant pizza box lies open displaying an incredibly realistic sculpture of a proscuitto and rucola pizza that is reminiscent of Andy Warhol’s painting Campbell’s Soup Can. Horn goes a step further in his mockery of tradition by framing "haute" portraits in contra-traditional pizza crusts made out of wax and linen. Somehow, he manages to retain visually aesthetic appeal.

Paul Horn’s work is a playful mixture of pop art and 20th century installation art, well in sync with Galerie Knoll’s preferences. According to manager Zsuzska Kozak, the owner likes helping artists whose work is unconventional, daring and not particularly easy to sell – a welcoming haven for the rebel artist amidst the increasingly confusing world of postmodern art installations..

Through Nov. 5

Knoll Galerie Wien

6., Gumpendorfer Straße 18, (01) 587 50 52

www.knollgalerie.at

 

Joe Scanlan: Möbel

Situated on Eschenbachgasse, near the MuseumsQuartier, Galerie Martin Janda focuses primarily on international conceptual art and has a special project room for new artistic initiatives.

Currently on display is American artist Joe Scanlan’s Möbel (furniture) collection. Walking in, one is confronted by door and window frames, clotheslines, a set of stools and a green, vertical block protruding from a wall called a "Cameo". A cameo is often used to refers to a well-known actor appearing briefly and without credit in a film. Scanlan wants to accord this role to the idea of furniture in our lives. Sparse and minimalist, this show is based not actual furniture but what furniture means as a philosophical concept and the associations it inspires.

Scanlan has exhibited throughout the U.S. and Europe, represented by galleries in Paris and Antwerp as well as Vienna, and is associate professor at the Yale University School of Art.

This exhibition is on display until Oct. 29 and should be seen at least once for the strange, anti-climactic reaction it produces through its excessively minimalist setup that focuses more on "empty" spaces than the objects taking up space.

Through Oct. 29

Galerie Martin Janda

Eschenbachgasse 11, (01) 585 73 71

www.martinjanda.at

 

Henri Deparade: Metamorphosen

Impossible to spot from the outside, and currently displaying artist Henri Deparade’s Metamorphosen collection, Gallerie Lehner strives to remain loyal to the klassichen-moderne style of contemporary art.

The exhibition room has a luminous feel from the stream of sunlight pouring in from large bay windows overlooking the Kunstwandte, a fitting site for any artist’s work.

The owner tells me that this is the first time that an artist (Deparade) came to him with his work and ended up being displayed in the gallery. In general, he selects artists himself from leading names in the contemporary art movement in Austria.

Deparade’s oil paintings have human figures drawn dynamically into a background of sky-blues and sunset-oranges. The compositions are rife with movement and a sense of agitation, combining the abstract with the realistic. Invoking Greek mythology, he reaches for deep mental intensity through the facial expressions of his subjects.

Showing until mid-October, this exhibition is highly recommended.

Atelier H + K

Through Oct. 18

Galerie Lehner

Getreidemarkt 1/8, (01) 585 46 23/23

www.galerielehner.at