Gallery Run, Nov. 2012: I Love Ottakring

The 16th District is on the rise in the art scene, hosting "Soho in Ottakring" in the spring and Vienna Design Week – with pop-up galleries in the Grundsteingasse – in October. Now, little artistic treasures are appearing all over Ottakring’s narrow streets. Here, cheaper rents for large spaces and a multi-cultural population make way for the burgeoning inventive spirit, causing gastronomy, artists and gallery spaces to collide.

 

Erwin Boatsch in collaboration with Sepp Neuhauser

Anika Handelt is a one-woman showroom run by curator and owner Dr. Agnes Reinthaler.  It’s a gallery right on Yppenplatz, surrounded by other independent young creatives like the fashion boutique Lila. Formerly a kebab-joint, the space has been transformed.  A "seasoned" Ottakringer for 12 years now, her journalistic background is to blame for her insatiable interest in photography, the transgressive medium in which the gallery specialises.

Anika Handelt showcases Sepp Neuhauser’s photographs in dialectical conversation with Erwin Boatsch’s paintbrush. Boatsch brushes over Neuhausers black and white photographs with intentionally subdued colors to remove any decorative aspects. Here, the subjective painter’s mark and objective photographer’s lens battle each other, and finally harmonise before the viewer’s eye.

Boatsch emerged from the movement Die neuen Wilden, a group of rowdy painters that embraced emotive painting and liveliness.  Today, his work morphs from surface to depth, in pink icicles or a gargoyle.  As a child of the reconstruction era, he submerges himself in natural landscapes of mountains, working through their dark mythical and historical implications. A painting over a photograph of the Salzburger Untersberg shows the view from Hitler’s residence at Berghof, where the medieval warlord and emperor Frederick Barbarossa’s ghost supposedly still resides.

Anika Handelt

16., Yppenplatz 5/4

Thu. –  Fri., 14:00 – 19:00

Sat., 10:00 – 13:00 (and on request)

0699 106 81 871

www.anikahandelt.com

 

Töchter der Kunst

The two-year-old Töchter der Kunst is the brainchild of Nico Wind and Chantal Stummer, whose activity center, Q-unst, hosts projects, workshops, dance, tai chi, yoga lessons and a gallery exhibition space. Originally part of the project Urban Playground (Urbaner Spielplatz) during Soho in Ottakring, Valerie Welkhammer’s aromatic breasts made from recycled bottles and plaster are housed here in the comfortable front room. Hold one up to your nose and you get a whiff of an exotic spice like cinnamon or cardamom.

The Q-unst space is open to all who wish to experiment creatively. Why Ottakring? "Yppenplatz feels like a vacation," says Nico, a culture manager and actress in upcoming productions at the Ragnarhof on Grundsteingasse. "You have easy access to open people and a dense multi-cultural arts network." By assimilating to the Ottakringer area, Q-unst has become livelier and open to an ever wider public at large.

Q-unst

16., Schellhammergasse 24/2

Thu., 13:00 – 17:00

0699 10190041

www.toechterderkunst.at/tdk/main.php

 

I love OTK: Ottakringer Straße von 2007 bis morgen...

I love OTK is the second segment of a two-part exhibition, which runs through 23 November around Ottakringer Straße, turning the whole block into a show of independent Austrian culture. The "Reisebüro" supports the area and actively coordinates public events during Soho in Ottakring.

A blue timeline traverses the two-room space and sticky-notes with little blurbs, elucidating past events on Ottakringer Straße from 2007 to the present.  The "Ottakringer Straße" refers to its industrial background, and "Balkanstraße" to its diverse inhabitants. Transparencies carry anecdotes of the hidden activities behind the scenes that went into developing the street. Vegetable cartons function as pedestals and headphones allow viewers to listen to audio tracks of past discussion forums. The idea is to convey what is happening right at your doorstep.

In the back room, rocking chairs invite, and the room is a walk-in pamphlet of things to do, with tips about where to eat, drink and even tan, written on the wall. A buffet with ingredients bought on Ottakringer Straße adds to the homey feeling. Overall, the show highlights the hopeful positives of the area and showcases the progression from problem-zone to cultural hot spot, and you leave the exhibition space feeling more at home on the street.

Reisebüro GB*7/8/16

16., Haberlgasse 76

Mon., Tue. 9:00 – 12:00, and 13:00 –  17:00

Thu. 13:00 –  19:00, Fri. 9:00 –  12:00

(01) 406 4154

www.gbstern.at/teams/gb7816/16-bezirk/