A total of seven artists will be shown, whose works come from the collection of the house and the Artothek des Bundes and who deal with time photographically (or in the case of Ugo Rondinone, filmically). “There is a certain mood or atmosphere that might be described as elegiac and contemplative,” mused Belvedere Director General Stella Rollig during the press tour on Wednesday.
In fact, the very compact presentation exudes a charm all of its own. In Günther Selichar’s large-format photograph “Screen, cold #12”, the display of the digital clock shown has gone out. Just a few steps away, there are twelve plants photographed with a pinhole camera by Andreas Duscha, which capture the transience without gears and hands.
A lump of plasticine and 80 heads
The starting point for the exhibition project was Peter Köllerer’s series of works “NAMEN”, which he donated to the Belvedere last year. The artist, who lives in Vienna, used a lump of plasticine to form mostly abstract faces, which he gave the senders of spam e-mails as names. These sculptures were photographed and then destroyed, in order to immediately sculpt the next head out of the same material. 80 such structures now populate the rear side of the room, hung densely.
exhibition notice
“Shaping Time – Photography and Film from the Collection”, from March 24 to September 4, Belvedere 21, Vienna 3, Arsenalstraße 1, Tue to Sun 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thu to 9 p.m.
Harald Krejci, who curated the show together with Rollig, pointed out that the corona pandemic naturally influenced the concept of the exhibition. “What is happening to us, to the museum, to art in this crisis?” The sense of time has been different for many in the past two years, an unfamiliar one. And now the war in Ukraine has brought regarding a new turning point.
Artist-Talks und Workshops
Other works in the exhibition come from Eva Schlegel, who plays with found photographs and out of focus, or Anja Ronacher. Her series “The Nameless” consists of photos of antique museum objects, which she gives their very own character through extremely long exposures. Certain contours and lines on the vessels or masks stand out strongly, but on the other hand they half disappear in an impenetrable black and thus elude the viewer’s view.
For Krejci, the relationship between the individual positions is essential. “An individual object can shine, but it also needs its neighbors.” This probably also fits the perception of time as periods of time, cycles or time periods that are shaped by relationships – not least that between the individual and his artistic environment. “Shaping Time” is accompanied by an extensive supporting program with artist talks and workshops.
