LOOK - New Acquisitions at Albertina Museum Vienna
Drawing, graphic print and painting can be different forms of expression for one artistic idea, therefore the Albertina focused on groups or series of works rather than single works, in order to allow for a comprehensive view of an artist's oeuvre.
On two different floors the Albertina shows for the first time a view on the collection activity of the last 18 years. Curated by Antonia Hoerschelmann and director Schroeder, 350 works by 55 artists are on display, selected out of more than 10.000 acquisitions of the last two decades.
For the graphic collection of the Albertina, only drawings and graphic prints were acquired, mainly on the basis of private donations. Many of the paintings were donated by the artists themselves who wished to provide a wider view on their creative output.
Among them there are many well known Austrian artists like Arnulf Rainer, Herbert Brandl, Hubert Scheibl, Max Weiler or Gottfried Helnwein but also international stars like Roy Lichtenstein, Anselm Kiefer, Alex Katz, Robert Longo, Georg Baselitz, Sigmar Polke and Robert Kentridge with a political collage of his.
A special part of the exhibition is dedicated to Turkish concept artist Burhan Dogancay (1929-2013).
Interesting artists of the younger generations like Johannes Deutsch, Anna Jermolaewa, Markus Schinwald, Sveda Chkoutova, Julie Mehretu or Csaba Nemes enter into a dialogue with established international positions.
Arranged around thematic groups, fascinating confrontations are shown in the exhibition rooms, like Helga Philipp and Gerlinde Wurth, or Max Weiler with Per Kirkeby or a large format by Richard Serra with works by Sonja Gangl.
Political topics of several historical periods up to our present time, self portraits and introspection, nudes and views on nature, comic strips, pop, collage, graffiti, video and photography - a wide range of different topics and media is on view in this selection of the Albertina's acquisitions and donations of the last 18 years. Until the 8th of October. (written by Cem Angeli)