Maria Eichhorn
10 May–6 July 2014
Kunsthaus Bregenz
Karl-Tizian-Platz
6900 Bregenz
Austria
There are only very few artists like Maria Eichhorn, whose work possesses such an extremely rigorous conceptual charisma but which also occasionally engages in a subtle humor. By means of visually minimal gestures, interventions, and large-scale works, Maria Eichhorn analyzes behaviors that have been socially shaped as well as political and economic interrelationships, frequently focusing her attention on the art system in particular. A vivid example of this approach was her contribution to Documenta11 in Kassel (2002), when she founded a corporation, the peculiar status of which prescribes that its capital may not increase.
Eichhorn’s work Curtain from 1989 likewise spans a long period of time. In her exhibition at Kunsthaus Bregenz, a denim curtain from this series will completely cover one of the almost twent-meter-long and over four-meter-high walls.
In addition to updated versions of some of her best-known works, such as Maria Eichhorn Public Limited Company, Film Lexicon of Sexual Practices, and Curtain (Denim) | Lectures by Yuko Fujita, Mika Obayashi, Maria Eichhorn’s exhibition at the Kunsthaus will also include a new work especially created for Bregenz. Despite all the rationality which apparently determines her work, not infrequent moments exist involving emotional and irrational questions, such as the relationship of people to money, sexuality, or, as in her new large-scale work especially produced for Bregenz, the locating of water with the aid of pendulums and dowsing sticks. Following solo exhibitions in renowned institutions—in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Japan, and Canada, amongst others—the exhibition at Kunsthaus Bregenz will be the first large-scale presentation of Maria Eichhorn’s work in Austria.
A catalogue raisonné of Maria Eichhorn’s work will be published with an essay by Alexander Alberro and Nora M. Alter as well as an interview between Maria Eichhorn and Yilmaz Dziewior.
KUB Arena
Sung Hwan Kim | dogr
I will dress you, howl bowel owl
10 May–6 July
The work of Korean-born, New York-based artist Sung Hwan Kim exists happily between the realms of reality and fiction. Kim is a storyteller whose tales are interwoven with a unique amalgamation of film, sculpture, poetry, architecture, music, performance, and masquerade. The artist himself simultaneously occupies the roles of author, director, and performer, and his work culminates in visually stunning yet intimate installations that address such complex thematics as cultural heritage and queer identity.
Kim’s project in the KUB Arena begins with the sound piece howl bowel owl. Created as a radio drama for the Bayerischer Rundfunk, in collaboration with musician David Michael DiGregorio aka dogr, Kim’s audio narrative employs stylistic devices of imitation, repetition, and rhythm, inspired in part by the works of poet Rainer Maria Rilke. For howl bowel owl Kim employed a poetic device he found in some of Rilke’s poems, where words are combined because of a phonetic similarity, and less for reasons of content. Kim’s interest in Rilke arose from reading philosopher Gaston Bachelard.
The KUB Arena will become the setting for Kim’s exploration of the possibilities inherent in the immaterial means of light and sound. Not only the visual, but also the allegorical potential of theatrical lighting techniques introduces an entirely new perceptual dimension to the work howl bowel owl. Through both intellectual and emotional means, the KUB Arena will be transformed into a mesmerizing visual and acoustic landscape in which Kim’s radio drama enfolds in an immersive installation. The lighting design, realized in collaboration with Zumtobel, will allow Kim to experiment with different techniques in lighting technology, and offer different settings for various guest performers to enter into and engage with the KUB Arena environment.
For further information: www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at
