Herwig Kempinger Elected New President
Secession
Association of Visual Artists
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Herwig Kempinger has been elected new president of the Secession after president András Pálffy had resigned after three terms at the general assembly of the Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession.
Alongside the president, members of the board of the Secession are now Carola Dertnig, Andreas Fogarasi, Bettina Götz, Anna Jermolaewa, Susi Jirkuff, Ursula Mayer, Christoph Meier, Florian Pumhösl, Andreas Reiter Raabe, Markus Schinwald, Esther Stocker and Maja Vukoje.
Speaking of his new task and the newly elected board’s work, Herwig Kempinger commented: “I am taking over a very well-managed institution; we will pursue to conceive an international program of contemporary art that is sophisticated and challenging. We would like to emphasize some points, for instance by presenting more younger positions, as well as artists who have received little attention in the past. In terms of the exhibitions, we are committed to experimentation, and want to increasingly comment on cultural policy.”
The Association of Visual Artists Vienna Secession is the oldest independent institution worldwide explicitly dedicated to contemporary art; the program that comprises ten to fifteen exhibitions per year is developed exclusively by the members of the association’s board.
Herwig Kempinger was born in Steyr in 1957. He studied at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, where from 1984 to 1994 he was a lecturer in Media Art. In 1987 he received the Outstanding Artist Award – Artistic Photography from the BMUKK – Federal Ministry for education, the arts and culture; in 1992 the Austrian Art Award – Artistic Photography from the BMUKK; and in 2006 the Cultural Award for Photography from Upper Austria. In 2010 he was awarded the Fine Arts Prize of the City of Vienna. He lives and works in Vienna.
Current exhibitions
Sarah Lucas, NOB + Gelatin
Tobias Pils, Secession
Guido van der Werve, at war with oneself
November 23, 2013–January 19, 2014
Guided tours: Saturdays at 3pm and Sundays at 11am and by appointment
Permanent presentation: Gustav Klimt Beethoven Frieze
For further information and photo material, please contact:
Karin Jaschke, presse [at] secession.at.
