Wisdom of Nature: Eight Visions from Austria
27th May - 18th July, 2005
Preview: 26th May 2005, 5.30pm
Opening: 27th May 2005
Gallery Talk: 28th May 2005, 2pm
Nagoya City Art Museum
www.expo2005.or.at
Within the framework of the 2005 World Fair in Aichi, Japan, the exhibition Wisdom of Nature at the Nagoya City Art Museum showcases the work of eight international contemporary artists based in Austria who question the boundaries between the natural and the artificial.
Regula Dettwiler, Doris Krüger, Alois Mosbacher, Klaus Mosettig, Martin Osterider, Florian Pumhösl, Nicole Six/Paul Petritsch as well as Lois & Franziska Weinberger shed an innovative light on the theme of Wisdom of Nature, which is the main topic of the concurrent World Fair. Despite their diverse backgrounds and working methods that range from painting to drawing, from video to photography to site-specific installation and architectonic intervention, all artists share an ongoing interest in the intricacies of nature.
Robert Punkenhofer, Head of the Austrian World Fair Project 2005 in Japan and Director of Art&Idea in Mexico City, states: This exhibition raises important questions about the notion of nature in the age of cloning, artificial intelligence and robots, whose presence is so strong at this 2005 World Exposition. In this context, do we share a common understanding of art and nature in the East and the West, or do intercultural differences prevail in the global village?
Art and Nature represent two different, often conflicting principles of human thought, which are often at variance with each other. Whereas nature is perceived as the primeval force, untouched, elementary, but also chaotic, violent and primitive, art – and in the broader sense of term culture is seen as cultivated, transformed and mature, the harnessing of chaotic forces and order in things, which endow man with realizations and understanding. Yet there is an ongoing dialogue between the two opposing principles. Gabriele Mackert, Curator of the exhibition and Director of Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen, adds: Wisdom of Nature provides us with a framework to experience, understand, and juxtapose familiar and unknown concepts of art and nature in Japan and Europe.
The presentation of contemporary art from Austria within the framework of the World Fair 2005 is not confined to the Nagoya City Art Museum. The Austrian Pavilion at the World Fair serves as a minimalist stage for the projection and questioning of national identity through art. The façade of the pavilion is dominated by a monumental landscape painting by Herbert Brandl. Inside, the pavilion is used for ephemeral art performances that range from the multidisciplinary Chickens Suit project by Edgar Honetschläger and Wilhelm Mahringer (June 30th 2005), to poetic interventions by Roman Scheidl (September 15th 2005). Austria´s art program for the Expo 2005 also infiltrates the public space. Norbert Brunner takes on the streets in downtown Nagoya and manipulates the surprised passer-bye with irritating objects and installations (July 18th 2005).
Catalogue available (70 pages) with contributions by Gabriele Mackert, Akimichi Myazawa, Robert Punkenhofer, Kazuo Yamawaki.
Sponsored by: The Arts Division of The Federal Chancellery of Austria, The Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, The Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labour, The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber
Press Contact:
Andrea Mittermair
EXPO OFFICE AUSTRIA/ World Fair 2005 Aichi, Japan
Phone: 43-(0)5-90 900 4052
Mobile: 43-(0)699-1100 2096
Fax: 43-(0)5-90 900 255
Email: expo.aichi@wko.at
Press Release and images for download: www.expo2005.or.at
