July 3, 2013

FACELESS Part 1 OPENS at the MUSEUMSQUARTIER in VIENNA!

 FACELESS Part 1






Artists:
Marina Abramović (SRB/USA), Marc Bijl (NED/GER), Thorsten Brinkmann (GER), Ondrej Brody (CZE) & Kristofer Paetau (FIN), Asger Carlsen (DEN/USA), Nezaket Ekici (TUR/GER), Shahram Entekhabi (IRI/GER), Caron Geary aka FERAL is KINKY (GBR), David Haines (GBR/NED), Ren Hang (CHN), Sabi van Hemert (NED), Ursula Hübner (AUT), Damier Johnson aka REBEL YUTHS (NGR/ITA), Brian Kenny (USA), Ute Klein (GER), Nienke Klunder (USA), Manu Luksch (AUT/GBR), Zachari Logan (CAN), Maison Martin Margiela, Slava Mogutin (RUS/USA), Veljko Onjin (SRB), Bernd Oppl (AUT), Tanja Ostojić (SRB/GER), Gareth Pugh (GBR), Eva-Maria Raab (AUT), Ana Rajcevic (SRB/GBR), Tarron Ruiz-Avila (AUS), Viktor & Rolf (NED), Daphne Rosenthal (NED/USA), Mustafa Sabbagh (JOR/ITA), Olivier de Sagazan (FRA), Daniel Sannwald (GER/GBR) for WOODKID, Frank Schallmaier (NED), Hester Scheurwater (NED), Jan Stradtmann (GER), Sergei Sviatchenko (UKR/DEN), Jun Takahashi for UNDERCOVER (JAP), Marc Turlan (FRA), Levi van Veluw (NED), Philippe Vogelenzang & Majid Karrouch (NED), Addie Wagenknecht (USA) & Stefan Hechenberger (AUT), Katsuya Kamo for Junya Watanabe COMME des GARÇONS (JAP), and Bernhard Willhelm (GER/FRA). Some of them will live and work at the MQ as Artists-in-Residence.

Length: Jul 4 to Sep 1, Tue to Sun, 13:00-19:00, free admission
Press preview: Wed, Jul 3, 10:00
Opening: Wed, Jul 3, 19:00
Location: freiraum quartier21 INTERNATIONAL/MuseumsQuartier Wien
www.quartier21.at
www.facelessexhibition.com (launched at the end of June)

Exhibition FACELESS part I Opens at MuseumsQuartier Wien

The exhibition “FACELESS part I”, opening at freiraum quartier21 INTERNATIONAL/MQ on July 3 at 19:00, presents contemporary works from the worlds of art and fashion in which faces are hidden, transformed, or masked. For artist Bogomir Doringer (SRB/NED), curator of the exhibition together with Brigitte Felderer from the University of Applied Arts Vienna, the exhibition was chiefly inspired by the sociopolitical consequences of 9/11. As the value of facial identifiability has risen, abstracted forms and representations of faces have become increasingly common in artistic production. Bogomir Doringer, for one, has been exploring the theme of facelessness in fashion and art for years. “Our unstable identity yearns for a return to the mask,” he says. “Like in times past, we are attracted to wearing masks as a form of protection or camouflage, as a prop, or just for entertainment. The grotesque faces the media bombards us with not only affect our sense of self, not only confront us with unequal reflections, but also ensnare us in excessive self-control,” says Brigitte Felderer. “They have long since left marks that are indelibly engraved in the almighty web. Eternalized in the book of faces, we become findable, identifiable. Ultimately, all our projections and desires are revealed, and worse yet are divulged to entities of control both legal and secret. We emerge and can never disappear from view again. 'FACELESS’ explores the various strategies and projects of revolt and self-empowerment in the face of these overpowering standards we can never satisfy.”


A look at the two TARGET drawings I am presenting in the exhibition: (left) RUN, 2010, mixed media on vintage American shooting target paper, 22.5 x 34 inches. (right) CONSERVATORY, 2010, ink and acrylic on vintage American shooitng target paper, 20 x 29 inches.