Shirin Neshat was born in Iran and now lives in New York: for decades, this internationally renowned artist has addressed the social and political situation in her native country with a special focus on the status of women in Islamic societies.In response to the repeated criticism about the beauty and perfection in her works in an interview with Gerald Matt in connection with the exhibition in Kunstraum Dornbirn she insisted: "I am not merely concerned with beauty, actually it is more about poetry. As an Iranian woman I am on the one hand deeply rooted in the beauty of allegorical, poetic language and on the other hand exposed to the influence of politics, violence, suppression and brutality. Beauty and poetry are also an answer for me, a means of opposing the violence everywhere. Even though my work refers to political darkness, violence, oppression and pain this is always contrasted to an incredible poetry, aesthetics and harmony inherent in people that reminds us of the humanity in all of us. That has nothing to do with decoration but is rather connected with a deep lying paradox within myself."In Kunstraum Dornbirn (23 March - 20 May 2018) three video works from the artist's current series were shown: Illusions & Mirrors, 2013; Roja, 2016; Sarah, 2016.English and German text.
The exhibition at Kunsthalle Wien focuses on the work of two women who resisted all attempts at appropriation - even by feminist theory. Both artists, each using her own means, developed an aesthetic of vehement self-exposure, which occasionally offended their contemporaries.
Martin Arnold ist einer der profiliertesten experimentellen Filmemacher Ãsterreichs. Seine jüngste Arbeit 'Deanimated: The Invisible Ghost' ist eine Art Ãbermalung eines klassischen amerikanischen Horrorstreifens: im Verlauf der Handlung werden zentrale Figuren des Geschehens mit digitalen Mitteln herauskopiert, sodass sich der Film sukzessive entvölkert. Durch diesen Deanimationsprozess entsteht aus der alten, herkömmlichen Suspense-Geschichte eine neue, die offener und rätselhafter ist. Durch das Löschen der Schauspieler wird das ästhetische und narrative System des Spielfilms im Zustand des Zusammenbruchs dargestellt. Die Kamera scheint einem Geheimnis auf der Spur zu sein und in der Leere, in welche die noch verbliebenen Darsteller hineinsprechen, stellen sich grundsätzliche Fragen nach Sein oder Nichtsein. Deanimated präsentiert den gesamten Film in einer Serie von Fotostills. In einem Interview mit dem Künstler sowie in Essays werden die unterschiedlichen Aspekte der Arbeit Martin Arnolds analysiert.
For decades, Austrian fine art photographer Leo Kandl has lookedat a broader concept of portraiture, using newspaper ads to find hismodels in cities as diverse as New York, Moscow, London, Kievand Vienna. He hooks-up with an eclectic and engaging group ofyoung, self-assured subjects who like the idea of self-expression.Kandl gave his models complete freedom to stage their photographs,allowing a delicate interplay between artist and model. Kandl'smethod of photography allows plenty of scope for emotional interaction,with the potentially risky process of two people unfamiliar with eachother coming together in the roles of model and photographer. Thevery personal color images produced are characterized by curiosity andan occasional erotically charged atmosphere.
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