However, architecture as an exhibition theme was officially added to the Biennale’s activities only in the 1970s, in events, which adopted a historical approach, such as “Italian Architecture during Fascism” (1976). In 1980 the 1st Architecture Biennale opened its doors. This marked the beginning of a new phase of the Biennale, which was characterized by various collateral events and the expansion of the locations in the city, including the Arsenale.
W&K Gallery: From European modernism to Austrian contemporary art
The Baroque State rooms of the Palais Schönborn-Batthyány, built in the 17th century are deemed for the presentation of museum exhibitions. From 25 May until 14 September, W&K is presenting selected works by the Austrian artist Walter Vopava in the baroque Palais Schönborn-Batthyany. The installation is evoking an interesting and harmonic interplay of abstract paintings and baroque state rooms.
Studio Drift: An artistic reflection on the impact of digitalisation
Studio Drift invites us to reflect on the impact of technology and digitalisation on our society. Several recent works explore the paradoxical relationship between the real and the virtual world.
Museum Van Loon: Dutch nobility and architectural grandness
Amsterdam’s greatest cultural wealths are certainly the many Dutch noble houses located near the picturesque canals.
During my stay in Amsterdam, I had the chance to visit one of the most stunning villas: Museum Van Loon, which used to be the residence of the merchant family of Van Loon.
The Amsterdam vintage guide
I would define Amsterdam as a real “vintage paradise” – While being much underrated in comparison to London or Paris, the Dutch city is packed with old gems. Basically every street is scoring high marks with their vintage spots.
Gucci Garden: Exploring the history of an Italian leather icon
Gucci Garden pays hommage to Florence as the cultural center of Italy and Europe, especially during the Renaissance. All under one roof you will find high fashion, as well as visual arts and fine gourmet food.
Heidi Horten: Private modernist collection goes public
The exhibition “WOW! The Heidi Horten Collection” is the first public unveiling of one of Europe’s most sensational private art collections. The exhibition fulfills the collector’s long-cherished wish to make the masterpieces she has carefully assembled since the 1990s, spanning from Gustav Klimt to Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst, available to a broad audience.
Keith Haring: The street artist as political activist
Keith Haring’s art gets very often associated with rather amusing or humorous illustrations. But if you dare to take a closer look, you may as well find some rather negative, sometimes even frightening symbols of topics such as violence, hate and power structures. Haring himself conceived his artistic practice as a political statement in the public realm of New York.
Madame Rubinstein: A female mission of beauty, style and art
Madame Rubinstein was known throughout the world as a collector, friend and patroness of the arts. Since her Paris days (1930s), Rubinstein had been collecting contemporary art, as well as African sculptures, which were exhibited in 1935 at MoMA. The salons were embellished with works by Brancusi, de Chirico, Laurencin, Marcoussis, Modigliani and Nadelman, among others.
Carla Sozzani’s revolutionary concept of a living magazine
Former fashion editor and publisher Carla Sozzani, is the creative woman behind the idea of a virtual narrative, using the gallery and bookshop as its core.
The construction of a living magazine is connected to editorial choices in food and fashion, music and art, lifestyle and design which are meant for engagement with the customers / visitors along the different areas of cultural exploration.
Questioning cultural identity at the Weltmuseum Wien
Lisl Ponger has long explored the constructed nature of (cultural) identity, our—often stereotypical— ideas and images of “the other” and the associated questions of visual representation. Her works frequently engage with the academic disciplines of ethnology and anthropology, whose methods and politics become manifest in the collection and exhibition practices of ethnographic museums.
Artist talk with Christopher Mudgett: Black and white as a metaphor for humanity
For me, black and white is a metaphor for the human experience. These two colors are on opposite ends of the spectrum, so for me they represent the duality experienced in life, the struggle within us all. The constant pulling in both directions, the battle between good/evil, night/day, love/hate, sad/happy etc. that we all face indefinitely.
