Info Details

Exhibition 2022

Balance
gottfried bechtold, elisabeth bakambamba tambwe, nora turato
 
Maria Enzersdorf, Lower Austria, 2022: As a contribution to the 100-year anniversary of EVN, three artistic positions are brought together on the premises of the corporate headquarters for an exhibition in the so-called workshop building, planned in the late 1950s by a team of architects, Hubatsch, Kiener and Peichl, and still in use today. In 2022, loading cranes, inspection pits, welding stations, and storage spaces made room for a unique confluence of corporate culture and contemporary art.

Works of Gottfried Bechtold, Elisabeth Bakambamba Tambwe and Nora Turato enter into a dialogue and stand for a varied exploration of history and identity. The present cannot be understood without dealing with the past, and the past needs the foil of the now to be seen and put in perspective.

The sculpture of Gottfried Bechtold (born 1947 in Hörbranz, Austria, lives in Vienna and Bregenz, Austria), entitled “Right Through the Heart,” was created in 2016 for an exhibition at Kunstraum Dornbirn in a historical factory hall. The site is of significance here, not just because the 16-meter steel girder needs space but also to embed the sculpture an industrial setting. Bechtold’s steel girder, the perfect symbol of progress and modernism, transfixes a pietà. The Christian motif of com-passion, of suffering with the other, as is embodied by the Sorrowful Mother—the copy of a work by Albert Bechtold (1885–1965), the artist’s great-uncle—is related to the modern world here. In addition, the work is also a strong reflection on sculpture itself—the interaction of abstraction and figuration—as well as a reference to Gottfried Bechtold’s personal family history in Vorarlberg.
The video work by Elisabeth Bakabamba Tambwe (born 1971 in Kinshasa, Kongo, lives in Wien) is a balancing act that stays close to individual corporeality. The dancer and performer, a Vienna resident for several years now, enacts herself in many different guises. In multiple transformations the artist addresses present-day questions of identity and perception. Metamorphosis appears as a necessity, and change and constant switching of role images as a principle.

The works of Nora Turato (born 1991 in Zagreb, Croatia, lives in Amsterdam, Netherlands) are characterized by striking visibility. They work in an interplay with architecture and engage with existing structures. In the garage evn collection, Turato uses with a system of sliding metal partition walls. Its metal frames provide a scaffold in which the artist inscribes slogans and messages. The rhythm of her language gives structure to the fields and lively vibrancy to the expanded space.
 
balance
garage evn collection
14/5/–29/7/2022
Every Friday 2–6 p.m. and upon request
EVN Platz
2344 Maria Enzersdorf
evn.sammlung@evn.at