These Are AD2022’s 9 Galleries From Austria
Words: Chris Erik Thomas.
Since the founding of Art Düsseldorf, our search for the most relevant positions in contemporary art has continually led us to Austria. With an abundance of galleries in Vienna, Innsbruck, and Salzburg, the country just south of Germany has a long history of showcasing an exciting mix of young and established artists.
As we prepare to open the doors to the sprawling Areal Böhler from April 8-10, we are pleased to welcome nine galleries from across Austria, including four galleries that are joining the fair for the first time: the Vienna-based Layr and Shore, and Innsbruck-based Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman and Bernd Kugler.
Please note the booth numbers for each gallery are presented in brackets.
Assunta Abdel Azim Mohamed. "The Dictator”, 2021. Pen on paper. 96x70 cm. Courtesy Galerie Ernst Hilger.
Since opening its doors in 1971, the gallery has been guided by philanthropist and art collector Ernst Hilger. In the decades since it was founded, the gallery has split its focus among national artists and international talent as part of its Hilger NEXT program, which has sought out fresh perspectives from Iran, South Africa, and other underrepresented countries. In 2009, the gallery’s footprint in the city expanded to include the sprawling HilgerBROTKunsthalle, an 800 square meter laboratory for curatorial projects that includes three guest apartments for use by visiting and working artists and curators.
As the gallery makes it return to Art Düsseldorf, it will present works by Assunta Abdel Azim Mohamed, Jakob Kirchmayr, Gunter Damisch, Peter Krawagna, Mel Ramos, Anastasia Khoroshilova, Daniele Buetti, and Allen Jones.
The art-historian Dr. Ursula Krinzinger launched her namesake gallery in Vienna in 1971 and, for over a half-decade, has organized hundreds of exhibitions of works by both national and international artists. Among the range of mediums seen at their shows, it is performance and body art that have become a recurring motif for the gallery. In 2002, the gallery expanded to include Krinzinger Schottenfeld, a second space that has become home to their Krinzinger Projekte, a program that focused on an internationally-oriented selection of artists and that includes an artist-in-residence program.
The gallery will showcase work by Marina Abramović and Monica Bonvicini at this year’s edition of Art Düsseldorf.
After spending six years at the helm of the Layr Wuestenhagen gallery, Emanuel Layr re-established the gallery under his sole leadership in 2011. For over a decade, it has become home to a broad range of contemporary artists from around the world, including from the Slovak Republic and Bulgaria. Since 2015, the gallery has taken up residence in a two-story space in Vienna’s city center.
For their debut at Art Düsseldorf, the gallery will show a selection of works by Gaylen Gerber, Lena Henke, and Matthias Noggler.
Richie Culver, “Silk Pyjamas”, 2021. Mixed media on cardboard. 36 x 30 cm. Courtesy Galerie Lisa Kandlhofer.
Despite being founded less than a decade ago in 2016, the young gallery located in central Vienna has already carved out a space for itself in the city’s art scene. In its work with both international and local artists, the space has presented works of painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, video, and other mediums that offer fresh positions on contemporary art.
As it returns to Areal Böhler for another year, the gallery will offer a solo exhibition of works by the UK-based artist Richie Culver that offers a sharp interrogation of the art world and our digital lives.
Since opening its doors in 1996, the gallery in Vienna has established itself in part through its commitment to showing works from female artists. With a focus on pop art, the gallery has spent 26 years nurturing a range of young artists as well as curating works by established artists, including Josef Bauer.
The gallery will present its works in a special shared booth with Hamburg-based Galerie Karin Günther, and will include two pieces each by the abstract painters Elisa Alberti, Sebastian Koch, and Theresa Eipeldauer.
After working as co-director of the Athens gallery Super from 2016 to 2018, Paul Makowsky opened Shore in Vienna in 2019. Despite its young age on the city’s art scene, the gallery has become an incubator for young, experimental talent, including the artists Dennis Buck, Julian-Jakob Kneer, Richard Nikl, and Sophie Serber.
The gallery will make its debut at Art Düsseldorf this year with a solo presentation of works by Dan Vogt.
Siegfried Anzinger. “Ohne Titel (31)”, 2009. Oil on canvas, varnish. 41 x 36 cm. Courtesy Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thomas.
The namesake gallery began in Innsbruck in 1977, and moved into an expansive space in the first district of Vienna in 2011 that includes a second exhibition space called Seitengalerie. For over four decades, the gallery was run by Elisabeth and Klaus as the duo accumulated a strong roster of young and established contemporary artists, including a number of significant international positions. In 2020, the directorship expanded beyond the co-founders to include two young talents, Maximilian Thoman and Eva Oberhofer. With the new directors came the opening of tart.vienna, a project space for emerging talent that has been in operation since September 2020.
As the gallery makes its return to Düsseldorf, it will present a focus presentation by Iman Issa and Thomas Feuerstein, as well as selected works by Siegfried Anzinger, Julia Bornefeld, Michael Kienzer, Hermann Nitsch, Mai-Thu Perret, and Arnulf Rainer.
Founded in 2004 in Innsbruck, the gallery has become an integral location for contemporary artists, especially those from Germany. With a focus on long-term collaborations, the gallery has curated a roster of artists from a multitude of backgrounds. Along with their regular rotation of exhibitions, the gallery has also produced a series of publications on artists Maki Na Kamura, André Butzer, and more.
The gallery will join Art Düsseldorf for the first time with a showing of works by Tobias Hantmann, Elke Silvia Krystufek, and René Luckhardt.
For fifty years, the gallery founded by Waltraud and Mario Mauroner has steadily built up a reputation for itself as a destination for contemporary art within the Salzburg art scene. With hundreds of exhibitions and positions at art fairs around the world, it has curated a roster of artistic talent. The gallery has also founded a project space in Vienna, All About Art (AAA), that initiates dialogues with young artists.
At Art Düsseldorf, the gallery will present a range of pieces by Kendell Geers, Rashid Al Khalifa, Juan Uslé, Afred Haberpointner, Bernar Venet, Knopp Ferro, Isamu Noguchi, Anouk Lamm Anouk, Jan Fabre, Sandrine Pelletier, Christina Zurfluh, and a special work by Russian artist Tim Parchikov.
Chris Erik Thomas is the Digital Editor of Art Düsseldorf. They work as a freelance writer and editor in Berlin and focus primarily on culture, art, and media. Their work can also be seen in Highsnobiety, The Face Magazine, and other publications.
