Stay MovingHerbert Brandl
Michał Budny
Helmut Federle
Sheila Hicks
Imi Knoebel
Sonia Leimer
Isa Melsheimer
Adrian Schiess
Group Exhibition
Grünangergasse 1
1010 Vienna
13 Feb – 23 Mar 2024
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The exhibition stay moving at the Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder brings together the approaches of eight artists from the gallery’s program. New works by each artist are shown together with older pieces to highlight distinct aspects of artistic development. These representative works reveal a continuity, innovation, a desire to experiment with a variety of materials, nuanced developments, and references to earlier works. The goal of the presentation is to encourage visitors to discover parallels between the diverse artistic practices while giving them the opportunity to compare the various approaches. Herbert Brandl’s art is characterized by a deep affinity to nature and landscape. The work Untitled (2023) is a reproduction of a dead root, which the artist found in a moor and cast in aluminum. This cast seems to represent a desperate attempt at conservation, drawing our attention to environmental destruction – an issue that Brandl has been addressing in his works for many years now. This is juxtaposed with a painting from 2009 in which green paint has been generously applied in broad, dynamic brushstrokes, leaving the green to dominate the picture and evoke associations of an underwater landscape. Lighter areas that are carefully situated increase the tension in the painting, revealing the ever sensitive eye of the artist.
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The works by Isa Melsheimer that have been selected for this exhibition emphasize her ability to operate in a broad range of forms and materials. Vorhang (Nördlicher Raum) from 2008 is an embroidered curtain that has been placed in the room at an angle to intentionally highlight the architecture and light situation in the exhibition space. Across from it is a recent work made of ceramic that represents central aspects in Melsheimer’s oeuvre: the exploration of architectural and urban utopias, as well as her specific perspective on nature, which hints at “building structures.” A gouache from 2009 completes the selection. Here, an animal character refers to vanities from the world of fashion, introducing a surreal aspect that can also be found in other works by Melsheimer.
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In this exhibition, videos by Sonia Leimer from 2010, 2012, and 2020 engage in a dialogue with one of her current wall objects. Aspects of biopolitics, the human exploration of uncharted territories and the occupation thereof, and a desire for continuous progress that is behind this are some of the central themes in Leimer’s work. While her video works address different landscapes ranging from the country of Georgia, the Austrian glaciers, to Antarctica, showing the exploration of these territories in different ways, Leimer’s artistic interest is manifested in a sculpture called Arctic (2023). On a deep black background, it displays a leftover fragment of insulation material made of ceramic, fiberglass, and aluminum that was produced for the latest satellite of the European Space Agency (ESA) of the same name. The work Arctic thus conveys a feeling of weightlessness, similar to the pieces of space debris that drift in orbit and reflect the sunlight while circling our planet.
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Imi Knoebel is represented by three works in this exhibition that celebrate his extraordinary treatment of color and the multitude of forms in his pictures. The work Betoni (1990) is almost square, its slight imbalance of form leaving a mild sense of bewilderment, while Sandwich (2004–2009) is assembled from plywood, which reminds us of sculptures from his early work. Finally, the piece Element O.1 (2018) revisits such classic pictures by the artist as 24 Colors (for Blinky) from 1977 with its monochrome colors on a shaped support. Perpetual further development and variations are key aspects of Knoebel’s art, as is referencing his own practice. His works all relate to each other, thereby creating a coherent overall oeuvre. Since his early works, Michał Budny has been emphasizing the fragility of material and sculpture. He is represented in this exhibition by two very different works from 2008 and 2012. One is comprised of a slim wooden frame on which a semi-transparent foil has been stretched. Next to it, on a pedestal, is a work made of cardboard painted in a dark color. The apparent hardness of the black shapes is counteracted by a leather thread. The object seems to want to leave the arrangement and communicate through the thread into the room and what lies beyond it. The work made of metal from 2023 looks like a three-dimensional drawing. Three simple arches painted in vermillion are connected at their ends, pointing toward the floor, occupying the space while remaining open at the same time. Budny’s works have an emotional, poetic appeal, suggesting coolness as well as warmth, while radiating self-confidence in their forms.
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For Sheila Hicks, each material speaks its own language resulting from its specific characteristics, like color, density, and tactile qualities. By bringing together and juxtaposing the most diverse, even unexpected and surprising, hues of color, textures, and types of fabric within a single work, the artist establishes a discourse to which every voice can contribute. Hicks is represented in this exhibition by a large work on a pedestal with the title Himalia, along with two framed works from her Minimes (1966 and 2015) series: woven objects that act as a kind of journal. On countless journeys through many continents and countries earlier in her career, she learned the local customs surrounding textiles and colors and connected these with her own experiences. She created the Minimes on a small weaving loom that she could take with her everywhere in a direct and personal interaction. The collaborative work and the intercultural exchange were important to the artist in this context. Hicks is one of those pioneers whose revolutionary merit is the achievement of establishing textile materials as part of the contemporary art discourse. Helmut Federle’s Two Heart Flames, N.Y.C., Feb. 80 (1980) was created during a stay in New York that would become a defining period in the artist’s life. On a simple piece of cardboard that he found on the street, Federle painted two elongated geometric shapes in black facing each other, with delicate yellow hues peering through the busy white ground of the cardboard. These indicate that several phases of painting were involved. The title “Two Heart Flames” refers directly to the painting and helps us to understand it. Federle’s current work Informal Multitudes (Das andere Bild) (Dark Angel) (Gestern) (2020) acts as its counterpart in the exhibition. This work is more abstract in form and title, revealing traces of a process in which watery paint was generously applied – poured, smeared with a cloth, and then washed off again. It is the expression of an emotionally charged moment of inner certainty.
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Adrian Schiess’s work has always been defined by the exploration of fundamental issues of painting and what it means to be an artist. In this exhibition, he is represented by a photograph from 1980. It belongs to a twelve-part series that occupies a central position in his oeuvre. Schiess transforms his face into a painting support by painting then photographing it. In a broader sense, he thus becomes part of the exhibition himself. In the LOGIN facing the street, a large painting on polyester that he made in 2011 is combined with his series of works called Fetzen [Shreds] (1992–1995). In their layered, random arrangement, these usually shredded objects become a work of art in their own right. In all of his works, Schiess explores the ephemerality of nature and humans, while also focusing on the processual approach to painting. What is remarkable here – and can already be seen in his older works – is his highly radical pursuit of answers to fundamental questions of artistic practice. Concept: Raphael Oberhuber, Rosemarie Schwarzwälder
Featured Works
Herbert Brandl
Untitled, 2009
oil on canvas
150 x 175 cm (59 x 69 in.)
Herbert Brandl
Untitled, 2018
aluminum, version 1 of 2
162 x 215 x 38 cm (64 x 85 x 15 in.)
Isa Melsheimer
Schachtelhalm / Snake Grass IV, 2023
glazed ceramic
127 x 64,5 x 47 cm (50 x 26 x 19 in.)
Isa Melsheimer
Vorhang (Nördlicher Raum), 2008
embroidered drapery
2 parts, each 253 x 280 cm (100 x 110 in.), installed 100 x 158 in.
Isa Melsheimer
Nr237, 2009
gouache on paper
24 x 17 cm ( 9 7/16 x 6 3/4 in.), framed 29 x 22 cm (12 x 9 in.)
Sonia Leimer
Arctic, 2023
glass fiber, ceramic, aluminum, Musou Black
158 x 82 x 6 cm (62 x 32 x 2 3/8 in.)
Sonia Leimer
Eden Antarctica, 2020
video, HD, loop, 8 ' 39 '', color, sound, 16:9, ed. 1/3 + 1 AP
Sonia Leimer
Western, 2012
video, 5'04'', color, sound, HDV, 16:9, ed. of 3
Sonia Leimer
2030 (2010), 2010
video, 4'17", color, sound, 16:9, ed. 1/3 + 1 AP
Michał Budny
Memory of mirror, 2012
wood, foil
102,5 x 83,5 x 4,5 cm (40 x 33 x 1 3/4 in.)
Michał Budny
Untitled, 2023
metal, red car laquer
74 x 168 x 145 cm (30 x 67 x 57 in.)
Michał Budny
Untitled (Über dem Teller 2), 2008
painted cardboard, leather string
62,5 x 35 cm (24 1/2 x 14 in.), length of string approx. 55 cm (22 in.)
Imi Knoebel
Element O.1, 2018
acrylic on aluminum
4 parts, total 33 x 134,5 x 1 cm (13 x 53 x 3/8 in.)
Imi Knoebel
Sandwich 2004-09, 2004
acrylic, plywood
121 x 242 x 2 cm (48 x 96 x 3/4 in.)
Imi Knoebel
Betoni, 1990
concrete, pigment
39,5 x 39,5 x 8 cm (15 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 3 in.)
Helmut Federle
Informal Multitudes (Das andere Bild) (Dark Angel) (Gestern), 2020
acrylic, vegetable oil on canvas
80 x 60 cm (31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in.)
Helmut Federle
Two Heart Flames, N.Y.C., Feb. 80, 1980
acrylic, pencil on corrugated board
61,5 x 32 cm (24 1/4 x 12 1/2 in.)
Sheila Hicks
Himalia, 2023
synthetic fibers, cotton, linen, wool, wood
10 parts, total approx. 55 x 130 x 130 cm (22 x 51 x 51 in.)
Sheila Hicks
Refuge avec vue, 2015
silk, wool
23 x 14,5 cm (9 x 5 3/4 in.), framed 45,5 x 42 cm (18 x 16 1/2 in.)
Sheila Hicks
Trois Pieds, 1966
wool, linen
22,5 x 12 cm (9 x 4 3/4 in.), framed 36,5 x 25,5 cm (14 x 10 in.)
Adrian Schiess
Malerei, 1980
C-Print, ed. 3 + 1 EA
12 parts, 4x/45 x 35 cm (18 x 14 in.), 8x/35 x 45 cm (14 x 18 in.), framed each 67,5 x 72 cm (27 x 29 in.)
Adrian Schiess
Untitled, 2011
acrylic on polyester
250 x 340 cm (99 x 134 in.)
Adrian Schiess
Fetzen, 1992-1995
oil, acrylic, lacquer on cardboard
sizes varaible, total approx. 275 x 190 x 44 cm (109 x 75 x 18 in.)
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