Focus on Vienna: June 2016

25 years of EIKON at Q21 / MuseumsQuartier Wien

A very happy birthday to EIKON. The Vienna-based magazine for photography and media art has been pushing the boundaries of interdisciplinary art since 1991. On this occasion, a special publication including a comprehensive and elaborately produced reference book for contemporary photo art and theory will be released. Join their launch for dedicated screenings, displays and drinks.

Open Days. The Grand Finale at Essl Museum. Kunst der Gegenwart

After 17 years, the Essl Museum will be ceasing its exhibition activities. Entrepreneurs and art collectors Karl-Heinz and Agnes Essl are hosting a grand finale with comprehensive art-education programmes - free and open to all. Three dedicated displays will run through 30 June: Rendezvouz shows masterpieces from the collection, Body and Soul explores the human body as a means of expression and eSel. The eSel collection reflects on the world of art on the basis of eSeL’s archives bringing a documentation of exhibitions from the last 15 years.

DOPUST - Days of open performance Vienna at Galerie Michaela Stock

For a few days this summer, Vienna is becoming a hotspot for contemporary performance and public intervention reflecting on masculine icons. Hosted by Galerie Michaela Stock, the international festival DOPUST - Days of open performance includes various forms of performance art with a focus on the practice of Eastern European artists. Accompanied by exhibitions, lectures, discussions and screenings, the programme is concerned with male identities, looking to debate and deconstruct gender roles. I look forward to an intense and thrilling happening.

Sunday Sanctuary at Kunstraum am Schauplatz

Austrian artist and curator Leon Höllhumer joins forces with artists Kris Lemsalu, Michèle Pagel and David Zeller for a group exhibition describing the body in various ways. All four challenge the common concepts of body, identity and queer politics beyond borders. Lemsalu mixes porcelain with found natural materials and clothing to create animalistic and corporeal sculptures and performances. Pagel explores various materials and everyday objects for her eclectic installations. Zeller is a master of photorealistic painting. In his recent series mapping he reveals hidden stories of the body. Leon Höllhumer's staged photographic portraits construct bizarre realities through physicality and environments.

Julia Bornefeld. morphic fields at Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman

In her current solo show at Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, renowned German artist Julia Bornefeld creates a space of ambivalent nature. She combines blurred formations, corded rough fabrics and a huge light installation made out of coins. At first all these different structures don’t seem to match, but then again it’s particularly this contradictory composition that creates a beautiful setting. Bornefeld’s ouevre is all about changing a room’s atmosphere by playing with sizes, diverse materials and forms of staging. morphic fields can be a reflection on constant change and flux, on creation and destruction and / or on value. Bornefeld leaves room for your interpretion.

Martin Parr. A Photographic Journey at KUNST HAUS WIEN

British Magnum photographer Martin Parr is famous for his cheeky gaze on people's delights of luxury and leisure time, especially since his colour photography series The Last Resort in the 1980s. KUNST HAUS WIEN is currently showing the first major retrospective of his work in Austria. Besides his pictures in screaming colours, the exhibition also looks back to his black and white beginnings observing the working class. Parr has not the most sensitive eye in contemporary photography, his talent lies more in finding the singularities and similarities in national and global societies. The Viennese series Cakes and Balls is typical Parr: catchy, iconic, with a good dose of self-mockery but not judgemental.

Franziska is an art theorist and writer working in projects related to Visual Culture. She's ArtRabbit's new Vienna correspondent. For more updates on contemporary art events follow ArtRabbit on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.