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Franz Kapfer

Im Rücken die Ruinen von Europa (At my Back, the Ruins of Europe), 2019 – 21

Wooden shields, rusty chains
Variable dimensions

Courtesy the artist

Im Rücken die Ruinen von Europa (At my Back, the Ruins of Europe), 2019 – 21

Wooden shields, rusty chains
Variable dimensions

Courtesy the artist

In his installations and performances, Franz Kapfer (*1971 Fürstenfeld, lives in Vienna) works with processes of writing history and their various forms of political representation. He analyses historical and political processes in terms of how they are ingrained in bodies, behaviors, historical buildings, and monuments and reflects on their influence on our contemporary society and its everyday life.

In Kapfer’s installation Im Rücken die Ruinen von Europa (At my Back, the Ruins of Europe) (2019 – 21), shields hang from rusty chains in a room that seems very bleak and eerie. They bear symbols of various far-right extremist movements and casts shadows on the walls from the light in the center. These are the long shadows of a divided Europe, which we encounter here larger-than-life and distorted. On one of the shields, we see a hand with a flame, which recalls the ancient tradition of the Olympic Games. Its light does not, however, symbolize a common matter but was rather appropriated by the Junge Nationalisten (Young Nationalists) — a youth organization of the Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands (NPD; National Democratic Party of Germany). The far-right extremist Identitarian movement, which has been banned in France but is still permitted in Austria, is also found here with its lambda symbol. It is assumed that its symbol was taken from the shields of the Spartans in a film version of a comic book series (300, dir. Zack Snyder, 2006), but the lambda in fact comes from the American gay movement of the 1970s — also appropriated and decontextualized for (associations of) real men.”

The ancient figure of the gladiator Spartacus takes on a new connotation for neofascist groups. In many European countries, men in particular, in an aggressive and irreconcilable stance, are initiating a struggle” in the name of their fatherland. Kapfer is calling in” their ideological foundation and reflecting on their historical continuities and fracture lines. Their symbols are part of the language of an ersatz religion that does not want to recognize the difference between reality and symbol. Their backward-looking, nationalistic, and violent rhetoric and symbolism reveals a vehement opposition to any liberality and equality that reveals to us the fragility and vulnerability of the discourses and efforts for an open Europe.

Партия Евразия, политическая партия с 2002, Россия
Eurasia Party, political party since 2002, Russia

National Action, formation 2013, proscribed 2016, United Kingdom

CasaPound, fondazione 2003, 2008 – 2018 partito politico, Italia
CasaPound, formation 2003, 2008 – 2018 political party, Italy

Полк Азов, формування 2014, Україна
Azov Battalion, formation 2014, Ukraine

Les Identitaires, fondation 2002, parti politique depuis 2005, dissous 2021, France
The Identitarians, formation 2002, political party since 2005, dissolved 2021, France

Χρυσή Αυγή, σχηματισμός 1985, πολιτικό κόμμα από το 1993, Ελλάδα
Golden Dawn, formation 1985, political party since 1993, Greece

Falange Auténtica, fundación 1937/2002, partido político desde 2002, España
Authentic Phalanx, formation 1937/2002, political party since 2002, Spain

British Movement, formation 1968, political party since 1983, United Kingdom

Русское Национальное Единство, образование 1990, Россия
Russian National Unity (RNU), formation 1990, Russia

Dissidence française (DF), fondation 2013, parti politique depuis 2018, France
The French Dissent, formation 2013, political party since 2018, France

Thule-Seminar, gegründet 1980, Deutschland
Thule-Seminar, formation 1980, Germany

White pride or white power, celtic cross

Kotleba – Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko ĽSNS, politická strana založená 2010, Slovensko
Kotleba – People’s Party Our Slovakia, political party since 2010, Slovakia

Blocco Studentesco, fondazione 2006, organo studentesco di CasaPound, Italia
Students’ Block, formation 2006, youth wing of CasaPound, Italy

Parti nationaliste français (PNF), parti politique depuis 1983/2015, France
French Nationalist Party (PNF), political party since 1983/2015, France

Der III. Weg / Der Dritte Weg, politische Partei seit 2013, Deutschland
The III. Path / The Third Path, political party since 2013, Germany

Identitäre Bewegung Österreich, gegründet 2012, Österreich
Identitarian Movement Austria, formation 2012, Austria

Új Magyar Gárda, formáció 2007/12, Magyarország
New Hungarian Guard Movement, formation 2007/12, Hungary

Štajerska varda / Steirer Wacht, formacija 2017, Slovenija
Styrian Ward, formation 2017, Slovenia

Lotta Studentesca, fondazione 1976/2006, Organizzazione giovanile di Forza Nuova (FN), Italia
Student Struggle, formation 1976/2006, youth wing of New Force (FN), Italy

Europäische Aktion (EA), gegründet 2010, aufgelöst 2017, Schweiz
Europäische Aktion (EA), formation 2010, dissolved 2017, Switzerland

3. JN Europakongress, Junge Nationalisten, gegründet 1967/2018, Jugendorganisation der NPD (Nationaldemokratische Partei Deutschlands), Deutschland
Young Nationalists, formation 1967/2018, youth wing of NPD, Germany

Schwarze Sonne, Wewelsburg 1941, Deutsches Reich, seit 1991 Ersatzsymbol der rechtsextremen und rechtsesoterischen Szene
Black Sun, Wewelsburg 1941, German Reich, substitute sign of extreme right-wing and esoteric neo-Nazi scene since 1991

Патріот України, Формування 1996/2005 – 2014, України
Patriot of Ukraine, formation 1996/2005 – 2014, Ukraine

батальон «Спарта», образование 2014, Донецкая Народная Республика
Sparta Battalion, formation 2014, Donetsk People’s Republic

Institut für Staatspolitik (IfS), gegründet 2000, Deutschland
Institute for National Policy, formation 2000, Germany

Groupement de recherché et d’études pour la civilisation européenne (GRECE), fonde 1969, France
Research and Study Group for European Civilization (GRECE), formation 1969, France

Identity Evropa, formation 2016, dissolved 2020, United States

Mouvement pour la remigration, fonde 2013, France
Remigration, formation 2013, France

Атака, политическа партия от 2005 г., България
Attack, political party since 2005, Bulgaria

Arische Bruderschaft, gegründet 1999, Deutschland
Aryan Brotherhood, formation 1999, Germany

British National Party (BNP), political party since 2002, United Kingdom

For Britain Movement, political party since 2017, United Kingdom

Légió Hungária, formáció 2018, Magyarország
Legion Hungária, formation 2018, Hungary

Alliance for Peace and Freedom (APF), formation 2015, European political party, Belgium

Slovenskí Branci, formácia 2012, Slovensko
Slovak Branci, formation 2012, Slovakia

Vandalen – Ariogermanische Kampfgemeinschaft, Gründung 1982, Ostberlin, Deutschland
Vandals – Ariogermanic Combat community, formation 1982, East Berlin, Germany

Combat 18 (C18/318), formation 1992, United Kingdom

Bozkurtlar, MHP’nin paramiliter kanadı 1968’de kuruldu, Türkiye
Grey Wolves, paramilitary wing of MHP, founded 1968, Turkey

Mouvement Nation, parti politique depuis 1999, Belgique
Nation Movement, political party since 1999, Belgium

Hooligans gegen Salafisten (HoGeSa), Ableger der EDL, gegründet 2014, Deutschland
Hooligans against Salafists, offshoot of EDL, formation 2014,
Germany

Franz Kapfer

*1971 Fürstenfeld, lives in Vienna

Solo (among others): Kunst am Bau, Graz (2025), Club Hybrid, Graz (2021), museumORTH, Orth (2020), Museum Hartberg (2017), GPLcontemporary, Vienna (2016), Kunstpavillon Innsbruck (2009), Belvedere, Vienna (2008), Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Wörlen, Passau (2007), Salzburger Kunstverein (2006), Galerie Hohenlohe, Vienna (2006), Bétonsalon, Paris (2005), Galerie Hohenlohe, Vienna (2004), Neue Galerie am Universalmuseum Joanneum, Studio, Graz (2002). Shows (among others): Kyiv Biennale, Vienna (2023), EVN collection, Maria Enzersdorf (2022), Neue Galerie am Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz (2022), HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark, Graz (2021), Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz (2021), Sala Omnia, Bucharest (2019), Würtembergischer Kunstverein, Stuttgart (2019), EVN collection Plovdiv (2019), Kunsthaus Graz (2018), Zeta Art Center & Gallery, Tirana (2018), Belvedere 21, Vienna (2017), Biennale Gherdëina 5, Ortisei (2016), MUSA, Vienna (2016), GFZK, Leipzig (2015), Kyiv Biennial, Kyiv (2015), Kunsthalle Mainz (2015), University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong (2015), National Centre for Contemporary Arts, Nizhny Novgoradd and Moscow (2014), Leopold Museum, Vienna (2014), Secession, Vienna (2014), Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck (2013), Ludwig Museúm, Budapest (2013), Depo, Jewish baker and Austrian Cultural Forum, Istanbul (2013), Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz (2012), Busan Biennale, Busan (2012), MUAC, Mexico City (2012), Galerie im Taxispalais, Innsbruck (2011), Museum of Contemporary Art, Cracow (2011), BWA SOKOL Gallery of Contemporary Art, Nowy Sącz (2011), im Rahmen von Franz West Extroversion, 54. Biennale di Venezia, Venice (2011)