Sandro Droschl — HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark

Exhibition Tour

Sandro Droschl, Director HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark
© Markus Krottedorfer

Mathias Poledna is one of the most highly regarded Austrian artists. In addition to numerous exhibitions in renowned international institutions, he was also featured at the Austrian pavilion at the 55^th Venice Biennale, for which he created a cinematic work at great expense and with the participation of numerous professionals. That presentation, which aligned perfectly with the Hoffmann Pavilion’s modernist architecture, was paradigmatic of Poledna’s oeuvre insofar as it emphasized the medium of the film itself, drawing attention to its specific qualities and conditions, its histories, and ultimately its artistic appeal. Nonchalantly filling the difficult-to-play gap between concept and presentation, the work manifested as an animated film of little birds that fluttered along charmingly and cheerfully.

Akin to the days of Walt Disney, the film was realized from the script to the screenplay to the production, drawn by Hollywood veterans over a long period of time and set to a score of recorded film music. Critical reactions to the work were divided: while some critics considered the film’s simplicity provocative, others have recognised the artistic approach in the film’s apparatus, architecture and craftsmanship; the interplay of modernity and the present. They saw culture and art and thus ultimately, above all, the film.

Sandro Droschl, director of HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark, and Mathias Poledna have known each other since they were students together at the University of Fine Arts more than twenty years ago. Already as students, they had begun engaging in highly inspirational discussions. Fortunately, they stayed in touch over the years, and in 2018 had the idea of collaborating on an exhibition. By working closely with the modernist architecture of the Graz Pavilion, the result of their collaboration not only succeeds in forming a precisely coordinated setting to present a selection of Poledna’s older works, but also in producing a new film especially for the exhibition.

In a tour, Sandro Droschl will introduce the current exhibition and talk about his personal approach to Mathias Poledna’s work.

Artists

Participating artists

is founding director and curator of the institution HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark. From 2012 to 2020 he directed the Künstlerhaus, Halle für Kunst & Medien. Since 2000 he worked as curator, then also as director for the Kunstverein Medienturm, Graz, besides as guest curator at other institutions. He curated numerous exhibitions of contemporary art and edited over 30 publications. Droschl made a study iregulare, “Body. Media. Art,” with art (Isabelle Graw, Free Class), philosophy, journalism and medicine at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, University of Vienna and London Guildhall University.

Solo Exhibitions (Selection): Galerie Buchholz, Cologne (2022), Galerie Buchholz, New York (2020), The Renaissance Society, Chicago (2014), The Art Institute of Chicago (2014), 55. Bienniale di Venezia, Austrian Pavilion (2013), Secession, Vienna (2013), Galerie Buchholz, Berlin (2012), Raven Row
(2011), Portikus, Frankfurt am Main (2010), Galerie Meyer Kainer, Vienna (2010), New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (2009), Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (2009), Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2007), Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam (2006), Galerie Buchholz, Cologne (2006), Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles (2005), Galerie Meyer Kainer, Vienna (2004), Mumok – Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig Vienna (2003), Richard Telles Fine Art, Los Angeles (2002), Grazer Kunstverein (2001).

Group Exhibitions (Selection): Haubrok Foundation (2023), Made in L.A. Biennial, Hammer Museum / Huntington Museum, Los Angeles (2021), Mumok – Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig Vienna (2021), Kunsthalle Bern (2020), Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2019), Liverpool Biennial (2018), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2018), Museum der Moderne, Salzburg (2017), Kunstverein Hamburg (2016), Sydney Biennial (2014), Busan Biennial (2012), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2012),Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Seville (2008), Haubrok Foundation (2011), Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona (2010), Galerie Václava Spály, Prag (2009), Yokohama Triennale (2008), MOCA / The Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles (2008), Sala Rekalde, Bilbao (2007), Whitney Biennial, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2006), Haus der Kunst, Munich (2005), Generali Foundation, Vienna (2005), Berlin Biennale, Kunstwerke Berlin (2004), Frankfurter Kunstverein (2003).