Curating of the Annual Exhibition of Salzburger Kunstverein 2016

10.12.2016–12.02.2017

Opening: Fri, 9 December 2016, 8 pm

“For the resistance of art not to disappear into its opposite, the unsolved tension between the two resistances cannot but remain.” Jacques Rancière

Art is the cream in our coffee and the spanner in the works of our society. The history of Salzburg and the city’s wealth demonstrate that salt and art?economy and culture?cannot exist independently of each other. And yet?or exactly for this reason?there is always tension between art and society. The contemporary artists showing their works at SALÓ react to our society while also offering a place for an exchange of opinions. In their works, they create and intensify “images”; they research, analyse, dismantle, reflect, mount and recombine these images anew. By reflecting on these images and living with art, we can reconstruct and interpret these dynamic processes again and again.

The Salzburger Kunstverein’s annual exhibition is a tradition that emerged from the original founding principles of this organisation in 1844, like that of other Kunstvereins. They emerged parallel to the development of the modern male “exhibition artist” (at this time, women were not permitted in the academies and salons). Kunstvereins, seen in this context, represented artists, as they themselves were often groups of artists as well as funders. In this case, the Salzburger Kunstverein had an original mission to facilitate “the mediation and sale of contemporary art from the countries of the monarchy and the neighboring foreign countries.”

There is no particular theme to the exhibition this year, as in the spirit of founding exhibitions. What is important for artists is to show their relevant work. The title “SALÓ” (span./ital.: salted) openly makes reference to art being a spice of life and a critical transmission through society.

SALÓ offers an opportunity to discover and purchase works by artists from Salzburg and elsewhere.

[The word SALÓ contains the terms “salon”, the Spanish/Italian for “he/she/it salted”; Salò, the charming city on Lake Garda where Pasolini made his films; the “saloon” and of course “Salzburg”.]

Artists: Julia Amelie, Maurizio Cirillo, Elisabeth Czihak, Helmut und Elisabeth Drucker / Kabelmann und Kabelfrau, Christian Ecker, Georg Frauenschuh, Heribert Friedl, Stephan Genser, Daniela Grabosch, Gunda Gruber, Elisabeth Grübl, Katharina Gruzei, Julia Gutweniger, Lena Rosa Händle, Michael Heindl, Moni K. Huber, Karen Irmer, Violeta Ivanova, Marion Kalter, Eginhartz Kanter, Ulrike Königshofer, Miye Lee, Dominik Louda, Olena Newkryta, Elena Peytchinska, Konrad Rainer, Simona Reisch, Oktavia Schreiner, Johannes Steidl, Rudolf Strobl, Sylvia Winkler

Red Room (Back entrance area):
Helmut und Elisabeth Drucker / Kabelmann und Kabelfrau

Special Guests Upper Ring Gallery (9.-10.12.2016):
Klaus Taschler, Kay Walkowiak