Concrete – far more than just a building material
Ausstellungsansicht: Beton, Kunsthalle Wien 2016, Foto: Stephan Wyckoff: Jumana Manna, Government Quarter Study, 2014, KOR Public Art Norway; Mark Boyle, Secretions: Blood, Sweat, Piss and Tears, 1978, Henie Onstad Collection, Hovikodden, Norwegen
Living

Concrete – far more than just a building material

BUWOG Group is the main sponsor of the current exhibition “Beton” at Kunsthalle Wien

 

BETON (English: concrete) is the new protagonist in the current exhibition at Kunsthalle Wien and, thanks to curators Nicolaus Schafhausen and Vanessa Joan Müller, is presented as far more versatile than the function for which it was originally intended.

 

30 international artists highlight the building material concrete and illustrate its fascinating duality – on the one hand, the uncompromising Brutalist architecture (French béton brut = raw concrete), on the other hand the material’s flexibility, which facilitates expressive design. Numerous architectural innovations would have been inconceivable without concrete, which can be poured into the desired form at its place of utilisation. Visions of urban planning from the 1960’s and 1970’s are very closely tied to concrete. The material’s use in social housing for many generations is addressed in the exhibition as well. Numerous artists also approach the subject of “concrete” in a highly abstract manner, creating works in which the connection to concrete can only be recognised after looking at them several times.

 

With its sponsoring activity BUWOG Group supports Kunsthalle Wien – the city of Vienna’s exhibition space for international contemporary art. BUWOG was founded in 1951, thus as a developer it experienced the evolution of concrete close up.

 

A panel discussion is taking place

on the subject of social housing on Tuesday, 27 September 2016 at 17:00

as part of the three-month exhibition Beton.

 

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Installation view: Béton, Kunsthalle Wien 2016, Photo: Stephan Wyckoff: Sofie Thorsen, Spielplastiken, 2010–2016, Courtesy Galerie Krobath, Vienna; Werner Feiersinger, Ohne Titel (Dante Bini), 2013;Ohne Titel (Fregene), 2015; Ohne Titel (Burri), 2016;Ohne Titel (Gino Valle), 2009; Ohne Titel (Musmeci), 2015; Ohne Titel (Morandi), 2010; Ohne Titel (Baratti), 2011; Ohne Titel (Corviale), 2015; Courtesy the artist and Galerie Martin Janda, Vienna

 

Artists: Kasper Akhøj, Heba Amin, Monica Bonvicini, Mark Boyle, Andreas Bunte, Tom Burr, Thomas Demand, Werner Feiersinger, Karsten Födinger, Cyprien Gaillard, Isa Genzken, Liam Gillick, Annette Kelm, Hubert Kiecol, Jakob Kolding, Miki Kratsman, Susanne Kriemann, David Maljković, Jumana Manna, Ingrid Martens, Isa Melsheimer, Olaf Metzel, Maximilian Pramatarov, Heidi Specker, Ron Terada, Tercerunquinto, Sofie Thorsen, Klaus Weber, Tobias Zielony

 

VISIT THE KUNSTHALLE WIEN IN MUSEUMSQUARTIER:

DAILY 11 – 19. THURSDAY 11 – 21

 

Further information:

http://www.kunsthallewien.at/#/en/exhibitions/beton

 

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BUWOG CEO-Daniel Riedl at the opening of the exhibition

 

 

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Vanessa Joan Müller and Nicolaus Schafhausen at the press conference on the exhibition

 

 

 

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visitors to the exhibition

 

 

Photos: Stephan Wyckoff, David Avazzadeh, Michael Lippitsch

 

 

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