Generali Foundation: 30 Years
In Dialog with 1918 1938 1968
Opening: April 27, 2018, 7 p.m.
Exhibition on view: April 28, 2018—October 7, 2018
Place of exhibition: Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Mönchsberg
The Generali Foundation was established in 1988. Since then, it has organized over a hundred pioneering exhibitions, produced just as many publications, and, most importantly, built an extensive and singular collection. It supported creative talents early on who articulated critical perspectives on society and broached political issues in their works. Like the artists whose œuvres it nurtured, the Generali Foundation broke new ground; it was in many ways ahead of the art world of its time. Its wide-ranging activities and especially its collection-building efforts have earned it worldwide acclaim and made it a fixture of the Austrian and international contemporary art scene.
Held on occasion of the Generali Foundation's thirtieth anniversary, the ninth presentation of art from the collections at the Museum der Moderne Salzburg undertakes a dialogical engagement with the three watershed years we commemorate in 2018. What do we make today of the events of 1918, 1938, and 1968 and what followed? After the end of World War I, the Republic of Austria is proclaimed in November 1918. In March 1938, the country is annexed by Hitler's Germany in the so-called "Anschluss." Thirty years later, the protesters of '68 take to the streets; among their demands are an end to the Vietnam War, equal rights for women, and sexual freedom.
Each of these three very different moments in history precipitated radical changes in society and politics that artists responded to—or, in some instances, anticipated. We invited two historians to compile statements reflecting a range of views on the events of 1918, 1938, and 1968. Forming a ribbon that runs along the walls throughout the galleries, they and the works of art we have selected make for a polyphonic panorama or scenario inviting debate. Your own perspectives, dear visitors, will enrich this debate.
With works by Max Beckmann, Renate Bertlmann, Günter Brus, Otto Dix, VALIE EXPORT, VALIE EXPORT / Peter Weibel, Harun Farocki, Marcus Geiger, Bruno Gironcoli, Dan Graham, Renée Green, Hans Haacke, Anselm Kiefer, Klub Zwei, Július Koller, Käthe Kollwitz, Jarosław Kozłowski, David Lamelas, Dorit Margreiter / Mathias Poledna / Florian Pumhösl / Hans Küng, Walter Pichler, Florian Pumhösl, Isa Rosenberger, Martha Rosler, Carolee Schneemann, Allan Sekula, Martin Walde, Franz West, Heimo Zobernig
Curators: Sabine Breitwieser, Director, and Antonia Lotz, Curator Generali Foundation Collection
Free entrance every Wednesday, 5 to 8 p.m.
Loose Leaves in Books
The secret archive in Kristian Sotriffer’s Library
Opening: July 25, 2018, 7 p.m.
Exhibition on view: July 26, 2018—November 11, 2018
Place of exhibition: Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Rupertinum, Generali Foundation Study Center
In 2004, the Museum der Moderne Salzburg acquired the personal library of the art critic Kristian Sotriffer (1932 Bozen, IT,– 2002 Vienna, AT). To our surprise, it turned out to be far more extensive and illuminating than the contents of the books themselves suggested: hidden inside it was an archive Sotriffer compiled and stored in the books. Sotriffer also served on the Generali Foundation's inaugural artistic advisory board and helped draw up the first concept for a collection of Austrian postwar sculpture to be assembled. Held on occasion of the Generali Foundation's thirtieth anniversary, the presentation shines a spotlight on selected key aspects of his previously unpublished archive. It also gives insights into the life of an art critic in postwar Europe.
Curators: Sabine Breitwieser, Director, and Stefanie Grünangerl, Bibliothekarin, Museum der Moderne Salzburg