Josef Dabernig
19 Mar - 23 Apr 2011
JOSEF DABERNIG
On Discipline
19 March - 23 April, 2011
Wilfried Lentz Gallery is proud to host the Austrian artist Josef Dabernig (1956, Kötschach-Mauthen, lives and works in Vienna) for his first solo show with the gallery,
The exhibition On Discipline will consist of a disciplinary environment, where three films are shown in a daylight situation, on monitors and screens, as part of a much bigger constellation comprised of used furniture. The carefully chosen furniture is a bit outdated, coming from course rooms and spaces for congress. The artist, who is also a sculptor, has dispersed this banal furniture and the screening devices throughout the gallery space, including even office furniture to be used by the gallerist. The whole installation functions as a sculptural construction treating real objects as sculptural elements, creating a stage set for conditioned movements of the human body and - through the filmic work - foremost an evocation of disciplinary exercises and experiences.
Dabernig’s most recent film excursus on fitness (2010) will be shown as well as two other recent works, Aquarena (2007, with Isabella Hollauf) and Parking (2003). All these films center around the idea of discipline. In the first two films this is worked out through empty artificial environments intended for exercise and sports. excursus on fitness seems less about physical achievements but rather more about isolated subjects mirrored in a certain existential frost while in Aquarena, the public baths, both in open air and used solely by one person is captioned by a text speaking about the extreme regulated measures for water treatment and hygiene in a town under the DDR-regime. The last film Parking forms a counter point in the show by enfolding an (un-)comfortable story where the subject of discipline permits an opening to being loaded with sexual connotations.
Of his graphic work an older piece Täglicher Zigarettenkonsum 23 09 1979 – 22 09 1980 – a fastidious control of the artist’s cigarette consumption over an entire year - will also be reinstalled.
Accompanying the show is the sixth issue in the new series of publications published by the gallery. The publication, #6 On Discipline, consists of a poster, signed by the artist, in an edition of 250 along with a small booklet with a text by the philosopher Sjoerd van Tuinen. The text focuses on the subject of discipline with an historical overview of notions by philosophers such as Nietzsche, Foucault and Sloterdijk. The price of the publication is 10 Euros and can be ordered through us either by e-mail or at the following book stores: Boekie Woekie, Amsterdam, Pro QM and Motto, Berlin. The text can also be downloaded on our website for free.
Since 1996 Josef Dabernig has made films where the East European modernistic built environment is often the scenery for protagonists who exercise isolated tasks, and how systems of control are influencing human behavior. His films have been shown at international venues like the Manifesta 3, Venice Biennial and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Filmfestival paticipations include Locarno, Oberhausen, Rotterdam and Toronto. Solo exhibitions among others include: at MAK Vienna, where since a longer time the artist experimented in form of a sculptural narration, MNAC Bucharest, Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig, BAK Utrecht and the Contemporary Art Center in Vilnius. In the last years Dabernig has been part of many groupshows, for example at the Mücsarnok Kunsthalle Budapest, Wiener Secession, Townhouse Gallery Cairo, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Moderna galerija Ljubljana and the Generali Foundation in Vienna.
On Discipline
19 March - 23 April, 2011
Wilfried Lentz Gallery is proud to host the Austrian artist Josef Dabernig (1956, Kötschach-Mauthen, lives and works in Vienna) for his first solo show with the gallery,
The exhibition On Discipline will consist of a disciplinary environment, where three films are shown in a daylight situation, on monitors and screens, as part of a much bigger constellation comprised of used furniture. The carefully chosen furniture is a bit outdated, coming from course rooms and spaces for congress. The artist, who is also a sculptor, has dispersed this banal furniture and the screening devices throughout the gallery space, including even office furniture to be used by the gallerist. The whole installation functions as a sculptural construction treating real objects as sculptural elements, creating a stage set for conditioned movements of the human body and - through the filmic work - foremost an evocation of disciplinary exercises and experiences.
Dabernig’s most recent film excursus on fitness (2010) will be shown as well as two other recent works, Aquarena (2007, with Isabella Hollauf) and Parking (2003). All these films center around the idea of discipline. In the first two films this is worked out through empty artificial environments intended for exercise and sports. excursus on fitness seems less about physical achievements but rather more about isolated subjects mirrored in a certain existential frost while in Aquarena, the public baths, both in open air and used solely by one person is captioned by a text speaking about the extreme regulated measures for water treatment and hygiene in a town under the DDR-regime. The last film Parking forms a counter point in the show by enfolding an (un-)comfortable story where the subject of discipline permits an opening to being loaded with sexual connotations.
Of his graphic work an older piece Täglicher Zigarettenkonsum 23 09 1979 – 22 09 1980 – a fastidious control of the artist’s cigarette consumption over an entire year - will also be reinstalled.
Accompanying the show is the sixth issue in the new series of publications published by the gallery. The publication, #6 On Discipline, consists of a poster, signed by the artist, in an edition of 250 along with a small booklet with a text by the philosopher Sjoerd van Tuinen. The text focuses on the subject of discipline with an historical overview of notions by philosophers such as Nietzsche, Foucault and Sloterdijk. The price of the publication is 10 Euros and can be ordered through us either by e-mail or at the following book stores: Boekie Woekie, Amsterdam, Pro QM and Motto, Berlin. The text can also be downloaded on our website for free.
Since 1996 Josef Dabernig has made films where the East European modernistic built environment is often the scenery for protagonists who exercise isolated tasks, and how systems of control are influencing human behavior. His films have been shown at international venues like the Manifesta 3, Venice Biennial and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Filmfestival paticipations include Locarno, Oberhausen, Rotterdam and Toronto. Solo exhibitions among others include: at MAK Vienna, where since a longer time the artist experimented in form of a sculptural narration, MNAC Bucharest, Museum of Contemporary Art Leipzig, BAK Utrecht and the Contemporary Art Center in Vilnius. In the last years Dabernig has been part of many groupshows, for example at the Mücsarnok Kunsthalle Budapest, Wiener Secession, Townhouse Gallery Cairo, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Moderna galerija Ljubljana and the Generali Foundation in Vienna.