20 September 2016

Insights into Parallel Vienna 2016: a red dress about politics, up-cycled vintage jeans and a carpet about the nature of humans

Today from 22:00, this year's Parallel Vienna will celebrate the opening party of the six days art show which is on view until Sunday 25 September at the Alte Post in Vienna. Fashionoffice made a tour through the spaces which are organized by curators, by the artists themselves or galleries. Visitors will need time to navigate through the rooms; helpful will be an expert who guides through the huge building where works by more than 400 national and international, from established to emerging artist are exhibited on three floors.

fig. left: Ona B. counts to the most famous Austrian artists. She is painter, performance artist and is known for her textile installations such as the one on view behind her. The red dress with over-length is entitled 'Dressed To Kill' and premiered in 1999 in Prague. It is made of red flags - more than 100 meters fabrics, which reference the so called 'Velvet Revolution' of Czechoslovakia in 1989; the year that the country moved after non-violent protests from the communist one-party system to a democratic republic.

fig. middle: Discipline-crossing artist Nikolaus Weitzer has smartened up his space like a vintage fashion & art boutique - which is also his core business. He is owner of the 'Little Joe's Gang' vintage store at Operngasse 34 in Vienna and incorporates his love for passed times, memories, and used things into his art. He finished his studies at the class of Brigitte Kowanz at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and commutes between various disciplines as retailer of vintage fashion, designer of own products like a carpet from old jeans (on view at the image), as painter, or t-shirt screen-printer with motifs which are inspired by tattoo art.

fig. right: Tim Hartmann is currently student at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. The image shows him sitting on a staple of carpets printed with motifs designed by 20 colleagues from the Viennese art university. His carpet shows the print of the painted image of a man with prosthesis. The original photo was shot during the Bregenzer Festspiele in Vorarlberg and depicts the vulnerability of the body and at the same time the strength of human beings. The man can fulfill thanks to medicine technological progress a physically demanding job: he is stage worker. The carpets are available exclusively at Parallel Vienna from today (13:00 - 22:00 opening with performances; from 22:00 opening party) until 25 September.

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