2 September 2021

Seen at viennacontemporary (2 - 5 September) at the Alte Post: Art concerning climate change, digital media, and political issues

In the last years, viennacontemporary happened at the Marx Halle in the third district of Vienna. This year, the art fair moved to a new location which fits perfectly to the current worldwide 'in progress' health restructuring and economy stabilizing situation: The construction site of the 'Alte Post' (Old Post Office), the old central postal building in the city's 1st district, which is currently turned into the Neue Alte Post as new multifunctional property with apartments, offices, etc.

Before the guided tour for the media started, the organisers and curators introduced this year's viennacontemporary with more than 30 galleries from Austria, Russia, Ukraine, Slovenia, Latvia, Romania, Ireland,... and the collaboration with 'Curated by' at a press conference. One of the benefits of the collaboration for visitors are the special guided tours to selected galleries throughout Vienna additionally to the viennacontemporary 2021 headquarters tours at Alte Post. The tours will start today with the viennacontemporary guided tour at 17:00 until 18:00. The next is the 'Contemporary Vienna Walking Tour #1' which leads in 'Curated by'-style to selected galleries in the 1st district. The schedule of the tours is published at viennacontemporary.at/en/guided-tours-2/.

Fashion.at joined the press tour which lasted around one hour. It's practical for getting an oversight in a short time. The first artworks on the tour where visitors looked closer were the ones by Polonca Lovšin presented by P74 Gallery, Ljubljana. The photographic collages with commentary texts concerning climate change are entitled 'We Can't See the Forest for the Trees'. At the second floor of the art fair, the Green On Red Gallery from Dublin represents artists from various fields such as sculptures from industrial material by Kristin Arndt or paintings digitally developed by Alan Butler whose displayed work from the 'Deskscape'-series references computer technology.

Digital media, computer technology are also themes at two of the upcoming talks (viennacontemporary.at/en/talks-2021/). On 4th September, viennacontemporary invites to the talks 'NFT - The Future of Art?' (13:00) and 'Digital Citizenship and Creativity' (15:00).

At the end of the tour, the works by seven artists (who are under 40 years old and were born, or live or have studied in Austria) of 'Zone1' curated by Franziska Sophie Wildförster are exhibited in an own hall (viennacontemporary.at/en/zone1-2021/). One of the artists is Jelena Micić (born in Serbia, educated at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna), presented by the Galerie3 Velden from the Wörthersee in Carinthia. Fashion.at spoke with the artist about the exhibited works and that the nets made from plastic ear cleaners - which are nowadays per law replaced by environmentally friendly products, appear like 'fishing for audience'. Transparency, seeing through, experiencing with others and in the same time being separated, excluded is a central motif of Jelena Micić who experiences as Serbian citizen (Serbia isn't part of the European Union, it's a so-called third country of the European Union) the closeness, the strong bonding to Austria and in the same time the separation, the exclusion as third country citizen.

At viennacontemporary, it becomes once again obvious that Europe is larger than the European Union.

Images, from left: 'Zone1' curator Franziska Sophie Wildförster speaking at the press conference. Insight into the exhibition hall of Zone1. Artist Jelena Micić at the booth of Galerie3 Velden, Zone1. Photos captured on occasion of the press conference and guided tour on the opening day of viennacontemporary on 2 September 2021 at Alte Post in the 1st district of Vienna.