5 December 2022

Preview of exhibitions in Vienna 2023: Kunstforum Wien presents works by Kiki Kogelnik addressing topics like identity or the representation of women in fashion magazines

Many Austrian museums have already published previews of next year's exhibitions. One of the exhibitions with relation to fashion and lifestyle is 'Kiki Kogelnik: Now Is The Time' on view from 2 February until 25 June 2023 at the Kunstforum Wien where recently the dance performance 'The Power of Heels' in the rooms of the exhibition 'Helmut Newton Legacy' (until 15 January) happened as tribute to photographer Helmut Newton whose work is interpreted as women's empowerment for self-determination in a time when it was more common to see women as objects (article).

At the upcoming exhibition of works by Austria's most important protagonist of the Pop Art movement Kiki Kogelnik (1935 - 1997), identity, the image of women, and the representation of women in fashion magazines are topics among others. Her ceramics and glass heads of women, paintings or sculptural installations like the 'Hangings' - vinyl bodies on clothing racks - are shown today at museums like the Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, or the Belvedere in Vienna and fairs like Art Basel Miami, Frieze London or Art Basel's new fair 'Paris+'.

In the 70s, Kiki Kogelnik threw a feminist view on the images of women in society produced by media such as fashion magazines. The artist incorporated the aesthetics of fashion photography into paintings of portrayals of women who appeared empowered and at the same time "absurd as they performed their assigned roles" (source) such as this part of her oeuvre is introduced by the Kiki Kogelnik Foundation which supports the upcoming exhibition at the Kunstforum Wien. 'Kiki Kogelnik: Now Is The Time' was developed in collaboration between the Kunstforum Wien, Kunsthaus Zürich (Switzerland) and the Kunstmuseum Brandts in Odense (Denmark) where the exhibition will be on view from 19 August 2023 until 14 January 2024.

Images, from left: Kiki Kogelnik 'Superserpent', 1974. Museum Ortner, Wien. © Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. Right: Kiki Kogelnik 'Chandelier Hanging', around 1970. Courtesy of Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. © Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. Photo: Lisa Rastl.

Editorial tip for German language listeners: The podcast episode about the painting 'Kiki Kogelnik - Superserpent' by Dr. Alexander Giese, Vienna-based Kunsthandel Giese und Schweiger.