Wien Energie Fernwärme adds selected works by Erwin Wurm to its collection.
Erwin Wurm is one of the most important contemporary Austrian artists; his works have been exhibited in eminent international art fairs.

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The “one minute sculptures” he has been producing since the late 1990ies belong to his most famous works. These “sculptures” exist for a minute and are performed either by the spectators or the artist himself, involving elements and actions that are often comical: Balancing objects on their heads or having pens stuck between the toes, in postures impossible to maintain for a longer time. The classical properties of a sculpture are thus presented in a new, grotesque and parodic manner. These ephemeral episodes are documented by video and photography. more »

Kontakt is the Erste Bank group’s collection of contemporary Eastern European art. But there is more to it… Interview with Georg Schöllhammer, curator, author, editor of Springerin.

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The art collection of the Erste Bank group focuses on contemporary art of Central and Eastern Europe, at which media like film and video were included from the beginning. Due to a lack of structures to back up production and networking, in the post-socialist states there was less exchange between the artists than there was with the international art world. more »

Faced with the challenge of representing a recently merged corporate collection comprised of over 60,000 works, curator Walter Guadagnini went back to the basic questions concerning art: Why is art important? What role does it play in society? How does it relate to our everyday life? As the art community becomes ever more global, how can we encompass the vastly diverse range of art that is presented to us?

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The exhibition, “PastPresentFuture”, at the Bank Austria Kunstforum, is an introduction to the UniCredit Group art collection, which now includes the combined collections of all the individual banks that have merged into UniCredit, including UniCredit in Italy, HypoVereinsbank in Germany, and Bank Austria, thereby making it one of the most valuable corporate collections in Europe. more »

Gertrud and Dieter Bogner began collecting in the late 1970s, after inheriting Schloss Buchberg, which is located in Kamptal in Lower Austria. The castle was set up over several centuries during the Renaissance with numerous extensions. Those who wander through the many rooms, courts, towers, corridors, and exterior spaces, located on several levels, feel as though they are wandering through a village, or getting lost in an enormous house. The sheer variety and sizes of the spaces raised the question to the new owners of how they could be sensibly utilized. More than thirty years ago, it was decided that the building would be used for contemporary art, at which time Gertraud and Dieter Bogner also began collecting art. This podcast was realised with the kind support of UNIQUA ArtCercles.

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In the meantime, the castle was christened Kunstraum Buchberg, and, in contrast to other art spaces, has been housing permanently integrated, site-specific art since 1983. The arrangement of the collection was geared at first towards the geometrical-constructivist field, but then Monika Brandmaier took it in a more conceptual-associative direction when the collectors realized that each attempt towards an all-encompassing designation of its collection encountered disapproval from the participating artists. more »