Austrian-born artist Kiki Kogelnik (1935 Graz - 1997 Vienna), who spent most of her creative life in New York, was ahead of her time. She once said that women should look like samurais. She herself took a combative approach to materials, colors and social issues. She first worked as an expressionist painter and developed into a pop art phenomenon, experimenting with collage and airbrushing, with new materials such as vinyl as well as traditional ones such as ceramics. Now it is time to finally give this extraordinary artist the space she deserves with the first comprehensive retrospective in Switzerland.
Kiki Gogelnik: Superserpent, 1974, oil and acrylic on canvas © Image: SN/Bank Austria Kunstforum/Museum Ortner, Vienna/Kiki Gogelnik Foundation
Why is Kiki Kogelnik's work so relevant today? Probably the strongest argument for this is her visionary anticipation of themes that are more relevant today than ever before: the achievements and excesses of consumer society, the benefits and problems of technological progress, medicine and modern diagnostics, as well as the omnipresent discourses on gender equality, medical ethics, digitalization and sustainability.
With around 150 formats, some of them very large, from four decades of artistic production, the exhibition conveys an overall picture of Kogelnik's diverse work and shows its art-historical significance. The exhibition is being held in cooperation with Kunstforum Wien.
March 22 to July 14, 2024
