The musa is dedicating a mid-career exhibition to the Vienna-based artist Leopold Kessler (*1976 in Munich).
In 2005, Leopold Kessler plugged an orange power cable into the socket of his studio on Schillerplatz and stretched it across the city to his apartment in the second district. From then on, the Academy of Fine Arts supplied him with electricity.
His "Academy Cable", which he presented at the Kunsthalle Wien, made him instantly famous. This action is prototypical of Kessler's way of working, in which he playfully engages with the infrastructure of public space. His works, such as punching out traffic signs with an oversized hole punch, restoring graffiti that had to make way for an ATM or installing a cash deposit box above the entrance to a police station, were initially always unauthorized and focus on questions about the use of public space, surveillance and the economics of art.
In recent years, Kessler has mainly created interactive sculptures, such as the well-known Nordbahnzeh. These curious objects actively encourage passers-by to use them. Kessler captures the reactions, such as the collective nail-cutting of the oversized toe in Rudolf Bednar Park, with wildlife cameras.
The exhibition will be designed by Viennese artist Franz Kapfer (winner of the Outstanding Artist Award of the Austrian Federal Government), who shared a studio with Leopold Kessler for many years.
September 11, 2025 to January 25, 2026
