ACFNY SUPPORTED | QUEER ENCOUNTERS – VIENNA TRANS L. A.
As part of an exchange project between the CalArts School of Art and students of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, the exhibition QUEER ENCOUNTERS ‐ VIENNA TRANS L. A. presents around twenty‐five international artists mainly working in a queer‐feminist, anti‐discriminatory and decolonial context.
ARTISTS PRESENTED
Florian Aschka, Blisssquad, Pedra Costa, Zoe Dewitt, Andi Dvořák, Mirabella Dziruni, Veronika Eberhart, Julia Fuchs, Julia S. Goodman, Moritz Gottschalk, Jessyca R. Hauser, Klitclique, Larissa Kopp, Roberta Lima, Alfred Morina, Rini Mitra, Hyeji Nam, Danielle Pamp, Michal Rutz, Berivan Sayici, Sir Meisi & Kozek Hörlonski, Marianne Vlaschits, Julia Zastava
Curated by Zoe Dewitt
Most of the artists have been studying at the contextual painting class of Ashley Hans Scheirl (experimental filmmaker and painter, artist of documenta14 in Kassel and Athens) which is known for its focus on identity/gender topics and the trans‐aspect in the art (as in the transposition between artistic media, the transition between sexual categories, the transgression of borders limiting the exploration of new libidinous economies, etc.).
The positions united in this exhibition reflect this transitive aspect in various ways: the encounter of different cultural backgrounds with contemporary western subcultures and socio‐political discourses, the shifting of set pieces of myth, folklore, high and low culture, trash and glamour, the exploration of alternate identities as a means of self‐empowerment, the use of the body as a translator of various languages and codes as well as the prima materia of artistic expression from which further alchemical transmutations of desire emanate.
Intergalactic matriarchy, queer utopia, decolonization of the body, LGBT‐activism, postpone, non‐binary club culture and freestyle rap with white‐cube institutional criticism are just a few keywords that describe the artistic field presented in this exhibition. As such QUEER ENCOUNTERS ‐ VIENNA TRANS L. A. covers a variety of artistic fields such as painting, photography, video, installation and performance with a special emphasis on interdisciplinary methods and collaborations between artists. A part of the exhibition will be dedicated to the Austrian custom jewelry designer Countess Cis Zoltowska, who relocated from Vienna to Los Angeles in the 1960s and lived in West Hollwood until her death in 2004.
Opening Reception: 28 September 2017, 7 – 9 pm
Image © Marianne Vlaschits
VENUE
CALARTS
California Institute of the Arts | School of Art | D300 D301 galleries
24700 McBean Parkway | Valencia | California 91355