LINZ.- With his first solo museum exhibition at Lentos, Austrian artist Georg Pinteritsch (*1986) delves into the layers of cultural heritage, collective identity, and the structures that shape society. At the heart of the show is the question of how history is told—and how deeply our understanding of past civilizations is filtered through contemporary perspectives. From there, Pinteritsch shifts the focus forward: what traces of our own society will endure—materially, symbolically, and in the stories still legible tomorrow?

The artist, who lives in Vienna and Linz, studied graphic design and painting at the University of Art and Design Linz. For his exhibition at the Lentos Kunstmuseum, Georg Pinteritsch — whose practice moves between drawing, installation, and object — created a spatial installation that brings together art- and architectural-historical references with traces of everyday life and fragments of pop culture. His works are rich with allusions: fragments of mythology, religion, and art history appear alongside citations from mass media or elements drawn from the banal. Humor and self-irony repeatedly disrupt scenes that can be violent or erotically charged.

In reference to the exhibition title, Pinteritsch points to the historical role of the man as the “game maker”—a hyper- masculine figure demanding strength, suppressing vulnerability, and often carrying self-destructive traits. Individual works pick up on these associations, addressing destructive male behavior as both cultural norm and recurring historical force. His visual language remains deliberately ambiguous, avoiding fixed narratives and opening up spaces for thought and imagination.

His engagement with role models and the fragility of systems of order and meaning is interwoven with art-historical motifs. “In his work, Pinteritsch links familiar visual traditions — such as those found in medieval panel painting — with his own experiences and elements of our collective memory. His drawings and installations construct complex visual spaces in which past, present, and future overlap, resisting any single interpretation,” notes curator Sarah Jonas.

Several new series have been created for the exhibition: the installation Spoilen (2025) transforms styrofoam packaging into ornamental architectural fragments, some of which also function as displays for other works. The large-scale jacquard tapestry Funeral of a Mystery Shopper (2025) revisits the art-historical tradition of wall hangings, merging archaeological imagery with objects from everyday culture. Das Nagelschiff (2025) draws on Norse mythology, intertwining burial rituals with commonplace materials.

The exhibition also offers insight into Pinteritsch’s work of recent years: the series LOVERS, in which the rigorously contained geometry of Baroque gardens becomes the stage for scenes oscillating between harmony and conflict, and Man with Flowers, which reveals a brutal clash in stark contrast to its delicate-sounding title. A defining element of his drawings are the elaborately crafted frames—conceived by the artist himself—which function as integral parts of the works and form a bridge to the expansive installations in the show.

“Georg Pinteritsch succeeds in bringing historical visual traditions into friction with the imagery of the present. He weaves the legacy of cultural history together with the ruptures of our own time, opening a space in which our view of society, history, and the future can shift. With this solo exhibition, Lentos sets a strong mark for a young artistic position defined by precision, subtle irony, and a distinctive voice,” says Hemma Schmutz, Director of Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz.

Rather than presenting a closed narrative, the exhibition unfolds as a dense web of images, meanings, and references—inviting visitors to immerse themselves in its layered visual worlds and to develop their own readings. On view at the Lentos Kunstmuseum until 11 January 2026.