LOUISVILLE, KY.- The Speed Art Museum presents the first solo exhibition in the United States by Austrian artist Werner Reiterer, Raw Loop, on view through June 29, 2008. This exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to enjoy the unique way that Reiterer uses humor and irony to upend our perceptions of the world.

Is art allowed to make us laugh? In Raw Loop, Reiterer turns the world upside down and creates new rules in works that question our perceptions while playing with art's relationship to everyday reality. Through drawings, objects and installations he engages the viewer in a re-examination of everyday experience that makes us think and often smile.

In Raw Loop, viewer interaction transforms art into a collaborative project. In one installation, a wall text solicits the viewer to Take a deep breath and carry the air into the next room. In Life Counts Death, (2008), a loud bell will ring out simply by us pressing a pedal in front of a large white cube. In Untitled (2004) the artist asks us to believe that steam escaping from an oil barrel is actually laughing gas. Walking the line between sense and nonsense, Reiterer’s art plays with the relationship between matter and ideas, leaving it to the audience to connect the dots and discover new meanings. In each instance the viewer is an active link in the loop or bringing the work into being.

Raw Loop also features 38 new drawings by the artist. Reiterer’s drawings reorganize the relationship between objects and ideas in unexpected and often humorous ways.

Born in Graz, Austria, Reiterer studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1984 to 1988. He has been featured in major museum and gallery exhibitions across Europe and has become recognized as one of the leading artists of his generation. Reiterer has created public art projects, including the interactive chandelier found on Main St. in downtown Louisville, Ky., outside the Proof on Main restaurant.

Exhibition support in Louisville has been generously provided by Sutherland Foundation Inc., Dr. Gregory Bays Brown, Brook and Pam Smith, Beverley and Jack Ballantine, Stephen Reily and Emily Bingham, David and Dale Hyman, Virginia L. Speed, Ms. Merrily Orsini and Mr. Frederick G. Heath, Dr. S. P. Auerbach, Matthew and Brooke Barzun, Gill and Augusta Holland, Sarah and Chuck O'Koon, Dr. and Mrs. Jeffrey P. Callen, Leonard and Adele Leight, Spencer and Claude Berry, and International Contemporary Art Foundation.

A national leader in arts education, serving over 30,000 children each year, the Speed Art Museum has repeatedly been voted Kentucky’s best museum and is considered one of the top ten sites each Kentuckian should visit. The Speed honors its mission to bring great art to our communities through its distinguished collections and as the Commonwealth’s number one venue for international art exhibitions.

Rated one of the top ten audio guides in the country by MSNBC.COM, “Passport to the Speed,” offers insight into selected works in the collection, and is available for free at the Museum’s Welcome Center. The Speed Art Museum: Highlights from the Collection, a new companion guide to the Speed’s distinguished collection is now available in the Museum Shop.

The Speed Art Museum is located at 2035 South Third Street in Louisville. Other features of the museum include a hands-on Art Learning Center for families, a café and gift shop. Gallery hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; and Sunday 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays. For general information, call (502) 634-2700 or visit www.speedmuseum.org.