VIENNA.- The Viennese art historian and curator Peter Bogner, former director of the Vienna Künstlerhaus, has been appointed as the new director of the Austrian Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Private Foundation in Vienna. Peter Bogner succeeds Monika Pessler, whom alongside the foundation’s previous president, Dieter Bogner, established over the past ten years a foundation of great significance and importance as a cultural protagonist within Vienna as well as an internationally renowned venue for exhibitions, scholarly research and new projects stemming from the prolific artistic oeuvre of Frederick Kiesler.

“We are extremely pleased to have Peter Bogner join the Kiesler Foundation as the new director. Peter is a leading and highly knowledgeable expert within the art and museum scene in Vienna and Austria and we feel he will be a strong ally in promoting the ongoing development of the Foundation by bringing on board great enthusiasm, energy and drive. I personally very much look forward to working closely with Peter to synchronize our vision and ambitions for the extraordinary future the Kiesler Foundation undoubtedly holds.

Frederick Kiesler as a visionary artist and architect of the twentieth century has left us a formidable legacy and body of work, and with Peter’s role now as the new director I look forward to his inspired contributions and continuing such initiatives such as highly coveted Austrian Frederick Kiesler Prize for Architecture and the Arts as well as working together towards new and inspired initiatives surrounding and extending Kiesler’s powerful legacy. With Peter Bogner on board as our new director we now can focus on the exciting challenges ahead to further connect the historical avant-garde dimensions of Kiesler’s work with new tendencies and projects of contemporary art, theory and practice,“ says the architect Hani Rashid, president and CEO of the Austrian Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Private Foundation.

Peter Bogner was the director of the Vienna Künstlerhaus from 2002 to 2013. Prior to this he acted as secretary general for the Austrian Association of Modern Art Galleries for four years. Bogner studied art history at the University of Vienna as well as architecture with Hans Hollein at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. From 2005 to 2011 he was chairman of the Austrian Association of Art Historians. Peter Bogner curated numerous exhibitions at home and abroad und published in the areas of nineteenth and twentieth century fine arts and architecture.

The Kiesler Foundation Vienna was founded in 1997, after the Republic of Austria and the City of Vienna, with the help of numerous private benefactors, had acquired the estate of Frederick Kiesler. It is its objective to explore the heritage of this Austro- American architect (1890-1965) and to ascribe it to the contemporary canon of architectural and artistic practice.

The institution functions as research site for scientists and artists from all over the world. With its exhibition program and collaborations at the interface between art, architecture and design it also provides a platform for current interdisciplinary art and architecture production.