NEW YORK, NY.- The Austrian Cultural Forum New York is presenting Constructing Paradise, a group exhibition curated by Dieter Buchhart exploring the themes and history of the “exotic” and its interpretation in contemporary art.

The rapid industrialization and urbanization of the late 19th century led artists and much of society in general to yearn for a sense of newness and otherness in the face of the modernizing world. As artists like Gauguin became entranced by faraway places, a novel category of imagery illustrating a previously unseen and “undiscovered” part of the world began to pervade the Western canon. The idea of a “wild, untouched exotic” emerged as a product of colonialism, as many of the same justifications for colonial rule also fueled Western curiosity of these foreign lands, making way for a revised colonial narrative: creating desire-worlds that existed to fulfill Western dreams and desires.

Constructing Paradise exhibits contemporary reinterpretations of notions of the “exotic” by artists based in Austria or the United States. Taking artworks such as Paul Gauguin’s Noa Noa and Oskar Kokoschka’s Tiger Cat as points of departure, the show assembles a diverse range of work from early contemporary to more recent artistic responses to the modernist imprint of desire and fantasy on contemporary culture. Particularly when juxtaposed with hyperbolized images of modern-day advertising, the exhibition explores the psychological impacts of the modernist image on image culture and the Western psyche.

Dr. Dieter Buchhart is a curator and art theorist. He completed his doctoral studies in art history and restoration science, and has curated numerous exhibitions in renowned international museums and art spaces. He has served as director of the Kunsthalle Krems near Vienna, and has been known for his critical work, contributing to several monographs and art publications such as Kunstforum International. As an art theorist he has contributed many catalogue essays, magazine articles, and lectures, his research focus ranging from Expressionism to contemporary art.