VIENNA.- From 21 to 24 September 2017 ca. 100 galleries and institutions from 26 countries will present their artists and programs in the Marx Halle. With the special presentations ZONE1, Solo & Sculpture, Focus: Hungary and Nordic Highlights, viennacontemporary underlines its significance not only as a market-place but also as a location for the presentation of young and established artists and for the information on the development of the art scene in the focus countries of the program. The accompanying events such as the film and video program as part of Cinema, the talks and discussions in the Talks and the art-education program with the guided tours on selected subjects provides an enjoyable and uncomplicated access to art for all age groups. With its comprehensive program and balanced list of exhibitors comprising the most significant galleries from Austria as well as young and established galleries from the western and eastern hemisphere, viennacontemporary is one of the emerging international art fairs.

“The city of Vienna is not only an important venue for discussion and education on art and culture, but has in recent years also become a center for new development and progress in Central Europe. With our multifaceted cooperation with partners from culture, business and the creative scene, we want to strengthen this tendency and extend it in the future,” says Dmitry Yu. Aksenov, Chairman of the Board of viennacontemporary, emphasizing the active role of viennacontemporary in the networking of Vienna‘s cultural and creative scene.

“We see the partnership with viennacontemporary as an interesting complement to our cultural engagement in the countries of Eastern and Southeastern Europe. As one of the leading financial service providers in the CEE region, it is our responsibility to support civil society and cultural development in the region. viennacontemporary is a fitting platform for these aspirations,” explains Peter Bosek, Retail Banking board member, about Erste Group’s decision to once again be a partner of viennacontemporary.

Special presentations in 2017

ZONE1: young Austrian artists with solo presentations
ZONE1 has established itself as acclaimed format for the presentation of young artists and this year too offers a series of innovative projects. Marlies Wirth, curator at the MAK – Austrian Museum for Applied Arts / Contemporary Art in Vienna – has selected the program and presents the entire range of young contemporary art production: photography, extended painting and sculpture up to installation and performance will be on show in individual sections at viennacontemporary. As in recent years, the Austrian Federal Chancellery is supporting the participation of young artists from Austria in ZONE1.

Solo & Sculpture: sculpture as this year’s topic
With the presentation of high-quality sculptures by renowned international artists, Solo & Sculpture, curated by Miguel Wandschneider, has a new topic. With ten artistic statements Miguel Wandschneider presents his selection of the most significant and established representatives in the field of sculpture. The solo shows constitute a counterpoint to the art fair’s bustle and leave space for individual experiences and the concentration on fundamental artistic statements.

Focus: Hungary
Rethinking the Hungarian neo-avant-garde: the rediscovery of artistic positions from the 1960s and 1970s
The special presentation is conceived by three galleries, Budapest acb Gallery, Kisterem and Vintage Gallery. The Hungarian art historian and critic József Mélyi is acting as curator.

This year’s special show is dedicated to the Hungarian neo-avant-garde of the 1960s and 1970s, which even today has hardly been recognized. Starting from the development of the unofficial art scene of the neo-avant-garde in Hungary of the early 1960s, the presentation attempts to raise awareness for the various movements that existed in Hungary at the time. Instead of pointing out linear developments, the artistic roots affecting contemporary art production are to be explored – with the aim of invigorating the discourse on the neo-avant-garde both in Hungary and in Central and Eastern Europe.

Nordic Highlights: Northern Europe at viennacontemporary
Even last year visitors were already very enthusiastic about the special Nordic Highlights presentation. Selected galleries from Finland, Denmark, and Sweden this year also present both international art as well as specific positions of the young and established generations from the rich artistic field of the Nordic countries.

Film and video presentations 2017
As part of the Cinema program, curator Olaf Stüber presents films and videos of Austrian and international artists that were submitted by the galleries participating in viennacontemporary. The selected films and videos will be shown as part of a daily program with fixed starting times for the individual works. For viennacontemporary 2017, Stüber chose the theme of my own little happiness. The program brings together artists’ films and video works exploring the subject of happiness and the search for the little moments of happiness – or centering around the failing search for happiness. Cinema is made possible with the kind support of the Austrian Federal Chancellery.

For the first time at viennacontemporary: the viennacontemporary Cinema prize in cooperation with mumok
For the first time at viennacontemporary, as part of the Cinema program, a prize will be awarded in cooperation with mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, one of the most important institutions of contemporary art in Europe. The film of the winner will be presented at the mumok cinema. The awarded work will be on view for free.

Art institutions in conversation: the Talks program of viennacontemporary
Talks: Borderline offers a program of public talks in which leading representatives of the international art scene share their ideas and insights. Curated by Kate Sutton, this year’s theme, Borderline, focuses on the comprehensive changes that European cultural institutions face on a political, social, and cultural level as seen from the perspectives of artists, art historians, international collectors, museum directors, dealers, critics, and curators. This series of conversations, panel discussions and presentations will look at people and projects seizing on the sudden structural flexibility and working to push the borders of institutions from within: from collectors experimenting with different formats for patronage, to galleries testing out new models for commercial collaboration, to artists, curators, and critics weighing the moral and ethical implications of activism and critique within the larger infrastructure of the globalized art world.

The Talks program takes place on Friday, 22 September 2017, on Saturday, 23 September 2017, and on Sunday, 24 September 2017, each from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm in the Talks Area.

Tours: guided round tours at viennacontemporary
For 2017, viennacontemporary has further developed the tours program and now offers guided tours on special subjects. In this way, visitors can further get to know what is on offer at the art fair. Three comprehensively organized tours – Focus on Central and Eastern Europe, Upcoming Artists and Discoveries and Contemporary Classics – show the broad range of galleries at viennacontemporary and provide the chance to explore the focus programs in more detail. All guided tours last for one hour and start at the meeting point. The starting times of the tours will be announced at viennacontemporary.at.

The Artproof production grant for photography
At the photo-print laboratory, artists can realize their visions in exactly the way they want to. In order to support young artists working with the medium of photography, Artproof has so far awarded production grants in Estonia (since 2012), Finland (since 2014), and Germany (since 2016). In 2016 Artproof at viennacontemporary for the first time awarded Ulrike Königshofer (Galerie Reinthaler, Vienna) a production grant. In 2017 a high-class jury at viennacontemporary will select an artist for another production grant. The grant includes 5,000 euro worth of printing and framing services. In addition, a one week residency in Tallinn, Estonia, with flights and accommodation will be provided so that the winner can oversee the production process.

Artproof is an international art printing laboratory with locations in Tallinn, Stockholm, and Berlin. The enterprise stages more than 60 exhibitions a year for artists worldwide. The winners of the “Artproof Production Grant for Photography” will be announced at the press conference of viennacontemporary on 20 September 2017 in the Marx Halle.

Language in art: curated by_vienna cooperates with viennacontemporary
In 2017 viennacontemporary is again cooperating with departure, the creative center of the Vienna Business Agency and its successful curated by_vienna program, in the course of which Viennese contemporary art galleries have worked together with international curators since 2009. In 2017 curated by_vienna is taking place under the motto “image/reads/text”. In the most important Viennese galleries, 21 exhibitions, conceived by international curators, raise the question of the significance of language in contemporary art. The digitalization of all areas of life increasingly confronts us with a verbalization of images and the transformation of language into pictograms. The exhibitions question these trends and examine their relevance in current art production.