In winter of 2016, the 21er Haus will host an exceptional exhibition featuring Austrian artist Franz West (1947-2012), with a main focus on works made in collaboration with other leading visual artists: Bizhan Bassiri, Elisabetta Benassi, Songül Boyraz, Jean-Marc Bustamante, Plamen Dejanov & Svetlana Heger, Mathis Esterhazy, Marina Faust, Marco Fedele di Catrano, Urs Fischer, Herbert Flois, Gelatin, Douglas Gordon, Heiri Häfliger, Richard Hoeck, Peter Höll, Franz Kapfer, Mike Kelley, Leopold Kessler, Roland Kollnitz, Anita Leisz, Sarah Lucas, Otto Muehl, Albert Oehlen, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Rudolf Polanszky, Andreas Reiter Raabe, Anselm Reyle, Tamuna Sirbiladze, Josh Smith, Johann Szenizcei, Octavian Trauttmansdorff, Zlatan Vukosavljevic, Hans Weigand, Erwin Wurm, Heimo Zobernig.
The exhibition summarises West's belief in the juxtaposition of various artistic viewpoints through collaboration and in art as a participatory activity. His hugely influential Adaptives (early sculptural works begun in 1974) were made to be held and adapted to the human body. Later works also invited participation and interaction, including furniture and his famous brightly-coloured aluminium sculptures. Throughout his life, West combined works from different periods to produce new readings, often integrating works by other artists into his own. The comprehensive exhibition aims to showcase why this particular artistic practice was crucial for the artist´s oeuvre as well as being one of the most innovative ones within the art practice of our time.
Curated by Harald Krejci.