You can see more from far away

A world of interconnected networks, a symbiosis between objects and life. Humanity is not at the center but rather on the periphery: observing, enabling, learning.

At the heart of this are two major retrospectives, each complementing the other in their conceptual approaches. One artist weaves what she sees, sketches and writes her dreams, takes photos from airplanes, and is known for her culinary prowess. The other, a generation younger, began with painting, expanded into building landscapes, and devoted himself to conceptual art and Minimalism, always from the perspective of the living world. Grass-covered carpets, snails inhabiting Donald Judd pieces, and ducks surveying the studio—all part of his creative process. What unites them is their inclusive, ever-wondering gaze from a distance.

The exhibition at Kunsthaus Graz brings together works by Ingrid Wiener and Martin Roth, creating a world of wondrous networks. Wiener’s dream drawings, tapestries, and films—often created in collaboration with others and her surroundings—are juxtaposed with Roth’s installations, films, and two-dimensional works, which are dedicated to nurturing and shaping life itself. Roth, originally from Styria but based in New York, passed away much too early in 2019. His site-specific installations and interventions exploring the intersections of art and nature garnered international acclaim.

In contrast, Ingrid Wiener has long been a prominent figure in the Austrian art scene, participating in the actions of the Vienna Group as early as the late 1960s. She collaborated on tapestries and films with figures like Dieter Roth, VALIE EXPORT, and Oswald Wiener, and continues to work with artists like Rosa Barba, both musically and visually. After living in Berlin, Canada, and Düsseldorf, Wiener settled back in Austria less than a decade ago.

The exhibition fosters an artistic dialogue as a symbiosis of the living and the inanimate, where time and space intertwine. It presents a world that evokes Donna Haraway’s concept of the Chthulucene: where humans are fleeting, strategically placed not at the center, but at the edges of ever-changing worlds—observing, enabling, and learning.

Curated by Katrin Bucher Trantow, Michaela Leutzendorff Pakesch | Source: Kunsthaus Graz