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| Bell Street Project Space and The Hex |
To best describe what happened between Bell
Street Project Space and The Hex and Amer Abbas’
‘Temporary’ Gallery in Vienna I thought it best to go
through some of the things that happened before the
show opened. But first I should explain that Bell
Street Project Space is an offspace in Vienna’s
second district that Marita Fraser and I have run
since 2006. The Hex was an offspace run by Jason
Dungan and Maria Zahle in a spare room of a flat in
London’s Clapton. More recently The Hex has been
used as a platform for putting together exhibition in
the UK and elsewhere in Europe.
Street Project Space and The Hex and Amer Abbas’
‘Temporary’ Gallery in Vienna I thought it best to go
through some of the things that happened before the
show opened. But first I should explain that Bell
Street Project Space is an offspace in Vienna’s
second district that Marita Fraser and I have run
since 2006. The Hex was an offspace run by Jason
Dungan and Maria Zahle in a spare room of a flat in
London’s Clapton. More recently The Hex has been
used as a platform for putting together exhibition in
the UK and elsewhere in Europe.
Amer Abbas is a Vienna-based Gallerist who runs a gallery, a Kunstraum and a nightclub/bar. He has been organising
exhibitions for many years.
The first part of this story starts in Café Ritter, which is located on a corner of Neubugasse, very close to Mariahilferstrasse
in Vienna’s 7th district. Marita and I sat in there with Amer for a couple of hours to discuss what was possible in terms of a
collaboration between Bell Street and his gallery.
The Café Ritter is just two minutes up the street from Amer’s Gallery and sits on a fairly desirable piece of real estate.
Despite this the waiters there have a decidedly dressed down take on the penguin style suit standard in the grand Viennese
coffeehouses. Midway through our time there I felt their presence gave the place a feeling of being in a friend’s uncle’s living
room. By the end of our time there I had no idea what the exhibition might actually look like although I do remember we
talked about the internet for quite a while.
exhibitions for many years.
The first part of this story starts in Café Ritter, which is located on a corner of Neubugasse, very close to Mariahilferstrasse
in Vienna’s 7th district. Marita and I sat in there with Amer for a couple of hours to discuss what was possible in terms of a
collaboration between Bell Street and his gallery.
The Café Ritter is just two minutes up the street from Amer’s Gallery and sits on a fairly desirable piece of real estate.
Despite this the waiters there have a decidedly dressed down take on the penguin style suit standard in the grand Viennese
coffeehouses. Midway through our time there I felt their presence gave the place a feeling of being in a friend’s uncle’s living
room. By the end of our time there I had no idea what the exhibition might actually look like although I do remember we
talked about the internet for quite a while.
I’ve since been told that that meeting must have
happened a full year before the exhibition actually
took place, which would mean that it happened
during summer although I don’t remember the
waiters sweating and I remember that it might
have even been alittle cold outside. But in any
case, a time frame that spans one summer to the
next has dramatic potential so I think it’s worth
keeping in mind.
As one might imagine many things happened
between one summer and the next. Amer was
cooperated with a gallery in Cologne and showed
many Viennese artists. Marita and I spent some
time outside of Austria working on other
exhibitions. And somewhere in the middle
between one summer and the next a series of
weekly exhibitions took place in Amer’s
Schaulager curated by Anita Leitz. Many nice
shows happened from week to week and the
program also worked as a regular appointment
where lots of people from the art scene could come
together for a chat and a drink and to make plans.
happened a full year before the exhibition actually
took place, which would mean that it happened
during summer although I don’t remember the
waiters sweating and I remember that it might
have even been alittle cold outside. But in any
case, a time frame that spans one summer to the
next has dramatic potential so I think it’s worth
keeping in mind.
As one might imagine many things happened
between one summer and the next. Amer was
cooperated with a gallery in Cologne and showed
many Viennese artists. Marita and I spent some
time outside of Austria working on other
exhibitions. And somewhere in the middle
between one summer and the next a series of
weekly exhibitions took place in Amer’s
Schaulager curated by Anita Leitz. Many nice
shows happened from week to week and the
program also worked as a regular appointment
where lots of people from the art scene could come
together for a chat and a drink and to make plans.
This is probably as good a point as any to explain the
layout of Amer’s place on the Schadekgasse. On the left
there is the gallery space which has three main rooms
for showing work. Then there is the Schaulager space
in the middle which has one large room and storage
space behind it. Then on the right there is the
‘Futuregarden’ nightclub/bar which also has art inside
and chairs and tables on the pavement outside which
are very cosy in summertime for sitting around and
doing nothing.
And last but not least, in the few weeks before our
exhibition Amer opened a new Kunstraum in a small
town called Shattendorf about an hour or so from
Vienna. The town is close to the Hungarian boarder
and, as people often reminded me before I travelled to
Schattendorf to check out the space, the town plays an
important role in Austrian history as it was apparently
a trigger for starting the Austrian Civil War. I learned
about this story whilst I was sitting at the newly
opened bar the Amer’s Kunstraum. I was curious
about this situation in front of me: Amer had almost
completely renovated one of the largest buildings in
town, converting an old Gasthaus and presenting it
back to the community as a contemporary art space.
layout of Amer’s place on the Schadekgasse. On the left
there is the gallery space which has three main rooms
for showing work. Then there is the Schaulager space
in the middle which has one large room and storage
space behind it. Then on the right there is the
‘Futuregarden’ nightclub/bar which also has art inside
and chairs and tables on the pavement outside which
are very cosy in summertime for sitting around and
doing nothing.
And last but not least, in the few weeks before our
exhibition Amer opened a new Kunstraum in a small
town called Shattendorf about an hour or so from
Vienna. The town is close to the Hungarian boarder
and, as people often reminded me before I travelled to
Schattendorf to check out the space, the town plays an
important role in Austrian history as it was apparently
a trigger for starting the Austrian Civil War. I learned
about this story whilst I was sitting at the newly
opened bar the Amer’s Kunstraum. I was curious
about this situation in front of me: Amer had almost
completely renovated one of the largest buildings in
town, converting an old Gasthaus and presenting it
back to the community as a contemporary art space.
Everyone seemed very pleased with what was going on there. I
met one of the guests who was related to somebody from the
socialist militias from the start of the civil war period. Locals
were rubbing shoulders with out of town art types and there
was lots of drinking. On that day we were waiting for some
artists from London to come and show alongside the Bell Street
artists. Jason and Maria from The Hex had invited British
artist Paul Simon Richards to collaborate for their
participation in the show with Bell Street in Amer’s space.
The inclusion Paul Simon Richards and The Hex stems from
an idea Amer had roughly six months into the one year that
spans the meeting at Café Ritter and the opening in
Schattendorf. Essentially he wanted to include an element from
outside Vienna that could offer a counter position to what one
might expect to see at an opening if one lived in Vienna and went
to lots of openings. So he asked us to think of another offspace
to be included in the show. We thought of inviting The Hex.
The Hex exhibition with Amer was in the Schaulager space and
resulted from around four days of preparation inside the space
itself. It seemed to me to be four quite meditative days as far as
art making goes. I am sure many things were discussed.
Initially all of this happened between Paul and Jason but then
after two or three days Paul’s partner Claire turned up and then
Maria from The Hex turned up too.
met one of the guests who was related to somebody from the
socialist militias from the start of the civil war period. Locals
were rubbing shoulders with out of town art types and there
was lots of drinking. On that day we were waiting for some
artists from London to come and show alongside the Bell Street
artists. Jason and Maria from The Hex had invited British
artist Paul Simon Richards to collaborate for their
participation in the show with Bell Street in Amer’s space.
The inclusion Paul Simon Richards and The Hex stems from
an idea Amer had roughly six months into the one year that
spans the meeting at Café Ritter and the opening in
Schattendorf. Essentially he wanted to include an element from
outside Vienna that could offer a counter position to what one
might expect to see at an opening if one lived in Vienna and went
to lots of openings. So he asked us to think of another offspace
to be included in the show. We thought of inviting The Hex.
The Hex exhibition with Amer was in the Schaulager space and
resulted from around four days of preparation inside the space
itself. It seemed to me to be four quite meditative days as far as
art making goes. I am sure many things were discussed.
Initially all of this happened between Paul and Jason but then
after two or three days Paul’s partner Claire turned up and then
Maria from The Hex turned up too.
Whilst I wasn’t present for those discussions in the Schaulager I did
glimpse a paperback copy of Plato, various textiles and several bottles
of beer. A month or so prior to any of this Paul, Maria and I shared a
drink at a lounge-club type bar on London’s Hyde Park where Paul
told me that what he was most interested in doing was presenting a
ballad for the show with Amer in Vienna. The ballad would narrate a
quarrel between two lovers.
When the exhibition opened, the work had departed from this point
and had come to involve other things. The exhibition consisted of a
series of objects in a room accompanied by a narrative text. In the end
these elements represented to me a layering of narrative gestures. And
I think the objects reminded me most of bodies and the text of actions.
But for the sake of keeping to a task I wanted to observe how it all
came together: how the idea of a narrative became a text, which then
became forms with wood, textiles and beer and before any of that
happened Plato was alive and was also writing texts.
Texts and dialogues. Maria Meinild’s work as part of the Bell Street
show with Amer had both of these. I think many people eased into
watching Maria’s work without knowing where the text had come from
that was being read out to the camera. The moment of recognition of
the texts origin is something to be cherished, it’s simply a profound
art moment. Those people are Julia Roberts and Richard Gere’s
characters from Pretty Woman. When we hear this, the film comes to
life. But without this realisation the film nevertheless has a dry
readiness in its humour and the interplay between the different actors
slipping and out of the role of Julia-as-prostitute effortlessly play
language against lived experience. But what always pulled me into this
work was its intuitive understanding of how to place colour within a
frame.
glimpse a paperback copy of Plato, various textiles and several bottles
of beer. A month or so prior to any of this Paul, Maria and I shared a
drink at a lounge-club type bar on London’s Hyde Park where Paul
told me that what he was most interested in doing was presenting a
ballad for the show with Amer in Vienna. The ballad would narrate a
quarrel between two lovers.
When the exhibition opened, the work had departed from this point
and had come to involve other things. The exhibition consisted of a
series of objects in a room accompanied by a narrative text. In the end
these elements represented to me a layering of narrative gestures. And
I think the objects reminded me most of bodies and the text of actions.
But for the sake of keeping to a task I wanted to observe how it all
came together: how the idea of a narrative became a text, which then
became forms with wood, textiles and beer and before any of that
happened Plato was alive and was also writing texts.
Texts and dialogues. Maria Meinild’s work as part of the Bell Street
show with Amer had both of these. I think many people eased into
watching Maria’s work without knowing where the text had come from
that was being read out to the camera. The moment of recognition of
the texts origin is something to be cherished, it’s simply a profound
art moment. Those people are Julia Roberts and Richard Gere’s
characters from Pretty Woman. When we hear this, the film comes to
life. But without this realisation the film nevertheless has a dry
readiness in its humour and the interplay between the different actors
slipping and out of the role of Julia-as-prostitute effortlessly play
language against lived experience. But what always pulled me into this
work was its intuitive understanding of how to place colour within a
frame.
Moving through the spaces, the Gallery’s centre room features the
work of Nicola Brunnhuber and Julia Haller. In that order, Nicola’s
sculpture, commissioned for the city of Tulln’s public sculpture
project of 2008 is large bronze shape weighing around 80kgs. Julia’s
is a large painting. The sculpture is an abstract object. The work is
theatrically person-sized and adorned with tubes for the passing of
piping hot liquid bronze.
To compliment the sculpture’s animating presence, Juila Haller’s
gestural black and white canvas spanning roughly an area of four to
five square meters features two ‘upskirt’ photographs of Nicola’s
sculpture. The un-seen semidarkness describes an empathy between
physical object and pictorial or imagined spaces. For the opening
Julia also exhibited a large canvas inside the Futurgarden.
In the back space of the gallery were the works from Marita Fraser
and myself. Marita’s hanging flag work involves a different kind of
game in regards to text and language. The work sets out a rhythm of
colour and form that is both partly hidden yet very frontal. The flag
work and the circular themed paster sculpture are explicit in what
they demand from the viewer: formal qualities within which the viewer’
s gaze might enter to make its own experience of space.
In this way these works offer a narrative that recede with the viewer
into the space of art as it is engaged, unlike artworks whose narratives
emanate from it and deflect against other elements and concepts
external from the work.
work of Nicola Brunnhuber and Julia Haller. In that order, Nicola’s
sculpture, commissioned for the city of Tulln’s public sculpture
project of 2008 is large bronze shape weighing around 80kgs. Julia’s
is a large painting. The sculpture is an abstract object. The work is
theatrically person-sized and adorned with tubes for the passing of
piping hot liquid bronze.
To compliment the sculpture’s animating presence, Juila Haller’s
gestural black and white canvas spanning roughly an area of four to
five square meters features two ‘upskirt’ photographs of Nicola’s
sculpture. The un-seen semidarkness describes an empathy between
physical object and pictorial or imagined spaces. For the opening
Julia also exhibited a large canvas inside the Futurgarden.
In the back space of the gallery were the works from Marita Fraser
and myself. Marita’s hanging flag work involves a different kind of
game in regards to text and language. The work sets out a rhythm of
colour and form that is both partly hidden yet very frontal. The flag
work and the circular themed paster sculpture are explicit in what
they demand from the viewer: formal qualities within which the viewer’
s gaze might enter to make its own experience of space.
In this way these works offer a narrative that recede with the viewer
into the space of art as it is engaged, unlike artworks whose narratives
emanate from it and deflect against other elements and concepts
external from the work.
I hope that my work can be understood as operating in the
similar way. It is space that can be entered into mentally,
however it is also physical space. My work in the
exhibition operates as a circular unit of space and form.
Each of the four elements involved affects its neighbour in
much the same way as it affected by others. The wall is
interrupted by a blue projected circle, the circle emanates
from a black object, this object sits on a green table, this
table rests against a pink wall and this wall is affected by
the painted wall next to it.
The work is called vortex. And originates from the idea
that memory resists attempts to prevent it from
interrupting present consciousness. And so, consciousness
turns constantly as memories enter into it and change its
course.
similar way. It is space that can be entered into mentally,
however it is also physical space. My work in the
exhibition operates as a circular unit of space and form.
Each of the four elements involved affects its neighbour in
much the same way as it affected by others. The wall is
interrupted by a blue projected circle, the circle emanates
from a black object, this object sits on a green table, this
table rests against a pink wall and this wall is affected by
the painted wall next to it.
The work is called vortex. And originates from the idea
that memory resists attempts to prevent it from
interrupting present consciousness. And so, consciousness
turns constantly as memories enter into it and change its
course.
Toward the end of opening night the police were called from a
neighbour who lived upstairs. Around six of them showed up
and they made a small tour of the work the exhibition spaces
and quickly asked who was responsible for the stuff in there.
Many of us were complicit in the production of the stuff in there
but in the end it had to come back to Amer. It wasn’t too serious
but their line of questioning didn’t impress him terribly much:
had someone been sitting on one of the cars parked on the
street? He was then forced to compromise a little on the
cosiness of the tables and chairs that sit outside the
Futuregarden (which was not very kind) during which explained
to them that what he was doing there was the production of
culture and that it was good. And it seemed this was a point that
no one could fault.
Alex Lawler
| Nicola Brunnhuber |
| Julia Haller |
| Nicola & Julia |
| Alex Lawler |
| Alex Lawler |
| Maria Meinild |
| Maria Meinild |
| Marita Fraser |
| Marita Fraser |
| Marita Fraser |
| Marita Fraser |
| The Hex |
| The Hex |
| Alexander Viscio Presents |
