Shake up. Collection New

SHAKE UP. The Lentos-Collection from artists' points of view.

By Dietmar Brehm, Bernhard Prinz, Lois Renner, Eva Schlegel, Lois and Franziska Weinberger

2007 marks the 60th anniversary of the first exhibition of the Gurlitt Collection in Linz, which was to become the New Gallery of the City of Linz - Wolfgang Gurlitt Museum and finally the Lentos Art Museum Linz. This is an occasion to develop a completely new hanging of the holdings to present to the public in the second half of the year.

Which works of art history seem especially relevant today and why? How does an artwork accrue attention, significance, affection - in which context and from whom? Glimpses into art history can be searching movements. They can trace out possible answers to specific questions, follow personal paths of thought, pursue long-term passions or spontaneous impulses - and suddenly veer off at any time.

A museum that understands art as a medium of confrontation with contemporary worlds and conditions of life cannot be content with conveying art history as an educational canon and factual knowledge. It must create impulses for its visitors to develop individual approaches to works, which are not burdened by prescribed valuations and representations of history: idiosyncratic and self-determined. Lentos has invited contemporary artists to comb through the museum’s holdings following their own interests and passions, and then to develop an arrangement for one room of the collection gallery. The only specification is that each room is to contain one or more works by the respective artist or artists from the Lentos holdings.

Starting from the artists' own works, thematic and formal connections to works from the museum's holdings are drawn by the painter and filmmaker from Linz, Dietmar Brehm, the Hamburg based photo artist Bernhard Prinz, the Vienna based artists working with intermedia, Lois Renner, Eva Schlegel, and Lois and Franziska Weinberger. The results are dense arrangements of space, in which elements of color, text or installation play significant roles alongside the selected artworks: Gustav Klimt greets Gottfried Helnwein, photographs from the classical avant-garde meet present day paintings, a Californian drawing of today corresponds unexpectedly harmoniously with one from Vienna of the post-war period. The art historical, canonical valuation as "masterpiece" or as a less appreciated work is suspended; some works that have long been unseen were rediscovered in the depot.
This very personal selection of works is purposely juxtaposed with a room with a classically chronological museum presentation, in which exemplary landscape depictions from the 19th century remain hung.

We want to thank the participating artists most warmly for their work; in light of collection holdings of about 1600 paintings and sculptures, roughly 850 photographic works and several thousand works on paper, this was not unsubstantial. In this way, they have enabled entirely new perspectives not only for the public, but also for us as art scholars in Lentos.

Stella Rollig
Director Lentos Art Museum


Opening: Friday, 23 November 2007, 7:00 pm

from 6:00 pm:
invitation to view the newly arranged rooms

from 7:00 pm:
Opening: Stella Rollig, Director

Video Statements by the Artists produced by xxkunstkabel

Lecture: Prof. Dr. Rainer Metzger, Professor of Art History at the Art Academy Karlsruhe, "Cabinets of Admiration. About art, how it comes into the museum."

Celebration in the Auditorium with music by Electronic Candy