Mario Kiesenhofer’s show in Vienna
OPENING
Friday, November 8, 2024
5 – 8 pm
ARTIST TALK
Monday, November 11, 2024
6 – 7 pm
Mario Kiesenhofer in conversation with
Lisa Ortner-Kreil, Curator at the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien
Smolka Contemporary
Lobkowitzplatz 3
1010 Vienna
smolkacontemporary.at
In his first solo exhibition at Smolka Contemporary, Mario Kiesenhofer presents new works from his ongoing series Treasure, for which he portrays the queer rave scene in Eastern Europe. Initially developed in the context of the Warsaw scene, the series was first shown in a solo exhibition curated by Lisa Ortner-Kreil at the tresor of the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien in 2023/24.
In this exhibition, Kiesenhofer celebrates the queer community in Budapest and captures the techno beats with his camera. He shows gem-colored portraits of key figures from the Hungarian scene, mounted in shiny chrome frames. Portraits that counter discriminatory narratives of illiberal systems with a queer perspective and create visibility for marginalized identities.
Bathed in colored flashlight, Mario Kiesenhofer's photographs reflect a party culture in which the techno scene of the 1990s is experiencing a revival and at the same time making a highly resistant and political claim. The club becomes an inclusive place of protest and the dance floor a stage for queerness in times of increasing autocratisation.
The exhibition title Floating refers, among other things, to the precarious situation of queer people in Hungary and points out that their rights are constantly in limbo, as they are repeatedly threatened by political and social repression. With the rise of illiberal systems and the accompanying queer hostility, as pushed for example by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, queer communities within the EU are facing increasing pressure and hard-won human rights are being systematically restricted.
As part of the Vienna Art Week
and the Rotlicht Festival for analogue photography
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