CULTUREINDEX ART BEAT to
CULTUREINDEX ART BEAT to tell a story,” says Zyman. “It takes courage and vision, and of course, very strong partners to help them realise their ideas. We like to see ourselves as those partners.” Its 2012 move from a prime location abutting the iconic Stephansdom has positively affected the success of TBA21, which forgoes entrance fees. “Our location downtown had become very mainstream,” says Zyman. “People go there to have coffee or shop – and not to see art – and certainly not more ‘difficult art’. Here, in the second district, we can interact with the complex socio-historical setting and the surrounding nature.” In addition to a supper club hosted in Die AU, its destination café, TBA21 hosts a series of spoken-word events in the summer from its open-air pavilion. tba21.org checking in WHERE TO STAY NOW From old-school imperial luxury to understated, contemporary chic, Vienna’s newest hostelries are a revelation SCHLEIFMÜHLGASSE: AVANT-GARDE ALLEY By all counts an unremarkable stretch in the city’s fourth district, the Schleifmühlgasse – not far from Vienna’s busy Naschmarkt – has not only become a hot spot with a colourful assortment of cafés and quirky shops, but also a playground for a multigenerational assemblage of gallerists who have set up camp here. “In the past 15 years, the fourth district has really emerged as kind of the Soho of Vienna,” says Kerstin Engholm (kerstinengholm. com), who after stumbling upon an abandoned piano shop established her eponymous space in 1999, one of the first of seven galleries to pop up along Schleifmühlgasse in the past two decades. Hosting mostly conceptual artists both local and international, Engholm’s aim is to get collectors interested in the works of younger people, like installation-based Slovenian newcomer Misha Stroj, Austrian Hans Schabus or Englishman David Ben White, whose recent show “Living Room” explores the domestic space as a constructed realm through a series of paintings and wooden structures. “Our focuses are a bit different – but all my neighbours are working internationally, 48 departures-international.com and on a spectacularly high standard. We share a crowd of collectors,” continues Engholm, who meets regularly with the other galleries to coordinate show openings. Other notable residents include the three-storey, 350sq m Georg Kargl Fine Arts (georgkargl.com) and its younger companion space BOX (whose front design was created by renowned American painter Richard Artschwager), and the two-floor Gabriele Senn Galerie (galeriesenn.at), whose roster includes painter Tomasz Kowalski, who showed at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2008, and German installation-based artist Cosima von Bonin.♦ A look inside Kerstin Engholm’s Schleifmühlgasse space by CLAUDIA WHITEUS a new classic Keeping up with Vienna’s penchant for gold-trimmed decadence is the studiously elegant Palais Hansen Kempinski, which, while just one year old, has already joined the ranks of the capital’s A-list hotels. Offerings include the sweeping lobby lounge (which hosts traditional high tea) and two restaurants, including the chic Edvard, a fine dining establishment where young German chef Philip Vogel cooks up minimalist continental fare to flavourful perfection. Its rooms – decked out in rich wood furniture and compelling black-and-white photography canvases – are truly a feat in modern technology: everything from room service to the temperature and entertainment system is controlled via iPad. kempinski.com/vienna home from home Launched this past October, The Guesthouse makes the most of its can’t-beat location abutting the Albertina and Opera House with 39 apartmentstyle rooms and suites by acclaimed British design firm Conran & Partners and a buzzy brasserie that serves scrumptious pastries around the clock. Its rooms – furnished with warm, simplechic pieces by Wittmann and Oswald Haerdtl – are complemented by roomy bathrooms with rainshowers and Molton Brown amenities. A rainy day spent languishing in one of its upper suites is a day well spent: just pour yourself a glass of icy Riesling from the fully stocked minibar (included in the price of the room), curl up in the cushy window nook and take in a stunning panorama of Vienna’s picturesque first district. theguesthouse.at HOTEL OPENINGS ABOUND IN 2014 THE FEBRUARY LAUNCH OF THE 243-ROOM MELIÁ VIENNA (MELIA.COM) IN THE DANUBE CITY TOWER, AUSTRIA’S TALLEST SKYSCRAPER, UNVEILS STUNNING VIEWS, A JOHN HARRIS SPA AND SLEEK RESTAURANT ON THE 57TH STOREY. MEANWHILE ACROSS TOWN, THE PARK HYATT VIENNA (VIENNA.PARK.HYATT.COM) GEARS UP FOR ITS JUNE LAUNCH WITH A DREAM SPOT RIGHT OFF THE CITY’S FAMOUS GRABEN AND 143 COMMODIOUS ROOMS AND SUITES. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: © PALAIS HANSEN KEMPINSKI, INA FORSTINGER, KARL KÜHN
CULTUREINDEX NOTA BENE A PICTURE THAT SAYS SOMETHING The 13th edition of the Helsinki Photography Biennial goes philosophical EXHIBITIONISM A trio of not-to-be-missed art shows around the world CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: MARJA HELANDER, MOUNT PALOPÄÄ, 2001; HENRI MATISSE, BLUE NUDE (I), 1952, COURTESY ROBERT BEYER/ FOUNDATION BEYELER, RIEHN/BASEL © SUCCESSION HENRI MATISSE/DACS 2013; GERDA STEINER & JÖRG LENZLINGER, SOULS, 2011, COURTESY THE ARTISTS; ALEXANDER CALDER, LA DEMOISELLE, 1939 © 2013 CALDER FOUNDATION, NEW YORK/ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS) Mount Palopää, a haunting photograph by Finnish artist Marja Helander Even the most mundane photographs capture a moment, but the great ones seem to do so much more – they encapsulate an era, represent an ethos, pick out the telling details we wish we could see at the speed of life. The 2014 Helsinki Photography Biennial, which takes place from 27 March to 4 May in the Finnish capital, turns these expectations on their head. The theme is Ecological Fallacy. When professors use the phrase, they mean a particular kind of overgeneralisation – the mistake of judging an individual case by its overall group. When artists use the phrase … well, that’s what Istanbul-based curator and designer Başak Senova, who is overseeing the programme, will determine. Certain to be included is the relationship between individual photos and their contexts (Does this photo represent something greater? Should it represent something greater?), and there will also be a portion of the biennial dedicated to a more literal interpretation of the phrase: images of nature and their relationship to our understanding of ecology. One of the top photography fairs in the world, HPB14, as it calls itself, will feature top lens-based contemporary artists from across the globe, including Croatia’s Tomislav Gotovac, Jerusalem-born Jawad Al Malhi and Helsinki native Marja Helander. It will be a fascinating snapshot of the latest in the photography world – that is, if you’re willing to generalise. hpb.fi by BRIAN NOONE Henri Matisse Tate Modern, London After an operation at the age of 72 left Matisse unable to walk or paint, the artist began making collages of painted cut-outs. The workaround led to a “second life”, as the artist put it. The Tate Modern presents “The Cut-Outs”, which fea tures some 120 of the works together for the first time. The show travels to New York’s MoMA in October. 17 April – 7 September; Bank side; tate.org.uk Sydney Biennale Various venues The 19th edition of Australia’s largest contemporary art event spreads itself across the city, from the Gallery of New South Wales to Cockatoo Island in the harbour, with a broad programme including artists Douglas Gordon, Tacita Dean and Callum Morton. 21 March – 9 June; biennaleofsydney.com.au Alexander Calder Los Angeles County Museum of Art In a riposte to the New York MoMA’s 2012 survey “Inventing Abstraction”, LACMA debuts “Calder and Abstraction: From Avant- Garde to Iconic”, an exhibit of works by the American sculptor, whose swivelling mobiles sweep across the history of 20th-century modernism. The show was designed by Frank Gehry as a 21st-century coda. Through 27 July; 5905 Wilshire Boulevard; lacma.org departures-international.com 49
