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Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)
Press release
26.03.2025
Image Credits
Duration
28.03. - 07.09.2025
Opening
27.03.2025 7pm
Press event
26.03.2025 11am - 12pm
Place of the press event
Neue Galerie Graz, BRUSEUM, BRUSEUM
Curators
Roman Grabner
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The exhibition Freedom was an Episode opened at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York on March 5th, 2020. The show drew on striking artistic positions from Styria to examine subtle forms of surveillance and the erosion of freedom in Western capitalist societies through neo-liberalism and its digital psycho-politics. In new works created for the exhibition, the artists analysed the status quo and then envisaged a possible future. The exhibition was on display for less than ten days, as cultural institutions closed first in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Then, from March 20th, the whole of New York was in lockdown. The restrictions on freedom and open forms of surveillance and control that then took place worldwide in the name of security far exceeded all expectations; their subsequent impact on societies has been long-lasting.
The rifts have widened, two wars rage on the edge of Europe and the effects of climate change have posed extra challenges to national communities; the rise of nationalist ideologies and radical right-wing tendencies that fantasise about border fortifications, remigration and measures for disagreeable citizens threaten the foundations of democratic communities. Was freedom just an episode? Five years after the show in New York, the exhibition sets out to take stock of the current socio-political situation. Featuring new works by Austrian artists and collectives, such as Günter Brus, Maria Legat, Evamaria Schaller, studio ASYNCHROME, Josef Wurm and zweintopf.
Exhibition views
Exhibition view „Die Freiheit war eine Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with zweintopf "Das kleine Zaunstück" 2024
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with zweintopf "Das kleine Zaunstück" 2024
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with works by Andreas Leikauf
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with Ovidiu Anton "Ohne Titel" 2023
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with Evamaria Schaller "Distorted Echoes" 2025
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with Leander Schönweger "Menschenkäfig #3" 2022
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with an installation by Esther Stocker (2025)
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with works by Josef Wurm (left) and Maria Legat (right)
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with works by Maria Legat
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with works by Maria Legat, Ovidiu Anton and Josef Wurm
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with "After closer inspection we decide…", "Signs" and "Illumination" by studio ASYNCHROME
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with "After closer inspection we decide…", "Signs" and "Illumination" by studio ASYNCHROME
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Wien, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with "After closer inspection we decide…", "Signs" and "Illumination" by studio ASYNCHROME
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with "bastard I us" by Evamaria Schaller, 2020
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Exhibition view „Freedom Was an Episode (tbc)“ at Bruseum with studio ASYNCHROME "After closer inspection we decide" 2020
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
Director of Neue Galerie Graz Peter Peer (l.) and curator of the exhibition Roman Grabner (r.) with artists of the exhibition: Leander Schönweger, Marleen Leitner (studio ASYNCHROME), Evamaria Schaller, Josef Wurm , from left.
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J.Kucek
Curator of the exhibition Roman Grabner (r.) with artists of the exhibition: Leander Schönweger, Marleen Leitner (studio ASYNCHROME), Evamaria Schaller, Josef Wurm , from left.
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
The artist Josef Wurm in front of his work in the exhibition “Freedom was an Episode (tbc)” at the Bruseum
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
The artist Marleen Leitner (studio ASYNCHROME) in the exhibition “Freedom was an episode (tbc)” at Bruseum
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek
The artist Evamaria Schaller in front of her works in the exhibition “Freedom was an Episode (tbc)” at Bruseum
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
The artist Leander Schönwegr in front of his work in the exhibition “Freedom was an Episode (tbc)” at Bruseum
Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum/J.J. Kucek © Bildrecht Vienna, 2025
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