She was not really sure whether she should approach the broadly smiling lady at reception. Why such a big smile? Aren't smiles often used to mask an attack? Quite frequently she had observed that people often only smile, if they want something. Most of the time they want your money. Now this woman makes this irritatingly inviting gesture: "Come with me, I will take you on a journey into the unknown", she susurrates under her shiny white teeth. Unknown? Usually not good.
Narratives are worlds one enters, stays in for a while and then abandons. Mostly they do not have the format of a self-contained story. They rather correspond to coincidental encounters, glances of events, having a before and an after, thus sometimes correspond uncannily to reality.
Narratives, a story collection, which gathers works from Austrian artists and artists from the neighbouring countries. It playfully mixes the antipoles of the three classical ages, takes visitors along on journeys of the mind whilst at the same time spinning new and allegedly familiar intertwined narrative strands as threads through the amorphous space.
Narrative forms and structures are another focus of the exhibition. The concept in the composition of work and the narratives and contents, form and structure they share is made visible in the design. The exhibition is subdivided into chapters and confronts two generations, opening up sudden insights and dragging the visitors into spatially differing narrative situations. Blank spaces, in both a spatial and content-related sense function as places for contemplation opening up in the sense of an echo for inner images. Just like turning a page ...
A comprehensive catalogue with exhibition views and contributions by authors Saša Stanišic, Wieland Schmied and the two curators will accompany the exhibition.
