Viennese Season: Feminism

Viennese Season: Feminism
Richard Saltoun Gallery

Put Valie Export work aside of Helena Almeida's photographs and we see the influence from the Viennese dialogue, and the conservatism of Portuguese ruptures. Put Friedl Kubelka's diaristic journey side by side to Pedro Cabrita Reis, and you would see the strength of Cabrita Reis' work.

"An exhibition presenting the work of VALIE EXPORT and Friedl Kubelka, both artists who positioned their art at the centre of artistic debates of subjects of gender, the body and politics."

VALIE EXPORT

Friedl Kubelka (vom Gröller)

VALIE EXPORT (b. 1940, Linz, Austria): EXPORT's iconic work Touch Cinema (1968), in which she constructed a Styrofoam box and placed it over her chest, inviting passersby to reach in and touch her breasts, still resonates for its shock-value and use of experimental mediums. A recipient of the Grand Gold Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria (2010), her work was included in the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009). Solo exhibitions include Centre George Pompidou, Paris, (2008) and Kunsthaus Bregenz, Bregenz, Austria (2011).

Friedl Kubelka (vom Gröller) (b. 1946, London, UK): Born in London to parents seeking political refuge, Kubelka spent her childhood in East Berlin before her parents settled in Vienna. She studied industrial photography at the Graphic Instruction and Research Institute, Vienna, from 1965 to 1969. She later founded her own 'School of Artistic Photography' in the city (1990), and the School for Independent Film (2010). She was awarded the State Prize for Photography in 2005, Austria's most prestigious photography award, and has had solo exhibitions at the Centre George Pompidou, Paris (1980), Fotogalerie, Vienna (2004), and the Nederlands Fotomuseum, Rotterdam (2005). Her films have been screened at: Generali Foundation, Vienna; Anthology Film Archives, N.Y.; documenta 12; Austrian Film Museum; Toronto Film Festival (2009, 2010); Hong Kong Film Festival (2010, 2011); Diagonale (2009, 2010, 2011); 6th berlin biennale; Retrospektive MEDIA-CITY, Canada 2010. The artist is referred to as Friedl Kubelka when referencing her photography and Friedl Vom Gröller in relation to her filmography.

Ibrahim El-Salahi: A Visionary Modernist

Ibrahim El-Salahi
A Visionary Modernist
Tate Modern

Ibrahim El-Salahi was born in 1930 in Omdurman, Sudan. Studied painting at the School of Design in Khartoum from 1949–52. El-Salahi left his home country in 1954 on a government scholarship to study painting and calligraphy at the Slade School of Fine Art in London. Returned to Sudan in 1957, where he became a key member of the ‘Khartoum School’ – a group of artists developing a new visual vocabulary to reflect the distinctive identity of the newly independent nation. The ‘Khartoum School’ was one of the most active contributors to the growth of modern art in Africa. El-Salahi’s art offers profound possibilities for understanding African and Arab modernisms and repositioning them within the context of a broader, global modernity. Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, El-Salahi travelled to the United States and participated in the Mbari Artists and Writers Club in Ibadan, Nigeria. He led delegations of Sudanese artists to two historically significant gatherings: the Black Arts Festival in Dakar in 1966, and the Pan-African Arts and Cultural Festival in Algiers in 1969. In 1972, El-Salahi returned to Khartoum to take a post as Director General for Culture at the Ministry of Information. The following year he became Undersecretary, a tenure that ended abruptly on 8 September 1975 when he was accused of anti-government activities and held without trial at the infamous Cooper Prison for six months and eight days. After this experience, El-Salahi left Sudan to live in Doha, Qatar. Since 1998, El-Salahi lives in Oxford, but his memories and experiences of contemporary Sudan remain a constant part of his artistic practice. (from the Tate Modern website) (the artist is present)