Clegg & Guttmann. Biedermeier reanimated

25.09.2016 - 04.12.2016

MAK Geymüllerschlössel, Wien / Österreich

Opening: Tue, 20 Sept 2016, 7 p.m.

Curator Guided Tour
with Bärbel Vischer, Curator, MAK Contemporary Art Collection
Sun, 2 Oct 2016, 4 p.m.
Sun, 27 Nov 2016, 4 p.m.

Artist's Talk
with Martin Guttmann
on the occasion of the VIENNA ART WEEK
Fri, 18 Nov 2016, 5 p.m.


In keeping with the MAK’s programmatic approach, which encourages interaction between applied art, fine art, and architecture, the new MAK ART SALON at the Geymüllerschlössel launches a compelling discourse with contemporary artists to locate space, time, and history.... The artistic duo Clegg & Guttmann will kick off this new exhibition series with their intervention Biedermeier reanimated.

Based on the art of the Biedermeier period, which is defined by the abstraction of forms, ornament, and color, Clegg & Guttmann’s involvement with the material introduces another level, which reacts to existing, site-specific structures. The artists’ specially developed project interprets the ensemble of the Geymüllerschlössel as the backdrop for several trenchant and staged tableaux—expressly lit and set to music as well as the spoken word—of furniture, objects, instruments, and materials from the Biedermeier period. In the course of a theatrical tour, the rooms of the Geymüllerschlössel will be brought to life, revitalizing this summer residence from yesteryear.

The exhibition is accompanied by a publication of the same name in which an assortment of selected interviews with experts—such as the art historians Christian Witt-Dörring and Markus Neuwirth, the artist Christian Mayer, as well as the MAK Curators Rainald Franz, Sebastian Hackenschmidt, Barbara Karl, and Elisabeth Schmuttermeier—provides an explanation of the cultural codes of Biedermeier applied art, interiors, and architecture.