The Belvedere mourns Lois Weinberger

“LOIS WEINBERGER UNDERSTOOD ECOLOGICAL THINKING AVANT LA LETTRE AS A PHILOSOPHICAL DISCIPLINE – HE WAS ONE OF THE GREAT SAGES OF CONTEMPORARY ART. PERSONALLY, I MOURN THE LOSS OF A CLEVER, CALM AND LOVING PERSON WITH WHOM I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WORK AGAIN AND AGAIN FOR THIRTY YEARS, FOR EXAMPLE AT A LARGE STAFF AT LENTOS ON THE OCCASION OF LINZ09, THE CAPITAL OF CULTURE. OUR RENEWED COLLABORATION FOR THE BELVEDERE WILL CONTINUE IN LOIS’ SPIRIT WITH HIS WIFE FRANZISKA. AND AGAIN FOR THIRTY YEARS, FOR EXAMPLE AT A LARGE STAFF AT LENTOS ON THE OCCASION OF LINZ09, THE CAPITAL OF CULTURE. OUR RENEWED COLLABORATION FOR THE BELVEDERE WILL CONTINUE IN LOIS’ SPIRIT WITH HIS WIFE FRANZISKA.”

Vienna (OTS) – Since autumn 2018, the Belvedere has been planning a large solo exhibition by Lois Weinberger at Belvedere 21. The artist, who described his practice as poetic fieldwork, worked on the conception of this show, which will take place in the summer of 2021 over the entire ground floor of the Belvedere 21 is to extend into the sculpture garden and the Swiss garden.

The Belvedere collection has central works by Weinberger, which make it possible to recognize his work as an important contribution to the international development of art. In 2012, Lois Weinberger installed a high steel cage in the sculpture garden of Belvedere 21, in which the afforestation through spontaneous vegetation takes place without human intervention. As if in a play on words, Weinberger took up the term “white cube”, which supposedly offers ideal conditions for the presentation of contemporary art, and with the “wild cube” created a contrast and a space that free the unrestricted growth of plants from human beings Intervention allowed. Due to its process-like character, the building makes a constant becoming and decaying visible.

From the 1970s onwards, Lois Weinberger dealt artistically with the interface between nature and civilization. Together with his wife Franziska, the Tyrolean conceptual artist and researcher worked right up to the end on a poetic-political network that draws attention to peripheral areas and questions hierarchies of various kinds. With his work, the two-time Documenta participant played a key role in the new debate on art and nature from the early 1990s to the present day.

General director Stella Rollig on the loss: “Lois Weinberger understood ecological thinking avant la lettre as a philosophical discipline – he was one of the great sages of contemporary art. Personally, I mourn the loss of a clever, calm and loving person with whom I have been able to work again and again for thirty years, for example at a large staff at LENTOS on the occasion of Linz09, the year of cultural capital. Our renewed collaboration for the Belvedere will continue in Lois’ spirit with his wife Franziska. ”

With Lois Weinberger’s death, the art world and the Belvedere lose a tireless visionary. His unique perspective on nature, which he translated into drawings, sculptures, art in public spaces, notes and photographs, will remain.

Stella Rollig and the Belvedere team

Exhibition at Belvedere, Vienna. 2. July 2021 – 26. October 2021

“Lois Weinberger”

LOIS WEINBERGER (B. 1947 IN STAMS, TYROL) WAS AN EARLY AND VISIONARY CRITIC OF THE UPHEAVALS OF THE ANTHROPOCENE AND IS CONSIDERED A PIONEER OF A DISTINCT, ARTISTIC ECOLOGY. FROM THE 1990S ONWARDS, HE PLAYED A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN SHAPING THE DISCOURSE SURROUNDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NATURE AND CULTURE. BETWEEN IRONIC SHAMANISM AND CONCEPTUAL BUT POETIC RIGOR, HIS WORKS SHOW THE LIMITS OF HUMAN AGENCY AND MAKE OUR SUPERIORITY OVER THE ENVIRONMENT PERCEPTIBLE AS AN ILLUSION. WEINBERGER’S WORKS CHALLENGE OUR ETHICAL STANDARDS WITH THE JUXTAPOSITION OF THE SEEMINGLY MARGINAL, USELESS, AND WORTHLESS. IN DOING SO, THEY EXPRESS WITH RELISH AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING, INESCAPABLE CYCLE OF BECOMING AND DECAYING. BEFORE HIS DEATH IN APRIL 2020, WEINBERGER DESIGNED HIS SHOW BASICS FOR THE INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR OF THE BELVEDERE 21. THE WORKS FROM THE LAST FEW DECADES WILL BE ON VIEW IN VIENNA FOR THE FIRST TIME.

Curated by: Severin Dünser