Made for Admont
MADE FOR ADMONT is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. For two decades now, artists have been regularly invited to the monastery for a constructive dialogue on an equal footing.
The strict and narrow term "commissioned art" doesn't really apply. Rather, both sides always act as partners who bring their worlds into contact and allow them to react to each other - with the aim of setting an artistic process in motion. Over the last two decades, numerous works of art have emerged from these encounters. Mutual impulses have been created and added value has been generated for both sides. And a collection of their own has emerged.
extraordinary
The exhibition VERORTUNGEN offers insights into the creation processes of important work cycles from the MADE FOR ADMONT collection. It shows Admont Abbey from unexpected perspectives. It shows the monastery and its people in a different light than the usual.
Curious? Let us surprise you!
Made for admont fundus
Based on a selection from the Abbey's own collection, the 2021 special exhibition represents the broad spectrum of MADE FOR ADMONT photographs.
The works on display are the result of specific localisation processes relating to the region, the monastery and the people who work here, the museum and its contents. The medium of photography plays a central role in the MADE FOR ADMONT programme.
The Admont monks play a leading role in several series of works. Lois Renner already created a portrait of the then Abbot Bruno Hubl in the abbey library. Erwin Wurm created a photo cycle entitled "Brothers & Sisters", part of which was realised in 2002 for the museum in Admont Abbey. For this, two Admont monks acted as "One Minute Sculptures". On the occasion of the opening of the new museum in 2003, Rudi Molacek realised a portrait of Admont Abbey under the title "Admont". The 100 b/w photos include portraits of people from the art world relevant to the museum as well as employees of the building, including the abbot and monks.
In 2006, Konrad Rainer produced a series of large-format monochrome photographic portraits of the Admont Benedictines with technical perfection, in which every detail is almost hyper-realistically visible.
In the same year, Judith Huemer's photo series "overall" (#1 to #4) resulted in intensive dialogue and encounters between artists and the convent. Only the surface of the black monks' robes is visible. Identification features such as faces and bodies disappear in the folds of the cowls.
Fabio Zolly's contribution to the special collection "Beyond seeing. Art connects the blind and the sighted" from the year 2012. Admont Benedictines and employees of the monastery were photographed in black and white with the sign "Copyright by Fabio Zolly" in front of their eyes. The entire work is only revealed when a blind person who is able to read Braille and a sighted person come together. In another work, Zolly used a thermal camera to take a monumental photo of the monastery building and focussed on the topic of energy, which is important for the monastery.
Robert Zahornicky's photographic oeuvre focuses on libraries, books and their deconstruction (shredding). It is therefore obvious that he has also devoted himself to the bookshelves of the Abbey Library, the shredding of duplicates and the Admont Abbey fire of 1865.
In 2005, the 10-part pictorial intervention Palimpsest by Andreas Horlitz was on display in the Admont Abbey Library. It is an ensemble of overcoded, enigmatic light images, which draws on the Admont Abbey's material fund. Two of these mirror works connected with light boxes are represented in the exhibition.
Photo cycles
MADE FOR ADMONT photo cycles on various annual themes have also been created over the years. In 2006, media artist Johannes Deutsch made significant site-specific contributions to the theme "Paradise - snakes have no access". The likewise palimpsest-like triptych "Trittico Paradiso" was selected for this exhibition, the content of which is based on quotations from the very personal idea of paradise. Complex and multi-layered images from the magnificent baroque textiles of the Admont Benedictine monk Fr Benno Haan have been woven into the work.
Linked still life
In 2016, collection photographers Sebastian Köpcke and Volker Weinhold embarked on a photographic expedition at Admont Abbey on the theme of "Zum Fressen Gern" (To eat with pleasure). On site at the Natural History Museum, they had the opportunity to combine historical specimens with objects from the Cultural History Museum, precious books from the world's largest abbey library and the team from the abbey kitchen in a free interpretation to create artistic still lifes. The three-dimensional photo installation by Hannelore Demel-Lerchster touches on both themes, "Paradise" and "Eating". It shows an apple that has been sewn back together at the bite point with a direct reference to the historical wax fruits by Fr Konstantin Keller in the Natural History Museum.
TO EAT
Some time ago, the book collections of the Admont Abbey Library were threatened by a massive infestation of insect pests. Reason enough for Edgar Lissel to also tackle the subject of "Zum Fressen Gern". One characteristic of the photographic artist Edgar Lissel is his biological way of working. He uses light-sensitive bacteria to produce his images. The three-part fish represented in the exhibition was created using a special process involving bacterial cultures grown in round petri dishes, which were exposed to light in contact with the pictorial object.
With works by: Hannelore Demel-Lerchster, Johannes Deutsch, Andreas Horlitz, Judith Huemer, Sebastian Köpcke & Volker Weinhold, Edgar Lissel, Rudi Molacek, Konrad Rainer, Lois Renner, Erwin Wurm, Robert Zahornicky, Fabio Zolly
Curated by: Michael Braunsteiner
