Nine Buildings, Stripped

For the re-opening of Kunsthalle Exnergasse, Andreas Fogarasi elaborates his ongoing series Nine Buildings, Stripped. Building components, materials, and architectural surfaces that were removed, replaced, or rendered superfluous in the course of the renovation are returned to their original location as site-specific installations. Stripped of their original function, extracted from walls, and only now visible as objects, they serve as links between the old and the new and tell an abstract story about the history of the place.

Andreas Fogarasi has been a longstanding visitor and occasional exhibitor at KEX. For the exhibition Täterätää! Back with a BANG. KEX Re-Opens!, he has “strung together” an edition that is available for purchase. The profits will flow directly into the KEX programming. Metal bands envelop iron elements previously anchored in the outer façade of the WUK, each with a packet of printer paper. A speculation on the potentials of planning, materials that endure the test of time, and the transformation of buildings.

Andreas Fogarasi, born 1977, lives and works in Vienna (AT), was awarded the Golden Lion for his contribution to the Hungarian Pavilion at the 52nd Venice Biennale in 2007 and the Otto Mauer Prize in 2016. His works has been presented in numerous international exhibitions at, among others, Times Museum, Guangzhou (2020), the 14th Fellbach Triennale (2019), mumok, Vienna (2019), OFF-Biennale, Budapest (2017 and 2015), Museo Tamayo, Mexico City (2014), New Museum, New York (2009), Heidelberger Kunstverein (2008), Kunstverein Düsseldorf (2007), Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2003), and Manifesta 4, Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt/Main (2002).