NACKT & MOBIL – ELKE KRYSTUFEK
Essl Collection to show first comprehensive exhibition of the work of Austrian artist Elke Krystufek.

12.02. - 27.04.2003 (exhibition hall, rotunda, large hall, small hall and foyer)

From 12 February to 27 April 2003, the Essl Collection will present a personal show of Elke Krystufek: NAKED & MOBILE – ELKE KRYSTUFEK, presenting a first-time overview of the plentiful and much-discussed oeuvre of the artist, born in Vienna in 1970. More than 200 works, from the early 1990s to today, document the diversity of her themes and media. Elke Krystufek has been a part of the international art scene for 13 years. In that period she has created hundreds of collages, paintings, photographs, drawings and videos, and has held 12 performances.

Elke Krystufek
Imperial Palace - Las Vegas (1999)
acrylic paint on canvas, 180 x 140 cm
Photo: Atelier Neumann, Wien
© Sammlung Essl Privatstiftung

Elke Krystufek bildet sich in unzähligen Versionen selbst ab. Die Themen kreisen um familiär anerzogene oder gesellschaftlich genormte Vorstellungen sowie eigene und fremde Wahrnehmung von Identität und deren sozial bestimmte Fixierung. Sie analysiert mit ihren Werken den Bereich zwischen Privatsphäre, Individuum und Öffentlichkeit. Neben der Malerei und Elementen der Populärkultur ist Krystufeks Körper Material und Inhalt ihrer Arbeit. Sie nutzt diesen zur Darstellung und Auslotung gesellschaftlicher und kultureller Bilder. Die oft schockierende Nacktheit in ihren Bildern soll nicht vordergründig provozieren, sondern hinterfragt Bedeutungsebenen von Nacktheit in unserer Gesellschaft. Als Kunstobjekt setzt sich die Künstlerin bewusst dem Terror von Symbolen und kulturellen Gesetzen aus.

Elke Krystufek
Elke Van Gogh, Perfekt (1995)
acrylic paint on material and clothes
© Georg Kargl, Wien

Elke Krystufek creates depictions of herself in innumerable versions. The self-portraits serve as a projection surface for issues such as standards and norms imposed by the family or society, as well as her own views, and those of others, about identity. The artist explores phenomena such as power, availability, communication, body designs and borderline experiences. Her work deals with social discrimination, sex and violence, but beauty, leisure time and pop culture are also part of her conceptual set-up. Using herself as an object of art, the artist deliberately confronts the terror of symbols and cultural laws. She draws on her own body as a topic and material for her work. Often shocking, the nudity presented in her pictures is not designed to provoke on the surface but rather questions the levels of significance accorded to nudity by our society. In her works, Elke Krystufek is an artificial personage by the name of "Elke Krystufek". As such, she is both real and staged, totally public. Her private sphere is elusive, and although everyone thinks they are seeing “private” elements, the only thing we know about Elke Krystufek as a private individual is that she is an artist by profession. Elke Krystufek creates her own provocative soap opera for a “showbiz society”.

Elke Krystufek
THE REVOLUTION KIND (2001)
"Art Unlimited", Basel
installation view
photos of the installation, in collaboration with Georg Schwarz
Courtesy Georg Kargl, Wien

The exhibition includes paintings, photographs, collages, performance videos and installations. Within the context of the exhibition, Elke Krystufek will also install her own art collection – about 20 works by other artists – together with selected pieces from her collection of clothes.

Catalogue

For the catalogue, designed by Elke Krystufek and graphic designer Alexander Rendi, Krystufek has created 120 new collages under the title of "The Athanor" which will also be presented at the exhibition.

German and english, with articles by Rike Frank, Peter Gorsen, Gabriele Bösch and Karlheinz Essl. 244 pages, 120 collages, 40 images. Layout: Alexander Rendi in collaboration with Elke Krystufek. Sammlung Essl Privatstiftung: Klosterneuburg 2003 € 27.00 (Order by Email) ISBN 3-902001-10-0

Press release

NAKED & MOBILE – ELKE KRYSTUFEK press information in PDF format (27.01.2003)