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Guglielmo Castelli: Sweet Baby Motel – A Debut Austrian Exhibition at Kunsthalle Wien

Explore a unique body of work including paintings, sculptures, and a site-specific mural inspired by dreamlike visions.

Kunsthalle Wien proudly presents Guglielmo Castelli's inaugural Austrian exhibition, "Sweet Baby Motel." This comprehensive show features an entirely new collection of paintings, sculptures, and an impressive 22-meter-long site-specific mural. Castelli's distinctive visual language, cultivated through theatrical scenography, draws upon art history and literature, creating compositions with an earthy, nocturnal palette and dreamlike figures. Visitors can delve into a unique iconography where historical references meet a fluid, imaginative narrative.

About Guglielmo Castelli: Sweet Baby Motel at Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna

Read curatorial context and practical visitor information for Guglielmo Castelli: Sweet Baby Motel at Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna

Exhibition summary

Kunsthalle Wien presents the first Austrian exhibition by Guglielmo Castelli, featuring new works in painting, sculpture, and a site-specific mural. The exhibition delves into Castelli's distinctive iconography, inspired by theatre, art history, and literature, creating a fluid and dreamlike visual experience.

Curatorial context

Kunsthalle Wien is hosting the inaugural Austrian exhibition of Guglielmo Castelli, born in 1987 in Turin. The show at Karlsplatz features an entirely new body of work, including paintings, sculptures, and a site-specific mural. Castelli, trained in theatrical scenography, has cultivated a unique visual language that draws from painting, architecture, and literature. His compositions are notable for their earthy, nocturnal palette and a fluid, dreamlike quality that often defies easy spatial or temporal localization. The exhibition "Sweet Baby Motel" prominently displays seven paintings on canvas, each focusing on a solitary figure that appears weightless or suspended. Recurring motifs of limbs bisecting compositions and morphing into scissors, a key element in Castelli's artistic toolkit, are present. Subjects are often costumed in harlequin prints, ruffs, and gloves, resembling theatrical characters in moments of introspection. References to Pieter Bruegel the Elder's "The Hunters in the Snow" and Friedensreich Hundertwasser's architecture add a Viennese context. These works are installed against a specially conceived 22-meter-long painted mural, inspired by the fairytale "Hansel and Gretel." This mural unfolds like a storybook, considering movement, gaze, and perspective within the space. At its center, an upturned gingerbread house questions traditional notions of hierarchy and control. The exhibition is further complemented by a new publication featuring texts by Sarah Crowe and Lillian Davies, alongside an interview with the artist by Francesco Manacorda, published by Lenz, Castello di Rivoli, and Kunsthalle Wien.

Admission and ticket notes

Information regarding the exhibition's opening date is provided, with links to associated events and publications. Specific ticketing details beyond general admission are not detailed on this page, but related events like exhibition openings and curator tours are listed for February and March 2026.

Guglielmo Castelli: Sweet Baby Motel key exhibition facts

Review exhibition status, schedule, venue context, and attribution details for Guglielmo Castelli: Sweet Baby Motel at Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna

Venue
Kunsthalle Wien
Current status
Open now
Exhibition schedule
From Feb 12, 2026
Artist line / attribution
The exhibition features new works by Guglielmo Castelli (b. 1987, Turin), curated by Sarah Crowe.
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