This exhibition explores themes of perpetual learning, overachievement, and the pressure to maintain positivity, questioning the balance between human ambition and divine creation. It features oil paintings by Ewald Kapferer that highlight the contrast between the intended creation and its current state.
The exhibition 'gipfel d erschöpfung' (Summit of Exhaustion) at the Schottenstift Museum, running from February 18th to April 3rd, 2010, delves into the societal pressures of lifelong learning, constant achievement, and enforced positivity. Artist Ewald Kapferer uses his work to question whether humanity's pursuit of perfection in the world leaves room for divine intervention, suggesting a profound loss of relational trust and potential despair on both human and divine sides.
Kapferer, a Vienna-born artist with a background in graphic design and advertising, applies his sharp analytical skills to contemporary issues. His oil paintings, developed since the mid-1990s, often employ the visual language of classical advertising to comment on current events in a striking manner. However, he also uses the rich medium of oil painting to explore the collective unconscious. His works demand a deep level of observation, challenging viewers to engage their own judgment beyond superficial explanations and to rebuild self-trust. This exhibition is noted as Kapferer's first to present a cohesive body of work centered around a dense thematic concept, finding a fitting venue in the Museum im Schottenstift.