Stefan Sandner: An Exhibition Exploring Minimalist Painting and Contemporary Image Construction

This exhibition showcases the work of Stefan Sandner, an Austrian artist engaging with the history of minimalist painting and the construction of images. Sandner's pieces explore themes of meaning-making and art history by decontextualizing elements from everyday writing and historical art movements.

The exhibition by Stefan Sandner continues Secession's tradition of presenting the work of younger Austrian artists. Sandner's practice is deeply rooted in an engagement with the history of minimalist painting, particularly American artists like Kelly, Noland, Stella, and Mangold. He utilizes historical techniques such as shaped canvases not merely as artistic citations, but as a means to reference the visual language of our media-saturated daily lives. His core interest lies in understanding how images are constructed and how they relate to one another. Sandner's newer works feature fragments of handwritten notes, such as those from Kurt Cobain's diaries or personal jottings, isolated and applied to canvas. These pieces serve as meditations on the creation of meaning and art history itself. Phrases like 'Zeug ist am Verschwinden' (Stuff is disappearing), magnified in handwriting, speak not only to the fate of objects but also to fundamental issues within painting. His canvases oscillate between authored works and mimetic representation, visibly acknowledging the painter's process through elements like dripping paint. This approach does not lead to an aesthetic of indifference; instead, Sandner's art consistently points to the variable yet determinable relationships between art and its contexts, extending beyond the art world to echo the aesthetics of corporate design and advertising, questioning the very notion of authorial production.

The Secession is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 AM to 6 PM. Visitors are directed to purchase tickets via the provided link, suggesting a separate admission policy for the exhibition or museum entry.