Werner Feiersinger: An Exhibition Exploring Modernist Architecture and Design Paradoxes

This exhibition features the work of artist Werner Feiersinger, exploring the contradictions within modernist architecture and design. It includes new sculptures and photographs that challenge conventional interpretations of form, function, and material.

The exhibition "Werner Feiersinger" at the Secession focuses on the artist's exploration of the inherent contradictions within modernist architecture. Feiersinger's artistic practice is driven by the mystification of modernism as the embodiment of functionality and rationality, questioning the rigid adherence to these principles and their reception. He is motivated by the breaks and inconsistencies found in objects of ambiguous nature and photographs of familiar subjects viewed from unconventional angles, revealing unexpected aspects. The exhibition presents new sculptures and photographs by Feiersinger, who meticulously works on the execution of his pieces, preceded by extensive preparation, research, and engagement with architectural and design canons. The works often reference modernism, from architects like Le Corbusier and Erich Mendelsohn to minimalist artists such as Donald Judd and Tony Smith. A highlight is a new 17-meter long, curved steel structure, a 1:1 scale replica of a detail from the entrance of Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye, which serves as a central architectural element in the main space of the Secession. This piece, along with other new sculptures, is embedded within a complex network of architectural-historical and personal references. Objects like ladders, shovels, and scaffolding appear to suggest a clear use, evoking associations with tools or production means, yet they ultimately prove to be dysfunctional. These objects are emancipated from their presumed concrete context and take on their own meaning, characterized by ambivalence, which is also reflected in the treatment of their surfaces. Similarly, Feiersinger's photographs engage with both canonical architectural works, captured from an unorthodox, subjective viewpoint, and everyday architectural structures in use. These images question visual conventions and serve as visual testaments to an aesthetic quality that Feiersinger finds in the seemingly imperfect or unsuitable. The paradoxical dogma of the undogmatic runs through the entire exhibition as a subtle yet palpable thread.

The page provides a link to purchase tickets, indicating that admission may require a ticket or entry fee. Specific pricing or booking details are not provided on this page, directing visitors to an external ticketing platform.