fomo - fear of missing out
8. - 24. Juli 2022
Karl Karner & Nana Mandl
In their third major collaboration, Karl Karner and Nana Mandl attempt to make the status quo of our society visible and tangible: a major undertaking that ventures into the realms of sculpture, painting, installation and performance, raising ethical and aesthetic questions. The examination and possible linking of different perspectives are central anchors of this project.
For this exhibition, the collaborators left their familiar territory and introduced each other to their respective techniques. The result is a series of large-format paintings created in alternating cooperation, representing an interplay between the drawings of sculptor Karl Karner and the representational paintings of Nana Mandl. Conversely, countless lacquered metal casts by Nana Mandl hang from the ceiling, silently pouring over the viewers like tears, complementing Karl Karner's powerful yet airy aluminium sculpture, which towers in the centre of the room. Between the individual works, there are also so-called ‘feeding bowls’, which are filled with 12 different courses during the vernissage, inevitably bringing viewers into close contact with the artworks.
The otherwise very different approaches and techniques can hardly be distinguished from one another in retrospect: abstract painting meets graphic elements, then clear motifs, only to disappear again in a layer of mud, while at the same time growing into an overall installation through the sculptural elements. The question arises as to what remains visible of the existing and how it affects what is superimposed on it. The selected imagery plays an essential role here: a mix of photos from the internet and the artists' own archive repeatedly take up the major themes that the artist duo addresses in this exhibition: globalisation, coexistence, economy, exploitation, love, morality...
