Beyond Baroque

The exhibition “Beyond Baroque” proposes to explore the idea of the Baroque as an artistic strategy, analysing the possible visual and formal connections and relationships but also differences and contradictions that exist between the many forms and manifestations of the Baroque, independently from any historic implication. What do we understand nowadays under the label of Baroque? Is the adjective “baroque” exclusively applicable to the art of the late 16th to early 18th centuries or can we use it also when speaking of contemporary art? Is there a relation between the past and present connotation of the word? Can we immediately recognize and identify the meaning of “baroque” beyond the common cliché?

The exhibition brings together a heterogeneous collection of works by artists with different interests and at different stages in their careers. Artworks of different media – drawings, paintings, videos, sculptures, installations, and a music performance – are presented juxtaposed and integrated into the historic art collection and in the garden of Waldegg Castle: they enter into dialogue with and offer a punctual counterpoint to the original Baroque furniture, tapestries, paintings and architecture. Such a juxtaposition demonstrates that contemporary art and society are nourished by the Baroque tradition and some of its visual principles and intrinsic stylistic elements. 

Artists involved: Pável Aguilar with Mar Boreal, Jan Bajtlik with Lynn Frydman Kuhn, Franziska Baumgartner, Kaspar Flück, Christian Fogarolli, Charlotte Hug, Luisa Kasalicky, Alina Kopytsia with Coco Schwarz, Gergana Mantscheva, Verena Thürkauf and Yuan Yuan.