Installation by “Very Real Estate” group (Stefanie Koemeda, Sascha Alexandra Zaitseva, Cristina Fiorenza, Veronika Dirnhofer and Anna Khodorkovskaya)
VBKÖ (Austrian Association of Women Artists) 2021 ; Vienna Art Week 2021
In the REAL ESTATE exhibition, Stefanie Koemeda, Sascha Alexandra Zaitseva, Cristina Fiorenza, Veronika Dirnhofer and Anna Khodorkovskaya, refer to historically grown and economically formative questions of the representation and of the spaces of female artists.
Fotos © Simon Veres
The VBKÖ (Austrian Association of Women Artists), the oldest artists’ association still existing in the same place, has been based in a rented property on the top floor in Maysedergasse since 1912. Compared to the two other important artists’ associations in the immediate vicinity – Künstlerhaus and Secession – the VBKÖ, as an art association always run by and for women, has none obviously visible and representative spaces available. The economic disadvantage of a rental property since it was founded is evident. The visibility and publicity is disproportionately smaller. A demand for a separate building for the VBKÖ in central Vienna dates back to the founding of the VBKÖ and was repeatedly discussed – but never realised.
The five artists work using 50-year-old excavation material from Karlsplatz, a so-called enriched secondary clay, which left its place of origin via a watercourse and can be found in the area around and at Karlsplatz. For and during the REAL ESTATE exhibition, a sculptural installation was created using only Karlsplatzton – the beginning of an experimental design for a new space of the VBKÖ. Working with and on the past and a transformation towards a contemporary common space for artists in solidarity. Usage of the Karlsplatz clay refers to the question of land, real estate and thus also financial security and options for action. Clay in general as a material has properties of permanence and sustainability as well as change, transformation, narration and deformation.
The created clay objects were not burned, but the material was recycled and used for the next exhibitions again.