On September 21, the Kunsthaus Dresden will open the first retrospective in Germany of the work of the Austrian artist Lois Weinberger, who died in Vienna in the spring of 2020, with the exhibition „Relatives.“
Wild plants inhabiting a disused rail track, broken-up / broken-open asphalt in the middle of urban space and artworks consisting of found, oftentimes perishable materials and objects that appear strangely archaic: Lois Weinberger is a pathbreaker and pioneer of a contemporary art that critically questions our relationship with nature: What is a garden? How do we recognize ourselves in the natural cycles of growth and decay?
The exhibition “Relatives” is dedicated to the work of the Austrian artist Lois Weinberger, whose art and understanding of nature and the environment has had a lasting influence on contemporary art and, in view of the climate and environmental issues of our times, could hardly be more topical. “Verwandte / Relatives” takes up Weinberger’s profound understanding of kinship within ecological systems: In his artworks, anthropogenic categories such as “weeds,” “vermin,” “waste,” and “decay” are called into question and abolished in favor of a comprehensive view of microbiological processes and nomadic survival strategies in the plant world. Between “ironic shamanism” and a poetic aesthetic of strictness, his works and projects in public space renegotiate the boundaries of nature and culture and let us experience our superiority over the environment as an illusion.
Based on an archive that the artist compiled with his partner Franziska Weinberger and which will be presented in its entirety for the first time in Dresden, the exhibition “Relatives” provides crucial insights into the artistic work of Lois Weinberger.
Curated in collaboration with Franziska Weinberger by Christiane Mennicke-Schwarz, Kunsthaus Dresden, and Vincent Schier.
Special exhibition
22.09.-26.11.2023
LOIS WEINBERGER: „Relatives“
Kunsthaus Dresden / Rähnitzgasse 8 / 01097 Dresden-Neustadt
Admission: 4 € / reduced 2,50€ / free admission on fridays
Opening hours
Tue-Thu 14-19 h
Fri-Sun 11-19 h
