Exhibition
The exhibition took place from 27 June to 20 September 2015.
FRANCESCA WOODMAN and BIRGIT JÜRGENSSEN. Works from the VERBUND COLLECTION, Vienna
From 27 June to 20 September 2015, the VERBUND COLLECTION, Vienna, was hosted at the Kunst Meran museum with the exhibition FRANCESCA WOODMAN and BIRGIT JÜRGENSSEN.
KUNST MERAN shows for the first time the double exhibition on the works of the American-Italian artist Francesca Woodman (*1958–†1981) and the Austrian artist Birgit Jürgenssen (*1949–†2003). The 120 juxtaposed works by Birgit Jürgenssen and Francesca Woodman come from the VERBUND COLLECTION, Vienna. This is already the second collaboration of the two art institutions since the presentation of the early work of Cindy Sherman from the VERBUND COLLECTION at KUNST MERAN.
Curator:
Curated by Gabriele Schor, founding director of the VERBUND COLLECTION, Vienna, and Camilla Martinelli, curator Kunst Meran
Team of the VERBUND COLLECTION, Vienna
Theresa Dann – curatorial assistant
Daniela Hahn – curatorial assistant
Artists
Francesca Woodman
Francesca Woodman was an American photographer known for her haunting black and white images, often depicting the female body in abandoned or dilapidated settings. Woodman's work, which often incorporates autobiographical elements, blurs the lines between self-portraiture and performance. Her images explore themes such as identity, impermanence, and the act of seeing. Despite her early death at just 22 years of age, Woodman left behind an impressive body of work that continues to be celebrated for its poetic intensity and innovative approach to photography.
Birgit Jürgenssen
Birgit Jürgenssen, a prominent artist of the feminist art movement, explored themes of corporeality, identity, and everyday objects, presenting them in unconventional contexts in her works. Through her creative depictions of female experience and subjectivity, Jürgenssen inspired new perspectives on gender roles and identity.
Kunst Meran im Haus der Sparkasse
Via Portici 163, 39012 Merano
Insights into the exhibition FRANCESCA WOODMAN and BIRGIT JÜRGENSSEN Works from the VERBUND COLLECTION, Vienna
Publication:
Birgit Jürgenssen
published by Gabriele Schor & Abigail Solomon-Godeau
Hardcover: 296 pages
Publisher: Hatje Cantz
Edition: 2009
Languages: German/English
ISBN: 978-3-7757-2460-9
Publication:
FRANCESCA WOODMAN. Works from the VERBUND COLLECTION
published by Gabriele Schor & Elisabeth Bronfen
Hardcover: 301 pages
Publisher: Buchhandlung Walther König
Edition: 2014
Language: German
ISBN: 978-3-86335-352-0
Staging of the female body
In aesthetic and conceptual respects, the works of Woodman and Jürgenssen are categorised as “Feminist Avant-Garde” of the 1970s, a term coined by the founding director of the VERBUND COLLECTION, Gabriele Schor.
Although the two artists never met in person, their works contain many parallels: the staging of the subject, the infirmity of human existence and, in particular, the critical examination of the female body in art. Both artists took their performative photographs alone in their studios in front of the camera, mostly with the self-timer function. And for both artists, surrealism as an emancipatorial method is an important source of their artistic form of expression. Woodman and Jürgenssen are pioneers of the “poetic-performative feminism” of the 1970s and deliberately use the female body in their works as a formal instrument, thereby creating a new ‘image of the woman’. Because the female artists themselves decide to use their body naked, they define the female body neither as ‘nature’ nor as ‘sexual object’ but in a self-determined way as ‘artwork’.
Photos: © Andreas Marini / Kunst Meran
