JEAN TINGUELY

A Retrospective

3. July – 9. November 2008, daily 10.00 - 19.00 hrs

We are pleased to be able to present another big exhibition of about 160 works of the Swiss artist Jean Tinguely (1925 – 1991) after 17 years. This time, the retrospective shows sculptures, models, drawings, drafts, sketches, posters and photos from the holdings of the Jean Tinguely Museum in Basle.

With "JEAN TINGUELY – A Retrospective“ the KunstHausWien honours one of the most important and popular representatives of the development of modern art, which aimed at extending the traditional concept of art: replacing the classical "static" forms of painting and sculpture by experiments with moveable objects and materials hitherto alien to art.

"I am only a thief, a parasite of technology, a pincher,
a scrounger in this wonderful industrial world"
Jean Tinguely

"Beauty" evolves, with Tinguely, from a combination of the "ugly", as his works are not given high polish; they work despite their anachronistically un-functional appearance and the shabbiness of their components and thus become a double parody of a high-tech environment: They are not only "pure products of art" without a function, but at the same time caricature a traditional concept of beauty which indispensably demands a highly polished, smooth exterior.

In 1991, the year the KunstHausWien museum was opened, it was Hundertwasser’s desire to begin the series of international special exhibitions with a Jean Tinguely exhibition. Jean Tinguely passed away in Berne on 30 August, 1991. "Nachtschattengewächse" (Solanaceae) in the KunstHausWien was his last exhibition in his lifetime.

On occasion of the first exhibition of Jean Tinguely in the KunstHausWien, a video was produced in which Jean Tinguely talks about his life, his art and his philosophy. This unique and impressive documentation dating from 1991 was included in the catalogue of the current retrospective as DVD and will be available in the KunstHausWien MuseumShop.

• Press presentation: Wednesday, 2 July 2008 – 10.30 hrs (with invitation!)
• Exhibition opening: Wednesday, 2 July 2008 – 19.00 hrs (with invitation!)

For further information and photo material please contact:
Sabine Schmeller, Verena Schrom
KunstHausWien Pressestelle: Tel. 0043/1/712 04 95-14,
Fax 0043/1/712 04 96
e-mail: sabine.schmeller@kunsthauswien.com verena.schrom@kunsthauswien.com

In Co-Operation with:

Austrian Airlines, Clip.At Medienbeobachtung, Der Standard Kulturanzeiger, Eurocity, Kurier-Club, Österreich Ticket, PKP Proximity Werbeagentur, YumYum Media, ORF Österreich 1 Club