PIERRE & GILLES
Arrache mon coeur

14 February - 26 May 2002, daily 10.00 - 19.00 hrs

The KunstHausWien is proud to present for the first time in Austria the work of Pierre & Gilles. They met at a party in Paris in 1976 and have lived and worked together ever since, combining in their art photography (Pierre) and painting (Gilles). Their early portraits have been of personalities like Salvador Dalì, Catherine Deneuve, Claudia Schiffer, Paloma Picasso or Yves Saint-Laurent and Jean-Paul Gaultier, nowadays they are of Laetitia Casta, Dalida, Juliette Greco and others.

On the frontier between popular iconography and the History of Art, the style of Pierre & Gilles is unique: Pierre & Gilles literally invented a precise and immediately identifiable stylistic territory between painting and photography, installation and stage direction.

Following on from the exhibition "Douce Violence" (Sweet Violence) which was a major event of the 1998/1999 artistic season (Paris, Jérôme de Noirmont), attracting an unprecendented crowd of aficionados, "Arrache mon cœur" (Take My Heart) will bring together 75 works, essentially all the work of Pierre & Gilles for the past three years and will mark a decisive stage in their work: dealing with totally new themes and worlds, their hand-painted photographs acquire a maturity and fullness which will undoubtedly surprise and delight all visitors.

THE EXHIBITION WILL BE SUPPORTED BY:

LIFE BALL, GEWISTA, AHA PUTTNERBATES, AUSTRIAN AIRLINES, KURIER-CLUB, HILTON VIENNA, EUROCITY, YUMYUM COMMUNICATIONS