CONSTRUCTING PARADISE


February 1 - April 24, 2017 


Austrian Cultural Forum, New York 


11 East 52nd Street, New York, USA

Paul GAUGUIN

Oskar KOKOSCHKA

Hugo CANOILAS

Jean-Michel BASQUIAT

Mark DION

Nives WIDAUER

Kara WALKER

Mathias KESSLER

Mickalene THOMAS

Marissa LÔBO,

Christian Kosmas MAYER

Moussa KONE 


Curated by Dieter BUCHHART

Curatorial Advisor: Mathias KESSLER 


JANUARY 31│EXHIBITION OPENING

6 PM -- 7 PM: Artist talk 

7 PM – 9 PM: Reception featuring a performance by Marissa Lôbo

Constructing Paradise exhibits contemporary reinterpretations of notions of the "exotic" by artists based in Austria or the United States. Taking iconic artworks such as Paul Gauguin's Noa Noa and Oskar Kokoschka's Tiger Cat as starting points, the show assembles a diverse range of work from early contemporary to more recent artistic responses to the modernist imprint of desire and fantasy on contemporary culture. Particularly when juxta­posed with hyperbolized images of modern-day advertising, the exhibition explores the psychological impacts of the modernist image on image culture and the Western psyche. 

Hugo Canoilas was born in 1977 in Lisbon, Portugal and lives and works in Vienna, Austria. Recent Exhibitions and projects include: When elephants march in, curated my Mark Kremer at De Appel, Amsterdam, NL;  Paradise Birds - 30th São Paulo Biennial;  Infinite Tasks, Gulbenkian Museum, Lisbon; Dear painter paint me - with heart and reason, Trafó Contemporary Art Center, Budapest, DEBAIXO DO VULCÃO, MNAC, Lisbon

For further information on work by Hugo Canoilas please contact: miles@workplacegallery.co.uk