Exhibition: Maria Lassnig

From time to time I inform my students with up-to-date cultural events such as for example the exhibition about the artist Maria Lassnig. She also lived in New York. Her exhibition takes place at Trade Fair Palace (Veletržní palác) until 17 June 2018.

“I have always strived, even in my youth, for a sort of presence.In my art, which is an art of immersion all the
way to the fevers of the nerve fibres and their vibrations, I have conquered the haze of absence.”
„Vždy, dokonce už zamlada, jsem usilovala o jisté zpřítomnění.Ve své tvorbě, která je imerzivním uměním
rozechvívajícím nervová vlákna, překonávám závoj nepřítomnosti.”.

The innovative work of an outstanding artist, Maria Lassnig (Austria, 1919-2014), is on show in the Czech Republic for the first time.

With more than 50 large-format paintings, drawings, and watercolour* series on display, as well as sculptures and films, this exhibition reveals Lassnig’s long-standing exploration of the body and self-representation.

Here we see work from the artist’s entire career, which is more than seven decades long: from abstract works made during the 1940s in Vienna, to experiments in painting and film when she lived in Paris and New York, to the
works she made after returning to Austria in 1980.These works focus on self-portraiture and investigate body awareness, the idea behind much of Lassnig’s art.

Lassnig’s art is concentrated on her inner experiences: “I step in front of the canvas naked, so to speak.I have no set purpose, plan, model, or camera.I let things happen.But I do have a starting point, which is the realisation that my feelings are my only true reality, performed inside my body.They are physical: a feeling of pressure when I sit or lie down, feelings of tension…These things are quite hard to depict.“.

Source: ngprague.cz.