Orangery, Lower Belvedere
21 January to 17 May 2009

Banished from the arts in 1908 by Adolf Loos in his famous essay Ornament and Crime, ornament has re-established itself during the past decade. In contemporary art, geometric, floral, abstract, or calligraphic elements create classification systems whose subversive languages question religion and traditions. Moreover, these systems build cultural identity and make one ponder about the role of woman, the claim of totality and stereotypes.
The exhibition in the Orangery covers the period from fin-de-siècle Vienna to the present day. Works by Gustav Klimt, Josef Hoffmann, and Carl Otto Czeschka will be juxtaposed with works by contemporary artists from Austria and Germany (Adriana Czernin, Maria Hahnenkamp, Brigitte Kowanz, Raimund Pleschberger, Esther Stocker, Jörn Stoya), the USA and Great Britain (Sarah Morris, Philip Taaffe), India (Sakshi Gupta, Raqib Shaw, Hema Upadhyay), Pakistan (Aisha Khalid, Imran Qureshi, Rashid Rana), Lebanon (Mona Hatoum) and Iran (Parastou Forouhar, Shirin Neshat, Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian).

Mediapartner of the exhibtion