--- type: exposition title: Johanna Kandl language: en url: "https://www.belvedere.at/en/johanna-kandl-1" --- # Johanna Kandl ## Material. What We Paint with and Why ![Eine ockerfarbene Landschaft mit verschiedenen Farbseen. Auf dem Bild ist oben und unten ein Schriftzug "Who's afraid of red, yellow and blue"](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/header_cropped_1920x480_fp/public/media-directories/whos%20afraid.jpg.webp?itok=B8Xq9bku) **Duration:** 12 September 2019 - 19 January 2020 Images tell stories. They do so not only via form and content but also through their pure, innate materiality. Painting tools and the medium of colour, their origins, and the way they are obtained often convey compelling stories in parallel to the picture’s subject matter. Austrian artist Johanna Kandl focuses on this content layer by juxtaposing the basic materials used in painting with her own works as well as numerous paintings from the Belvedere Collection. Curatorial assistence: Miroslav Halak \#JohannaKandl ### [Lower Belvedere](https://www.belvedere.at/en/visit/lower-belvedere) **Opening hours:** Monday to Sunday, 10 am - 6 pm **Address:** Lower Belvedere, 1030 Vienna ([Getting there]()) [Tickets](https://www.belvedere.at/en/tickets?location%5B0%5D=3) ##### In cooperation with - [Die Presse](https://www.diepresse.com/) ## Impressions - ![Ausstellungsraum mit Werken Johanna Kandls und Bildern aus der Belvedere Sammlung — Exhibition view Johanna Kandl - Material. What we paint with and why — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/media-directories/Hochformat%206%20oben%20RGB_0.jpg.webp?itok=VDE4PABo) - ![Ausstellungsraum mit Werken aus der Belvedere Sammlung und der Projektion eines Leinenfeldes — exhibition view Johanna Kandl. Material - What We Paint with and Why — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/media-directories/hochformat%201%20oben%20RGB_0.jpg.webp?itok=92KaQU5-) - ![Ausstellungsraum mit Exponaten der Künstlerin Johanna Kandl — Exhibition view Johanna Kandl. Material - What We Paint with and Why — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/media-directories/Doppelseite%203%20RGB_0.jpg.webp?itok=M9Nkso7t) - ![Ausstellungsraum mit Bildern und anderen Artefakten — Exhibition view Johanna Kandl. Material. What We Paint with and Why — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/media-directories/Doppelseite%201%20RGB.jpg.webp?itok=vAAC23-A) - ![Ausstellungsraum mit Bildern von Johanna Kandl in Gegenüberstellung mit Werken des Belvedere und anderen Artefakten — exhibition view Johanna Kandl. Material - What We Paint with and Why — Photo: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Vienna](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/equal_height_slider_1x/public/media-directories/Doppelseite%202%20RGB_0.jpg.webp?itok=UOB-TJmF) ## The Exhibition ![Johanna Kandl — © H.& J. Kandl, 2018](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/jart-images/_545033682684.jpg.webp?itok=BgO7wBpl) In this exhibition, Johanna Kandl examines the physicality of artworks. She’s not interested in the science of materials per se, rather, she sheds light on a current topic referred to in recent years by the scientific community as the ‘material turn’. The new-found appreciation of analogue materials can be seen as a paradigm shift in the age of digitalization. This research strategy analyses the significance of material in society. Kandl has been researching this topic for several years, travelling to the places of origin of the substances in question, such as to the island of Hormus, the Sudan, Sumatra, and Slovakia. Under this approach wider issues are raised, like the economic sustainability for the inhabitants of affected regions of materials such as resin- and rubber-producing plants (or gum arabic in the Sudan). Problematic environmental consequences are also raised with regard to mining and the conflicts between activists and global mining companies involved in pigment production. In the exhibition, the artist’s works and paintings from the Belvedere Collection are in dialogue with minerals, pigment samples, specimens, archive material, and Kandl’s own photographs, film contributions, and notes from many years of research. The result is a narrative that oscillates between objective documentation and personal fiction. The artist brings to the exhibition her detached scientific view, but also imbues it with her emotionally underpinned personal connection to the subject, rooted in her family background of paint producers and dealers, as well as her training as a conservator. Together with her husband, Helmut Kandl, she explores the stories behind the bodily nature of art, while also uncovering urgent social questions. ## Videos ## Exhibited Artworks - ![Ein Mensch ritzt eine Koschenille auf und rote Flüssigkeit tritt hervor. Recht am Bildrand sind vier verschiedene rotfarbige FarbtupferFarb — Johanna Kandl, Koschenille, 2017 — Privatbesitz Johanna Kandl, © H&J. Kandl, 2018.](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/Katalog%20Seite%20121%20Foto%20Kandl.jpg.webp?itok=VPdlDsCq) - ![Johanna Kandl, Rote Erde, 2018 — Privatbesitz Johanna Kandl © H&J.Kandl, 2018. Foto: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/06%20Foto%20Stoll_0.jpg.webp?itok=WUKowGEP) - ![Johanna Kandl, Gum Arabic (II), 2016 — Privatbesitz Johanna Kandl © H&J. Kandl, 2018. Foto: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/09%20Foto%20Stoll_0.jpg.webp?itok=i46DlrDK) - ![Eine Frau trägt einen Arbeitskorb auf dem Rücken — Johanna Kandl, Their work is important, 2016 — Privatbesitz Johanna Kandl © H&J. Kandl, 2018. Foto: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/20%20Foto%20Stoll.jpg.webp?itok=KApVLmR-) - ![Vier afrikanische Frauen rennen aus einem Gebäude, im Himmel ist der Schriftzug "Work is Over" — Johanna Kandl, Work is over, 2016 — Privatbesitz Johanna Kandl © H&J. Kandl, 2018. Foto: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/18%20Foto%20Stoll.jpg.webp?itok=vtd1VhjH) - ![Johanna Kandl, Rote Erde, 2018 — Privatbesitz Johanna Kandl © H&J. Kandl, 2018. Foto: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/08%20Foto%20Stoll_0.jpg.webp?itok=Epn1XJ8R) - ![Johanna Kandl, Leinbild, 2016 — Privatbesitz Johanna Kandl © H&J.Kandl, 2018. Foto: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/21%20Foto%20Stoll.jpg.webp?itok=mFAugGDx) - ![Johanna Kandl, Gum Arabic, 2016 — Privatbesitz Johanna Kandl © H&J.Kandl, 2018. Foto: Johannes Stoll © Belvedere, Wien](https://www.belvedere.at/sites/default/files/styles/full_content_width_no_crop/public/media-directories/03%20Foto%20Stoll.jpg.webp?itok=4OvRKnLM)