A War in the Distance: Exhibition

23.9.22–12.2.23
Neue Galerie Graz

Joanneumsviertel and Neutorgasse 45 (historical entrance)
8010 Graz  ♿
​Tue–Sun 10:00–18:00
10.50/9/4 euros (free admission under 19)

22.9., 18:30–21:00
​Opening
Free admission

This year’s edition of steirischer herbst centers on an exhibition in both wings of the first floor of Neue Galerie Graz. It combines historical works from the gallery’s collection with projects by contemporary artists, thus offering a rereading of the collection through the prism of ignored wars, hidden histories, and repressed conflicts.

Rereadings of Neue Galerie Graz’s collections have already been undertaken in the past, partly in the frame of steirischer herbst, often in search of forms and media prefiguring modernist and contemporary art. This time, the exhibition focuses on works that, in modernism-centered art histories, remained mostly in the shadows: 19th- and 20th-century works that were neglected due to their figurative and narrative qualities. These are linked to works by contemporary artists in different media, most of them newly commissioned. They provide artistic and curatorial comments to ominously peaceful artworks, amplifying the echoes of not-so-distant battles and their far-reaching consequences.

The exhibition is divided into chapters and arranged according to subjective curatorial choices, built on free associations and counterpoints. Its focus is on the political uses of painting, and its common thread is a growing sense of danger, connected to the veiled and open conflicts of Austrian history. These include historical grievances related to the loss of empire, the long history of colonialism, exoticization, and othering in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as the dramas and struggles of class, as solemnly and playfully reflected in works of art.

A detailed exhibition guide is published for the opening and is available free of charge at Neue Galerie Graz and at the Visitor and Press Center.

The exhibition and festival catalogue is available in our web shop.


List of Artists


Artists from the Collection of Neue Galerie Graz

Archduke Karl Stephan of Austria (1860–1933)
Tina Blau (1845–1916)
József Borsos (1821–1883)
Hugo Cordignano (1882–1959)
Constantin Damianos (1869–1953)
Josef Danhauser (1805–1845)
Sandro De Alexandris (1939–)
Leo Diet (1857–1942)
Anny Dollschein (1893–1946)
Margarethe Donnersberg (1878–1966)
DRAGO (Dragoš Kalajić) (1943–2005)
Franz Ehrenhöfer (1880–1939)
Georg Eisler (1928–1998)
Zea Fio (1954–)
Emanuel Fohn (1881–1966)

Hans Fronius (1903–1988)
Krzysztof Glass (1944–2000)
Gabriel von Hackl (1843–1926)
Friedrich Holzhausen (1857–1923)
Karl Jirak (1897–1982)
Ludwig Kainzbauer (1855–1913)
Eduard Klenk (1885–1944)
Alois Krenn (1952–2021)
Axl Leskoschek (1889–1976)
Hans Mauracher (1885–1957)
Wilhelm Mende (biographical data unknown)
Dušan Minovski (1953–)
Leopold Carl Müller (1834–1892)
Anton Nowak (1865–1936)
Adolf Pirsch (1858–1929)
Carl Pischinger (1823–1886)
Rudolf Pointner (1907–1991)

Johann Gualbert Raffalt (1836–1865)
Eugen von Ransonnet-Villez (1838–1926)
Anton Romako (1832–1889)
R. F. Rougon (biographical data unknown)
Paul Schmidtbauer (1892–1974)
Alois Schönn (1826–1897)
Gustav Seyfferth (1850–unknown)
Fritz Silberbauer (1883–1974)
Rudolf Spohn (1905–1975)
Josef August Stark (1782–1838)
Heinrich Stegemann (1888–1972)
Karl Sterrer (1885–1972)
Johann Wachtl (1778–1839)
Franz Yang-Močnik (1951–)


Curatorial Interventions

Artworks from the Neue Galerie Graz collection on loan to public offices in Graz, photos by Manuel Carreon Lopez, 2022, ink-jet prints on photo paper, Landespolizeidirektion

The exhibition A War in the Distance is based on subjective choices and associations. Encounters between historical artworks and contemporary artists create a space beyond both. Here, the boundary between the aesthetic and the documentary is blurred, creating a new kind of fiction. Curatorial interventions in the exhibition underscore this method of working and point toward the larger imaginary space it means to open.  →  More

Curating on the Minefield
Symposium, exhibition finissage, and catalogue presentation
10.2., Neue Galerie Graz

→  More




Curated by Ekaterina Degot with David Riff, Christoph Platz, Mirela Baciak, and Barbara Seyerl (steirischer herbst), with curatorial advice by Gudrun Danzer and Günther Holler-Schuster (Universalmuseum Joanneum)

A cooperation between steirischer herbst ’22 and Neue Galerie Graz / Universalmuseum Joanneum

With the friendly support of Zukunftsfonds der Republik Österreich