Salon of Cultures: “Do you know anyone?”
Relationships and luck as success factors for artistic careers?
In the art world, an artist’s ability to gain attention, recognition and success has always been dependent on third parties. Initially, it was ruling elites who decided which artists would be used to maintain their power. In the Renaissance, the technical and artistic skills of the artists were an additional factor. Only the establishment of museums and exhibition spaces made it possible for artists to free themselves, at least partially, from dependencies without risking their own artistic ambitions. The hierarchy in the art world has constantly changed, but the struggle for “artistic breakthrough” continues to this day.
Since the 20th century, this authority has been in the hands of the big galleries, art dealers and funding bodies, who decide which artists succeed and which do not. Many artists therefore ask themselves what criteria must be fulfilled, be it in technical, aesthetic or thematic terms, in order to have a chance on the art market. This puzzle seems almost insoluble, leading to the assumption that artistic success is purely a question of relationships and luck: you know “someone” and you will succeed.
How can art evolve under such conditions and experience a second renaissance? What direction will art take when the criteria are so vague and unanswerable?
In “Do you know anyone?” the curator Osama Zatar, together with EDUCULT, invites the visual artists Amanda Jahn, Denise Flamme and Fadi Alhakim to explore this question in an artistic way. The exhibition opening will be accompanied by a musical performance by Alexia Chrysomalli.
Salon of Cultures – “Do you know anyone?”
Vernissage: 1 December 2022, 7 pm
Exhibit: 2 December 2022 to 1 May 2023 (Monday to Thursday, 9 am – 5 pm, Friday 9 am – 2 pm)
Location: EDUCULT, Q21 (at MuseumsQuartier Wien), Museumsplatz 1/e-1.6, 1070 Wien
(Staircase behind the glass door in the main entrance, to the right of Café Daily – 3rd floor)
Welcome: Marlene Kalnein & Aron Weigl / EDUCULT
Free admission!
Location map:
© MuseumsQuartier Wien
The Salon of Cultures is an interdisciplinary event and exhibition series that since 2010 has regularly created an artistic presentation and interaction space for artists, a diverse audience interested in art and culture, and actors from the fields of culture, education and science, with free admission at the Q21 of the MuseumsQuartier Wien and at decentralised locations in Vienna in cooperation with cultural institutions and artists. EDUCULT is the initiator and organiser of the Salon of Cultures.
We would like to thank the Department of Culture of the City of Vienna (MA7), Department of District Culture and Interculturality and the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport for the financial support of this event!
Picture: “Girl in Box” from Amanda Jahn (Wool, Natural Fibre, Acrylic Glass; 38x38x38 cm, 2016)