ARTISTEHelnwein

KAWS. Art & Comics explores the interplay between comics, comic strips, cartoons, and fine art. It places the American artist KAWS in dialog with selected contemporary stances, focusing on the artistic autonomy of his characters—figures that unite characteristics of street, pop, commercial, and public art. Comics are characterized by a universal language and exist in many cultures as an accessible way of telling stories graphically, in words and images. Jean-Michel Basquiat and Ad Reinhardt were fine artists who created comics in a near-classic vein. Even before the advent of photography and (animated) films, caricature, satire, and frame-by-frame narration offered a powerful way to convey stories across national, generational, and social boundaries.

Mit rund 200 Exponaten inszeniert Nowak-Thaller nun im großen Lentos-Saal – der jetzt Erwin Hauser-Saal heißt – ein Who-is-Who der österreichischen Kunstgeschichte. Man entdeckt spektakuläre Biedermeier-Landschaften, man begegnet Wiener Phantasten wie Rudolf Hausner oder Arik Brauer, den Neuen Wilden mit Gunter Damisch oder der Abstraktion mit Martha Jungwirth, dem Wiener Aktionismus mit Gottfried Helnwein oder Valie Export.