Feelings are Facts I: Angst for Kunstverein Eisenstadt, 2023

Die von Barbara Horvath konzipierte Ausstellungsreihe „Feelings are Facts“ beleuchtet das performative Spektrum der Gefühle anhand von vier exemplarischen Realitäten.

ANGST ist ein existentielles Gefühl: das vegetative Nervensystem schlägt Alarm, weil die eigene Vernichtung (körperlich oder seelisch) droht. Angesichts der zunehmenden Bedrohungen (Inflation, Klimakrise, Pandemie, Krieg, sozialer Abstieg) können ganze Gemeinschaften zur Angstgesellschaft mutieren.

INTIMACY is a longed-for and yet hard-to-find feeling. The state of deepest intimacy – with oneself or with others – is at the same time one that suggests vulnerability. The interest of an unknown person in a bar, a tender word, the small touch on one’s hand, the intimate embrace of a friend, the roving glance while dancing, the fingertips gently stroking the skin, the quiet intimacy with a loved one … Where does it begin, the intimate, where does it collapse again? How is it possible to allow boundless closeness? To stand naked in front of the other and be seen without being ashamed?

MULTIFORM MADNESS  The exhibition aims to create an ever-changing space that explores the relationship between artistic creativity and mania. In this context, the building housing the Kunstverein is transformed into an archival medium for manic energies, bringing into play the iconography of monasteries and mental institutions.

Grafikdesign: Susi Rik