In each of these countries, a commissioner immersed in the local environment of young artistic creation has taken on the task of sifting through hundreds of applicants to find 10 art projects that deserve recognition from the general public as well as from professionals in the art world. These 90 artists who are making their first steps on the international scene set themselves apart through the quality of their work, the originality of their approach, and their expressive force in both form and content.
The curators of the JCE Biennial will guide us from one country to the next, for this
tour of Europe of art “in progress”…
Austria
“While most of the artists selected have done their studies in schools putting the lion’s share of their emphasis on traditional painting, they often combine it with other techniques, such as photography or video, or they evolve toward threedimensionality. Their artistic practice allows them to bring a critical look at the history of art: for instance, Fritzenwallner revisits Velasquez in his painting, while Proschek reimagines the sculpture of the 1930s. By reusing dress fabric, Guttmann’s and Mühlfellner’s objects offer an ironic view of the classicism of luxury design.
Krakow, Poland
“Art enables an experience of resilience. Molded by the torments that have marked the history of the 20th century, the young Polish artists are well aware of this fact. This is the milieu in which their maturity takes root. Using the additional freedom that art affords them, they rock the existing rules, criticizing the destructive power of an excessively homogeneous society and unbridled consumerism. At the same time, they ground themselves in that same culture and from it create parallel realities and thus fully assume their role as artists. This is reflected in cynical commentaries, as in the case of Honza Zamojski, or works that tend more toward objectivism, as in the case of Slawomir Pawszak.”
“Most creators now use several media simultaneously, such as Henni Alftan or Aurélien Porte who mix drawing, painting, and sculpture in hybrid installations. Another point in common: a highly uninhibited use of techniques or models coming from modern art, or even ancient art, such as in the case of Antoine Dorotte and his fascinating animated drawing made image by image with zinc engravings. As is true of a large part of today’s creation, this selection of artists combines great social and political awareness (as exemplified by Till Roeskens’ powerfully moving videos on the situation in Palestine) with an attempt to build new worlds that are light, abstract, alternative, independent, and metaphorical. I feel this dual vision is nicely summarized by the images of ‘The allegory of the Great Theater of the World’ by the young Oriol Nogues, a Spaniard currently living in Paris.”
Hungarian Institute of Paris
“As Hungary has not been spared by the global recession, young Hungarian artists are using their art to hold at bay injustices, inequalities, and the limits of a social space under control. Consequently, their artistic sphere often mingles the intimate with the community. Adept at street art, Tamás Budha and András Tábori criticize, through their “still life bottles,” the marketing excesses that sell beverages consisting almost entirely of artificial ingredients. At filmed performances, Réka Kinga Papp transforms the words of an old pop song into a denunciation of the corruption that reigns in Budapest, accusing politicians of unaccountability and venality. As for Balázs Miklós Steiner, he is interested in all countries off the beaten path of the major globalization movements, which he places under the label of “OC.” These letters stand for “Other Country,” which is a solidarity movement between these countries which have been wiped off the prevailing mental map of the world.”
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