Kunsthaus Bregenz opens Florian Pumhosl. Spatial Sequence] an exhibition on view 26 10 2012 – 20 01 2013.
Florian Pumhosl Installation view 3rd floor, Kunsthaus Bregenz Photo: Hannes Böck Copyright © Florian Pumhösl, Kunsthaus Bregenz
Florian Pumhösl (born 1971, lives in Vienna) is a rarity in his generation of Austrian artists in having rigorously and cogently developed an independent abstract formal and pictorial language. For all its rigor of expression this language wields a highly impressive range of contemporary references and has immense visual potential. His international career began at a young age—at the time of his participation in the legendary group exhibition Backstage at the Hamburg Kunstverein together with Dorit Margreiter and Mathias Poledna in 1993, Florian Pumhösl was just twenty-two years old. With the symbolic support of friends, the artist trio’s contribution to that show provided for the removal of all the institution’s door locks during the show, thus opening the exhibition hall’s accessibility, both really and metaphorically. If today, almost twenty years later, such clearly articulated reflection on the mechanisms of the art system and its institutions seems to be more covert in his works, yet engagement with the specific exhibition site and its institutional features is of great significance for him, now as then. In this respect, his big solo exhibition at the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Vienna in early 2011 was an eminent example. Here, by means of a architectural route, Pumhösl set up an exemplary dialog between the brilliantly bright exhibition space, the so-called white space, and the black box used for film screenings. In addition to numerous solo shows in public museums and art halls including in Cologne, Geneva, and Amsterdam, in the past ten years he has participated in many major art events, such as the São Paulo Biennale, the Venice Biennale, and documenta 12 in 2007.
Florian Pumhösl was born in Vienna in 1971, where he lives and works. Recent exhibitions include: Raven Row, London (with Mathias Poledna); 678, edna), 678, MUMOK Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna (2011); Florian Pumhösl, Krobath, Vienna (2011); Diminution, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin (2010); Bewegliche Bühne, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2010); Florian Pumhösl, Lisson Gallery, London (2008); Florian Pumhösl, Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Cologne (2007); documenta 12, Kassel (2007); 27th São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo (2006); Florian Pumhösl. Animated Map, Neue Kunst Halle St. Gallen, St. Gallen (2005–2006); Florian Pumhösl, House of Art, Ceské Budejovice (2005). – www.kunsthaus-bregenz.at
