Kunstresidenz Artist-in-Residence Program in Bad Gastein 2012. Group Show

As part of the Festival Sommer.Frische.Kunst in Bad Gastein, the Artist-in-Residence program Kunstresidenz invited seven international artists to live and work in the Austrian health resort near Salzburg. This year, the artists Florian Neufeldt, Victor Ash, Janis Avotins, Christin Kaiser, Michael Schmeichel, Corinne von Lebusa, and Markus Proschek created new work in the historic power plant at the waterfall in the heart of Bad Gastein. This video takes you to Bad Gastein and provides you with a tour of the group exhibition with the works of the artists on the occasion of the closing weekend of the Kunstresidenz program. Coming soon: Interviews with the artists Florian Neufeldt, Janis Avotins, and Markus Proschek.

Kunstresidenz Artist-in-Residence Program (Sommer.Frische.Kunst) in Bad Gastein 2012. Closing Weekend Group Exhibition with Florian Neufeldt, Victor Ash, Janis Avotins, Christin Kaiser, Michael Schmeichel, Corinne von Lebusa, and Markus Proschek. Reception, August 17, 2012. Bad Gastein (Austria).

> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.

Bad Gastein is not necessarily known for contemporary art. The spa town in the Austrian Alps is famous for its healing source, Belle Époque buildings, and the waterfall that spectacularly runs right through the center of the city.

In former times, it was the preferred place for the Austrian aristocracy and famous Empress Elisabeth of Austria (Sisi) honored the place by writing four poems on Bad Gastein. With the inauguration of the train station by Kaiser in 1905 mass tourism came to the place. Now tourists from countries such as Sweden, Italy, Germany, and Russia come to the place for hiking, biking, and skiing. In the 1970s a UFO landed right in the middle of the center of the town in the form of a convention center by the Austrian architect Gerhard Garstenauer. In combination with the predominantly Belle Époque architecture of the surrounding buildings and the waterfall, the Kongresshaus gives the town center a really special look.

Bad Gastein’s old power station is located just below the convention center. Built in 1914, it’s one of the oldest hydroelectric power stations of the federal state of Salzburg. After its decommissioning in 1996, it was used as a museum. This year it was the temporary home of the artists Florian Neufeldt, Victor Ash, Janis Avotins, Christin Kaiser, Michael Schmeichel, Corinne von Lebusa, and Markus Proschek. A jury chaired by Kunstresidenz Director Andrea von Goetz has selected the artists. In the above video, Andrea von Goetz provides us with a short introduction to the Kunstresidenz program.

Photo set on Flickr:
Kunstresidenz Bad Gastein 2012

Posted in: art, interview, VernissageTV