Laura Amann

Dark Botanicals by Laura Amann, curator Kunsthalle Wien Part 4 The works we encounter in the group show Dark Botanicals will certainly either make you think about the aforementioned concepts or - if you let it happen - make you feel the beautifully complex and contradicting sensations of both rejection and fascination, intoxication and toxicity. Traditionally art scholarship and aesthetic theory have taken a very sober if not prudish stance towards physical sensation, especially pleasure. 18th century philosophy clearly distinguished between aesthetic pleasure - as an effect of intellectual experience and the basis of critical value judgment from “carnal” sensations such as lust. So the judgment of ‘beauty’ necessitated a sort of ‘disinterested pleasure’ that was to be different from the pleasure gained from food, drink or sex for example. In order to be receptive for the kind of work that ranks intellectual pleasure above physical experience thus one needs strategies of ‘distanciation’ to make the spectator aware of the process of experiencing work - but why is there such a rigorous division between bodily sensation - be it pleasure or disgust - and intellectualized contemplation? Why is it so unthinkable that art could be both sensual and conceptual, erotic and politically critical? Bodily sensations are usually associated with a loss of critical thinking, they are treated as a mere base impulse and they are denied any political agency. But its carnality and immediacy constitute perhaps exactly that critical potential of visceral sensation. What if we would let physical sensations consume the critical mind? What if we were to allow aesthetical, historical, and biographical analyses to pass through the magical blackbox of bodily sensation. Sensations which call the mind back into the body, contain somatic and experiential depths and offer readings intellectually undecipherable but all the more illuminating? - Laura Amann @l.auraamann Dark Botanicals 20 June - 20 July Work in photo film still from video piece by Ariadne Randall titled "Form & Void (Water Dream 2)" (2024)

Dark Botanicals by Laura Amann, curator Kunsthalle Wien Part 3 An analogous relationship can also be found in the erotic. In her essay This Compost: The Erotics of Rot the author Elvia Wilk notes  that erotic love can be both toxic and intoxicating. She writes “one desires to be taken over: absorbed, enveloped, dissolved, decomposed. And one desires just as strongly to retain one’s individual shape.” This ‘incursion’ that happens in the erotic encounter disintegrates the self, it disturbs its homeostasis. Wilk continues “the self finds this both painful and pleasurable […] it is only due to an incursion, after all, that the self can recognize itself as such […] the self realizes where its boundaries have been, and then desires to retain them.” Anne Carson describes this process as “sweetbitter” rather than bittersweet. Because “first the sweetness of love intoxicates, and then its bitterness signals its potential toxicity. First delicious, then repellent. Then both.” The abject and the erotic? Strangely related? Relational strangeness?  The works we encounter in the group show Dark Botanicals will certainly either make you think about the aforementioned concepts or - if you let it happen - make you feel the beautifully complex and contradicting sensations of both rejection and fascination, intoxication and toxicity. - Laura Amann @l.auraamann The exhibition Dark Botanicals 20 June - 20 July at Galerie Peter Gaugy in Vienna features the following artists: Theres Cassini @theres_cassini Ernst Lima. @ernst_lima Lauren Nickou @laurennickou Ariadne Randall @ariadne.randall Letizia Werth @letiziawerth Hamid Yaraghchi @hamid.yaraghchi Work in photo by Ernst Lima and Theres Cassini Photo by: @kunstdokumentationcom

Dark Botanicals by Laura Amann, curator Kunsthalle Wien Part 2 Kristeva’s definition of the abject is of something  which is fundamentally repulsive, disturbing, or threatening to our sense of self and the social order. It is not the same as the object, which can be clearly separated from the self. The abject, however, exists at the margins, defying the boundaries between the self and the other as well as the interior from the exterior. It provokes  strong reactions of horror, disgust, and fear - akin  to a primal response that  both repels and fascinates. This combination of disgust and fascination constitutes a key moment. It involves what is tabooed or forbidden, such as bodily fluids, waste, death, and decay - elements that are traditionally expelled from the social, physical and psyche to maintain cleanliness, purity, and a kind of homeostasis. Kristeva insists that the process of abjection is essential for the formation of identity. Because only by rejecting and expelling that, which is abject, individuals and societies can form a sense of self in opposition. Thus what constitutes the persistent threat of the abject is that it will return and disrupt those boundaries, each time blurring, softening or stretching them. - Laura Amann @l.auraamann The exhibition Dark Botanicals 20 June - 20 July at Galerie Peter Gaugy in Vienna features the following artists: Theres Cassini @theres_cassini Ernst Lima. @ernst_lima Lauren Nickou @laurennickou Ariadne Randall @ariadne.randall Letizia Werth @letiziawerth Hamid Yaraghchi @hamid.yaraghchi Paintings by Lauren Nickou Photo by: @kunstdokumentationcom

Dark Botanicals by Laura Amann, curator Kunsthalle Wien Part 1 …the weeds grew to knee height and then quickly withered into compost that gave off an ammoniac scent strong enough to make her pinch her nose. The compost ate away at whatever was below it, decomposing other greenery and leaving the earth below yellow and fallow… …second stage was mold; the rot prepared the ideal condition for fungal spores to take hold, which would sprout and eat through what was left. Then, in an orgy of apoptosis, the plants and fungi would delete themselves along with what they had eaten... …she was struck by the spectacular mess of her house; it was thriving, growing, and dying all at once, cannibalizing itself in programmed splendor… excerpts from the book Oval by Elvia Wilk Eros once again limb-loosener whirls me   sweetbitter, impossible to fight off, creature stealing up…      fragment of poetry by Sappho Julia Kristeva's concept of the 'abject' as discussed in her book Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection from 1980 is fascinating for many reasons, but especially because it can be used as a powerful tool for understanding human psychology on an individual level, the same as mechanisms of exclusion and fabrication of the Other on a societal scale. It is a complex theoretical construct that explores the cultural taboos, borders of identity, and the human psyche, - so what happens when we view art through the lens of the abject, or better yet when art forces us to experience the abject?  Photo: Kunst-Dokumentation.com

My heart is aching, but full of love. ❤️‍🔥 5 years of craziness, beauty and friendship. Many more to come, just otherwise. Thank you comrades. ❤️‍🔥 @whw_what.how.for.whom @ivetcurlin @sabsab179 @azizaharmel @erdandrea_ @mona.heinlein @hannah.marynissen @hanaceferin @asijaism @adina_hustler @katharinaschniebs @wiebkeschnarr @astridpeterle @laramejac @nornwaith

#Meet Laura Amann, the visionary curator behind the exhibition “Darker, Lighter, Puffy, Flat” at @kunsthallewien ! ❤️ Located in Vienna’s charming Spittelberg area, Kunsthalle Wien is a hub of creativity and exploration. ✨   This thought-provoking exhibition challenges societal norms surrounding breasts and delves into themes of motherhood, queer families, and the objectification of women’s bodies♀️   As we approach the #InternationalWomensDay , join us in honoring the diversity and resilience of women worldwide. 💪🏼 @l.auraamann   #InternationalWomensDay2024 #IWD #IWD2024 #ViennaNow #WomanOfVienna #WomeninBusiness

Next Thursday, curator Laura Amann will guide you through the exhibition “Darker, Lighter, Puffy, Flat”. The group show questions why we are still so obsessed, offended, and scandalized by the view of naked breasts and deals with different depictions of breasts in art history, but also related current topics such as sexuality, gender, interspecies relationships, motherhood, breastfeeding, disease, and censorship. Here we see a metal sculpture by Bruno Gironcoli. A baby is bedded on edelweiss flowers – a national symbol of Austria used for nationalist propaganda, but also as a symbol in the resistance against the Nazis. Join the free tour and register via besucherservice@kunsthallewien.at or watch the video tour via link in bio. Video: Kunsthalle Wien Sound @arminbrandner curated by @l.auraamann Assistant Curator @hannah.marynissen #KunsthalleWien #DarkerLighterPuffyFlat #MQWien #BrunoGironcoli #CuratorsTour #FreeGuidedTour #VideoTour #ArtTour #BreastsInArt

🪨🪡 🩷I had the pleasure of hosting two embroidery workshops, embeded in Darker, Lighter Puffy, Flat exhibition in Kunsthalle Wien (.)(.) 🎀 🪨🪡The workshop Sticks and stones may break my bones but thread will tell my story, as part of Darker, Lighter, Puffy, Flat, was first held on December 16th and more recently on January 20th in the so-called Boob-Forum of the exhibition, im happy to annonce that the third workshop will be taking place on 🎀Saturday, March 9th from 15-18h🎀 The registration through Kunsthalle Wien website is mandatory for securing your spot 🩷 🧵🩷Thank you so much Laura @l.auraamann for the invite and for curating such a beautiful and important exhibition and big thanks to Martin @martin_walanka & Ela, for all the help and support of implementing the workshop🎀 Darker, Lighter, Puffy, Flat is curated by Laura Amann @l.auraamann and co-curated by Hannah Marynissen @hannah.marynissen and is presenting works from Nina Beier • Misleidys Castillo Pedroso • Lucia Dovičáková • VALIE EXPORT • Bruno Gironcoli • Elisa Giardina Papa • Andrea Éva Györi • Trulee Hall • Monia Ben Hamouda • Šejla Kamerić & Aleksandra Vajd • Maria Lassnig • Claudia Lomoschitz • Tala Madani • Sarah Margnetti • Radha May • Marlie Mul • OMARA Mara Oláh • Abdul Sharif Oluwafemi Baruwa • Laure Prouvost • Christina Ramberg • Adam Rzepecki • Toni Schmale • Maja Smrekar • Mariya Vasilyeva • Dorottya Vékony • Marianne Vlaschits • Rafał Zajko

Tomorrow at 7pm - grand opening! The international group exhibition Darker, Lighter, Puffy, Flat explores diverse perceptions of the breast in the history of art but also in society and culture at large. We warmly invite you to the opening next Wednesday, at 7 pm at Kunsthalle Wien Museumsquartier! Following the welcome by WHW (artistic directors Kunsthalle Wien), curator Laura Amann will walk us through the exhibition. Afterwards, we'll celebrate with the Hamburg collective Queereeoké. 29/11 2023, 7 pm at Kunsthalle Wien Museumsquartier, free admission We would like to thank the following partners for supporting the exhibition: the Danish Arts Foundation; the Italian Council (2023), Directorate General for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry of Culture; Flanders State of the Art; and SKICA, the Slovenian Culture and Information Centre in Vienna. @l.auraamann @whw_what.how.for.whom @hannah.marynissen #KunsthalleWien #DarkerLighterPuffyFlat #MQWien @nina_beier_ #MisleidysCastilloPedroso @lucia_dovicakova @ateliervalieexport #BrunoGironcoli @elisagiardinapapa @andreaevagyoeri @truleehall @qvarzo @sejlakameric @aleksandravajd @maria_lassnig_foundation @claudia_lomoschitz @talamadani @sarahmargnetti #RadhaMay @nupur_mathur_ @studio.bathshebaokwenje #MarlieMul @omaramaraolah @sharifbaruwa @studioprouvostsocialclub #Christina Ramberg @pan_rzepecki #ToniSchmale @maja_smrekar @mariyavasilyev_a @dodi.vekony @marianne_vlaschits @rafal_zajko

Almost cried walking through this exhibition - a stroll down memory lane of my first steps towards curating inspired by the thinking of the one and only Gordon Matta Clark and his ideas of ‘making space without building it’ - next to Gottfried Semper (yes I know, an unlikely pair!) a conceptual midwife for my diploma work in architecture @akbild aptly titled ‘The Drama of Architecture’ (lol) and admission proposal for @de_appel ❤️🍎🩸 probably the first artist who made me think that perhaps it could be more interesting to look at architecture through the lens of art… btw: GMC was also half chilenx 🗿🇨🇱❤️‍🔥 and also: happy Vagina day!

🛎🛎❤️🛎🛎 @azizaharmel