Art comes from labour

From 27 April to 29 May 2006, these 24 oil paintings by Josef Schützenhöfer are on display on the facade of Rembrandtstraße 31 in Vienna (the location of Eurozine and partner journal Wespennest) in the exhibition Kunst kommt von Arbeit [Art comes from labour]. For over ten years, Schützenhöfer has worked under this motto, producing big-format series concerned with industrial workers, the conditions they work under, and the products of their labour. The exhibition features sixteen portraits from his previous series, “Semperit” and “Steyr-Daimler-Puch”, alongside eight portraits produced especially for this location, depicting people working in and around Rembrandtstraße.

Klaus Zeyringer

Josef Schützenhöfer’s “Social Painting” and the provocation of the figurative
Residual authoritarianism and social inequality are both a target and a spur in the paintings of Josef Schützenhöfer. Drawing on (art) history and contemporary imagery, they articulate an original realist aesthetic. [ more ]

About the artist

Josef Schützenhöfer (b.1954 in Vorau, Styria) has lived and worked in Pöllau, Styria, since 1996, following a long period of time spent in the US.

Education

1994 Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst/Vienna, Austria, Mag. Art
1984-1987 Maryland Institute College of Art/Baltimore, Maryland, US; Master Class of Painting with Grace Hartigan and Sal Scarpitta, MA
1980-1984 Old Dominion University/Norfolk, Virginia, US, BA Painting and Printmaking
1977-1980 Dental Hygienist, US Navy, NNSY/Norfolk, VA
1976-1977 USN School of Dental Science, San Diego, Calif. DN

Exhibitions

2006 Apr.-May Kunst kommt von Arbeit [Art comes from labour] in partnership with Wespennest, on the facade of Rembrandtstraße 31, 1020 Vienna
2006 Feb.-May Bühne Land [Stage countryside], Forum Stadtpark/Graz
2005 May-Nov. Lauter Helden [Heroes everywhere] (Lower Austria, Regional Exhibition/Heldenberg, Double portrait Kommandant und Idol [Commandant and idol]
2004 Nov. Sitting at the river thinking of the sea, Kontor Staretz/Vienna
2004 Mar. Reich oder Arm [Rich or poor], Literatur im März/Kunsthalle Vienna
2003 Nov. Stacked working class (Semperit), IGS Graz/Südtiroler Platz
2003 Oct. Joseph Schützenhöfer at the ODU Gallery, Norfolk, Virginia
2003 Mar. Iraq revisited, Kontor Staretz/Vienna
2002 Apr. Mayday Mayday, ÖGB-Seminarzentrum Strudlhof/Vienna
2002 Jan. Schützenhöfer applies labour to art, Retzhof/Leibnitz
2001 Sept. Oh Lord would You buy me a Mercedes Benz Unimog and other things please!, Technisches Museum/Vienna
2000 Mar. Diagonale Graz, documentary by Christian Reiser on Art comes from labour
2000 Jan. Kunst aus Arbeit [Art from labour], Österreichisches Kulturinstitut/Warschau
1999 Sept.-Nov. Kunst kommt von Arbeit [Art comes from labour], Installation in Knittelfeld, Grazer Oper, Karl-Franzens-Universität/Graz
1998 May America no more, Schlossgalerie/Pöllau
1997 May Work, Work Art Gallery/Gewerkschaftshaus Graz
1996 July A 15 year survey of art in Baltimore, Decker Gallery at MICA/Baltimore, MA, US (Group show for Artscape)
1995 July Sextasy ball touring show (Documentation on censorship of the arts in the US)
1995 May Landschaft/Landscapes, Austrian Embassy/Washington, DC
1995 Apr. Contract on America, Artemisia Gallery/Chicago, Illinois
(group show)
1994 Nov. Arsenal of democracy, Franklin and Marshall College/Lancaster, Pennsylvania
1994 Oct. The papal altarpiece, Edward Ramsberg Gallery/Frederick, MA
1994 May Master of satire, William King Contemporary Art Center/Virginia (group show)
1994 Feb. A line drawn, Delta Axis Art Center/Memphis, Tennessee (group show)
1993 Aug. This is my land, Edward Ramsberg Gallery/Frederick, MA
1993 Feb. Of God and G.O.P., University Gallery, Old Dominion University/Norfolk, VA
1992 Nov. Election week 1992, Edward Ramsberg Gallery/Frederick, MA
1992 July Humor as a subversive act, Artscape/Baltimore, MA
1992 Feb. Right down to the roots, Delaplaine Art Center/Maryland
1991 Aug. Response to war, Artemisia Gallery/Chicago, IL
1990 Feb. Outcry – Artists answer Aids. Travelling exhibition/Maryland, Virginia, and Illinois
1989 Dec. Walker, Ursitti and McGinnis Gallery/New York
1988 Aug. Walker, Ursitti and McGinnis Gallery/New York
1987 July Sweet land of liberty, Gallery 33 Art Center/Baltimore, MA
1985 World War II drawings, Grey Gallery/New York University

Awards/Fellowships

1996 NEA Award for Painting (National Endowment for the Arts)
1985 Graduate Fellowship, Richmond Museum/Richmond, VA
1983 Undergraduate Student Fellowship, Richmond Museum/Richmond, VA
1981 Student Fellowship, Hermitage Foundation/Norfolk, VA