Upcoming exhibition

Visionary Spaces.
Walter Pichler Meets Frederick Kiesler in a Display by raumlaborberlin
Kaiser Wilhelm Museum

Opening: November 21, 7 p.m.

The exhibition project Visionary Spaces presents two important avant-gardists from different generations: Friedrich Kiesler (1890–1965) and Walter Pichler (1936–2012).

The Austrian American architect Kiesler, who turned increasingly to sculpture after his pioneering exhibition displays and architectural visions of the 1920s, meets the Austrian sculptor Pichler. In the early 1960s, Pichler’s sculptures, declared as alternative living spaces, provided significant and internationally recognized impulses. As pioneers, both began early on to question conventional building methods and to develop experimental alternatives: biomorphic, sculptural architecture or architectural sculptures.
The interdisciplinary collective raumlaborberlin is responsible for the artistic and architectural design and is realizing a display that makes it possible to view these utopian projects from today’s perspective. With some 120 international loans, including never-before-seen archival documents and objects, six thematic stations will present central phenomena in terms of both content and form.
Aimed at a broad audience interested in art and architecture, the exhibition offers the first comprehensive overview of Walter Pichler’s work in Germany since 1987. Frederick Kiesler’s work is also being presented for the first time in North Rhine-Westphalia and the Benelux region.

Visionary Spaces. Walter Pichler Meets Frederick Kiesler, an exhibition of the Belvedere, Vienna, in cooperation with the Kunstmuseen Krefeld, is curated by Verena Gamper in Vienna and Michael Krajewski in Krefeld.

Walter Pichler, Pneumatic Room (Prototype 5), 1966  
Sculpture PVC foil, PVC rings, suspension with steel cables and tension springs, pneumatic, electric blower, overall dimensions: 200 × 200 x 200 cm Reconstruction  
Generali Foundation with Walter Pichler, 2007  
Generali Foundation Collection - on permanent loan to the Museum der Moderne Salzburg  
Photo: Werner Kaligofsky, Bildrecht 2024
Walter Pichler, Pneumatic Room (Prototype 5), 1966
Sculpture PVC foil, PVC rings, suspension with steel cables and tension springs, pneumatic, electric blower, overall dimensions: 200 × 200 x 200 cm Reconstruction
Generali Foundation with Walter Pichler, 2007
Generali Foundation Collection - on permanent loan to the Museum der Moderne Salzburg
Photo: Werner Kaligofsky, Bildrecht 2024
Walter Pichler, Old figure, 1960-1963 (bed 1971)  
Wood, tin, copper, mattresses, linen, 91 × 92cm  
Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere Vienna
Walter Pichler, Old figure, 1960-1963 (bed 1971)
Wood, tin, copper, mattresses, linen, 91 × 92cm
Photo: Johannes Stoll / Belvedere Vienna
Frederick Kiesler, Raumstadt, Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris 1925  
black and white photography  
© 2023 Austrian Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Private Foundation, Vienna  
Photo: unknown
Frederick Kiesler, Raumstadt, Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes, Paris 1925
black and white photography
© 2023 Austrian Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Private Foundation, Vienna
Photo: unknown

Related programme

November

December

January

February