photo: Franz Pfluegl, Vienna
I thought it possible to establish a connection between commercial management and artistic expression. The result is presented here. Look and see. Bruno Gironcoli
Much to our regret, Bruno Gironcoli died in february 2010 at the age of 73 years in Vienna. His works of art , sculptures and works on paper form an emphases of the Strabag Artcollection.
The art and event hall GIRONCOLI - KRISTALL was opened in June 2004. Nine monumental sculptures on loan made out of polyester by the internationally renowned artist and sculptor BRUNO GIRONCOLI (born 1936 in Villach, died in Vienna 2010) are shown in the Gironcoli-Kristall in this first permanent exhibition in Vienna.
Several meters high, the mechanical-organic “Mother Sculptures (the Unborn)” are covered in gold and silver. They were made in the nineties and shown in 1997 at a large exhibition at the Museum of Applied Arts, MAK, in Vienna.
They represent a new space of experience in the emphasis of the futuristic world of the artist. Three monumental sculptures belonging to the Strabag Artcollection and are situated on the plaza in front of the Strabag Haus, focusing the spectacular interior of the Gironcoli-Kristall at Vienna’s Donau City.
Gironcoli’s search for a representational form of reality as well as for a new definition of sculpture began, spurred on by the Viennese excessive desire for action, with the happenings and performances of that time. From the things of the everyday life, he created so-called “Environments” from articles that he relieved of their function. He joined the individual objects to enormous, constantly changing sculptures of metal and polyester. Topics such as force, suppression, sexuality, lower middle class, frugality and technical spare parts are combined in Gironcoli’s works.
Many projects attempting to build a museum for Gironcoli - one prominent location was Bad Bleiberg in Carinthia - failed in spite of all efforts of cultural and educational policymakers. It was not easy for the artist to find a convenient place for those huge works of art. Several storage locations were filled with the sensitive, gold- and silver-covered sculptures (made out of polyester, wood and metal). It was time to restore the pieces and arrange them again. After a long period of preparation and complex transportation, the collector and patron of arts Hans Peter Haselsteiner provided the art and event hall Gironcoli-Kristall (architects Hoffmann & Janz, Vienna).
Bruno Gironcoli has a unique position in the field of international contemporary sculpture. The Austrian artist found his own distinctive language of forms, ranging from early filigreed wire objects to the overwhelming sculptures of the past decades, which he continues to develop in his oeuvre. Existential themes - such as relationships between man and woman, sexuality, violence and subjugation are areas he reflects upon in his “apparatus”. Parallel to these, Gironcoli also created a broad spectrum of works on paper.
At the Biennale in Venice in the year 2003, the art world once again became aware of Bruno Gironcoli, who had succeeded Fritz Wotruba as the leader of the school for sculptors at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna’s Prater. Gironcoli was a professor until his retirement in August 2004. He is a guide to the younger generation of artists and is appreciated for his progressive, radical and timeless artwork.
Photo: Günter Mischkulnig
Without a doubt, I delved into concise, disturbing details of marvelously vividly prepared and symbolically loaded items of a political iconography with pseudo-sacred self-references like the full grapes/clusters (the wine of the life), the sheets, associations with Austrofaschismus and the vulva as added decoration. The whole was a deposit from extraterrestrial-seeming altars (science fiction as in the early pictures of Matta), overlaid with mechanically designed elements - a combination of hybrid nature as three-dimensional bodies, as I had not ever experienced. I must have landed in a true sculptor studio. Amalgam from utopian design and archetypal conceptions reciprocated between abstract geometrical elements and at the same time physical realism. I was also emotional in a changing flood of liveliness and depression. Kaspar König
The sculptor has no employer; he has to go beyond this paralyzing situation; the model and the vacuum of the model become desire and unconsciousness. In opposition to the plenitude is the never comprehensive, continuous revolution of the work of art. Bruno Gironcoli
My mental awareness and my aesthetic desire have aspired to silence, things which are leading to silence, through the power of simple surface. Bruno Gironcoli
In fact, the organic machines of Bruno Gironcoli seem to be a complex eternal procedure - the difficult, never-ending troubles of the mother goodness bearing life. Vital, realistic details grow out of them and seem to be supernatural finished products - secondary phenomena that seem to be supernatural. In brief: In Gironcoli’s mind the unconscious bears the awareness of reality, as a mother who gives life to her child, and the child also seems to be independent of his origin and cannot detach ….
Donald Kuspit
photo: Franz Hubmann
BRUNO GIRONCOLI
Born in Villach, Carinthia - died 2010 in Vienna
grew up in Carinthia and Tyrol
1951-1956 Apprenticeship as goldsmith in Innsbruck, Tyrol
1957-1959 Study of fine arts in Vienna at the University of Applied Arts, painting faculty of Eduard Bäumer
1960-1961 Residence for one year in Paris, influenced by Giacometti, Existentialism and Marxism
1961-1963 Study of fine arts in Vienna (Eugen Meier’s class of metal working) Marriage, birth of a daughter, nude and portrait studies of his wife, First shapes out of wood, nylon, iron, aluminum, glass and glass-flux
1964-1965 Central theme: the human body, first wire sculptures
Shapes of hollow bodies made of cardboard, sketches for sculptures, first works out of polyester
1966-1967 First group and solo exhibitions at Galerie Hildebrand, Klagenfurt
1968-1971 Start of his exhibition activities at Galerie Nächst St. Stefan, Vienna, First collector and sponsor: Monsignore Otto Maurer, head of the gallery since 1959, Super Design with the artists Goeschl, Hollein, Oberhuber and Pichler Model ‘Murphy’ after Samuel Beckett
photo: Mounty Zentara
1970- 1976 First exhibition at the Museum of the 20th Century, Vienna: Sculptures of wires and drawings. First exhibition in Germany at Gallery Appel & Fertsch, Frankfurt Arrangements of objects (Environments) with everyday objects such us cleaning utensils, dishes, cutlery, shows, plugs and electrical appliances; violence, torture, suppression in conjunction with sexuality become his new themes.Ambassador at the Biennale Sao Paolo, exhibition at Gallery Krinzinger Bregenz and Innsbruck, at Kärntner Landesgalerie, Klagenfurt and Kulturhaus der Stadt Graz (both with F.X. Ölzant)
1977-1985 First comprehensive exhibition at the Museum of the 20th century, Vienna (curators Peter Weiermair and Armin Zweite),
Professor and director of master school for sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, He takes over the work of Fritz Wotruba; assembling art sculptures, his students are Franz West, Manfred Erjautz, Peter Sandbichler
1986 Steirischer Herbst, exhibition of the work, ‘Väterliches - Mütterliches’, exhibition at Künstlerhaus Graz
1989 Austrian sculpture prize awarded by the Erste Allgemeinen Generali Foundation
1990-1995 New works on paper with a new painterly language emerged into sculptures, Exhibition of his paper works, Neue Galerie am Joaneum, Graz, curator: Wilfried Skreiner, Exhibition of eleven large-format sculptures at the Museum of the 20th Century, Vienna , Retrospective at the Bregenzer Kunstverein, Exhibition at Gallery Thoman, Innsbruck, Gallery Ulysses New York and Rupertinum, Salzburg
1997 The Unborn , exhibition of 18 sculptures, Museum of Applied Arts , MAK Vienna, Exhibitions at Gallery Krinzinger, Vienna, Gallery Ulysess, Vienna, Gallery Altnöder,
Salzburg, Gallery Thoman, Innsbruck, Cultural Award of Carinthia
Bruno Gironcoli with his family and Hans Peter Haselsteiner, photo: Franz Pfluegl, Vienna
1999-2003 Exhibition of ’Lady Madonna’, MAK, Museum of Applied Art,Vienna; exhibition at Gallery Judith Walker, Carinthia, Gallery Chobot, Gallery Hofstätter, Vienna
2003 Austrian representative at Biennale in Venice, curator: Kaspar König. Exhibition at Gallery Altnöder, Salzburg, Gallery Thoman, Innsbruck, Gallery Hofstätter, Vienna, Galerie Pfefferle, Munich, participation in Art Cologne and Biennale Lyon
2004 Opening of the permanent exhibition Gironcoli - Kristall, Strabag Haus Vienna
Opening of the Gironcoli Museum, Schloss Herberstein, St. Johann, Styria
Gironcoli became professor emeritus and left the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna
Lady Madonna, Gallery Thoman, Innsbruck, Atelier& Gallery AREA 53, Vienna.
Die Phantastik, OÖ Landesmuseum, Francisco Carolinum, Linz, Sculpture-painting-graphics, Galerie Glacis, Graz, Support 2 - die Neue Galerie als Sammlung, Neue Galerie, Graz
2005 Blickwechsel, Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten, Klagenfurt,Occupying Space, Haus der Kunst, Munich, A wonderful view - Vous Etes Ici, Amsterdam, Figure/Sculptor, Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg, Occupying Space; Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb; Witte de With, Museum Rotterdamm, Bruno Gironcoli - early works, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, A
2006 Austria 1900-2000, Sammlung Essl, Klosterneuburg, A
Art Cologne, Gallery Gölles,Fürstenfeld; Gallery Karl Pfefferle, Munich
2007 Bruno Gironcoli - 11 Sculptures, Gerhard Macks Haus, Bremen
A Novelle Image, Casino Luxenburg; Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, Innsbruck, A
Mind Expanders - Performative Körper, utopische Architekturen um ´68. Haus-Rucker-Co, Wien, A - Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Wien A, K08: Emanzipation und Konfrontation, Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten Klagenfurt, A, Kunst aus Kärnten 1945 bis heute, Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten, MMKK, Klagenfurt, A, Bruno Gironcoli. Skulpturen & Zeichnungen 1964-2008. Galerie Bernard Jordan Zürich, Zürich, Viennafair Wien 2008, Präsentation Galerie Kratochwill. Galerie Rudolf Kratochwill, Graz / Österreich - Viennafair 2008
Presentation of the book: Bruno Gironcoli -The Sculptures 1956-2008, Galerie Elisabeth & Klaus Thoman, Innsbruck and MAK Vienna, A
2009 "ECHOES" Festspielausstellung, Galerie Judith Walker, Weizelsdorf A, "Mahlzeit!". Galerie im Traklhaus, Salzburg, A
Austria International. Galerie Weihergut, Salzburg, A
Meisterwerke aus Österreich. Burgmuseum Archeo Norico Deutschlandsberg, A, Dressed for Art. Galerie Julius Hummel, Vienna, A, cross over. Galerie Peithner-Lichtenfels, Vienna, A, "POSITIONEN" 25 Jahre Galerie Altnöder/Jubiläumsausstellung. Salzburg, A, Bruno Gironcoli - Environments, Galerie Weihergut, Salzburg, A, Bruno Gironcoli–Objects, drawings, prints, Galerie Chobot, Vienna, A
2010 Sammeln, Sammeln, Sammeln...!. Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck, A
HALL RENTAL
The art and event hall Gironcoli-Kristall establishes the setting for unique company events, for presentations, conferences, symposia and festivities in a superior ambience.
The wide plaza in front of the Gironcoli-Kristall can be used as an extension. The Gironcoli-Kristall combines multifunctional atmosphere with art appreciation and modern technical equipment – a magic place of economic importance at Donau City, Vienna.
Space: Kristall: 600 m², gallery: 270 m², entrance area
wardrobe: 270m², plaza: 1200 m² for outside events;
Capacity: 300 persons, with seating: max. 300 persons, seated meal: max.150 persons
Technical equipment: modern light and sound projection equipment, secondary rooms, very good acoustics.
Information on rental: Renate Jauk (Strabag Real Estate Management), tel: +43(0)1/ 22422-1520,
Email: renate.jauk@bauholding.com
Guided tours by appointment: Monday - Thursday 10:00-17:00, Friday. 9:00-12:00
Strabag Kunstforum: Tanja Skorepa, Barbara Baum, tel: +43 (0)1 / 22422 – 1848
Email: kunstforum@strabag.com
Gironcoli- Kristall im Strabag Haus
Donau-City-Straße 9
1220 Vienna