Exhibition view: Mario Kiesenhofer – Treasure, Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien (tresor), 2023/24
MARIO KIESENHOFER
AURA
8.10. – 2.11.2025
Solo show
qwien.at
Opening:
7.10.2025, 6.30 pm
In his artistic practice, Mario Kiesenhofer investigates the visibility of queer spaces and communities. For his new project, he engages in a photographic dialogue with archival material from Qwien, Vienna’s center for queer culture and history.
Aura, the photographic series that resulted from this investigation, examines the invisible dimensions of queer history by engaging with selected objects from Qwien’s archive. These are transferred into a visual context that relates considerations on aura, transgenerational trauma research, and photography as a medium of the invisible in the spirit of Walter Benjamin. Kiesenhofer views the aura as not only an aesthetic phenomenon, but also as a form of transgenerational energy emitted by objects that connects them with the stories and memories of past generations. This invisible heritage—in the form of trauma and subjective or collection experiences—is made visually palpable and activates the objects from the Qwien archive for coming generations.
A text by Walter Seidl will accompany the exhibition, and a panel discussion will take place on 30 October at 6.30 pm as part of the exhibition. Under the title Invisible Traces: Queer History, Trauma, and Photography, questions about transgenerational trauma, the role of archives, and artistic approaches to dealing with queer history will be discussed. Speakers: Walter Seidl (curator, author, artistic director of SPARK Art Fair), Lara Lik (psychologist researching transgenerational trauma, Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna) Mario Kiesenhofer (artist), moderation: Qwien.
The exhibition is curated by Andreas Brunner and Hannes Sulzenbacher (Qwien).
Qwien
Ramperstorffergasse 39
1050 Vienna
As part of Foto Wien 2025
Mario Kiesenhofer, Light study for Aura, 2025
RECENTLY ON VIEW:
CRUISING IN THE PARK
@ PARKING SPACE
14.11.2024 – 28.2.2025
Opening:
13.11.2024, 7 pm
CRUISING IN THE PARK is a temporary pleasure store and exhibition project curated by PARK and Bernadette Anzengruber, combining contemporary art with sex toys, lingerie, latex & leather, fashion, jewelry, wellness products and printed matter.
Artists:
Bernadette Anzengruber, Renate Bertlmann, Monica Bonvicini, Katrina Daschner, Kerstin von Gabain, Maria Grün, Lena Rosa Händle, Matthias Herrmann, Siggi Hofer, Barbara Kapusta, Mario Kiesenhofer, Nino Sakandelidze, Toni Schmale & Wally Salner, Anneliese Schrenk, Em Schwarzwald, Michael Strasser, Sophie Thun, Philipp Timischl, Marianne Vlaschits, Stefanie Weber
PARK
Mondscheingasse 20
1070 Vienna
MARIO KIESENHOFER
FLOATING
9.11. – 7.12.2024
Solo show
smolkacontemporary.at
Opening:
8.11.2024, 5 – 8 pm
Artist Talk:
11.11.2024, 6 – 7 pm
Mario Kiesenhofer and Lisa Ortner-Kreil,
curator at the Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien,
discuss the artist's current series of works.
Smolka Contemporary
Lobkowitzplatz 3
1010 Vienna
As part of the Vienna Art Week
and the Rotlicht Festival for analogue photography
MARIO KIESENHOFER
SKARB
14.6. – 2.8.2024
Austrian Cultural Forum Warsaw
ul. Próżna 7/9
Warsaw
Solo show
Curated by: Stanisław Welbel
austria.org.pl
Photographs from the Treasure series, since 2023, pigment prints, mounted in chrome frames, each 40 × 60 cm
Untitled (Dichotomy), 2024, two road blocks made of galvanized sheet steel, each approx. 290 × 113 × 63 cm
MARIO KIESENHOFER
TREASURE
25.10.2023 – 14.1.2024
Kunstforum Wien – tresor
Freyung 8
1010 Vienna
Solo show
Curated by: Lisa Ortner-Kreil
Opening: 24.10.2023, 7.30 pm
Featuring a sound performance by Avtomat
www.kunstforumwien.at
Download exhibition text and further information (PDF) – English
Download exhibition text and further information (PDF) – German
Treasure, 2023, 45 pigment prints, mounted in chrome frames, each 40 × 60 cm
Treasure, 2023, lettering made of anodized aluminum, chains, approx. 300 × 160 cm
Reflections (feat. Reflektra), 2022/23, 4K video installation – projected in full HD 6’32’’, loop, without sound, jagged mirror, approx. 450 × 254 × 204 cm
SUPPORTED BY
POWERPLAY - PHOTOGRAPHIC SYNERGIES
BETWEEN ART, FASHION AND MUSIC
1.7. – 13.8.2023
Stadtgarten Gmunden
Johann Tagwerker Straße 12
4810 Gmunden
Group show
Curated by: Lisa Ortner-Kreil
Untitled (Threshold), 2023, PVC, wood, screws, approx. 235 × 224 cm
This place should b**n, 2023, vinyl lettering, approx. 280 × 24 cm
Indoor – Instytut, Warsaw, 2023, two pigment prints, framed behind grey glass, each 80 × 120 cm
Damian, 2023, pigment print, 53 × 79,5 cm
SUPPORTED BY
DISPATCHES FROM A TROUBLED CITY – THE CITY AS NOVEL
1.12.2022 – 26.3.2023
Wien Museum MUSA Startgalerie
Felderstraße 6–8
1010 Vienna
Group show
Curated by: Nika Kupyrova
QUEER ART SPACES VIENNA 2023
19.1. – 18.3.2023
Kunsthalle Exnergasse
Währinger Straße 59
1090 Vienna
Group show
Curated by: Louise Deininger, Michael Kaufmann, Gerhard Pruegger, Francis Ruyter
MARIO KIESENHOFER. SURROUNDINGS
2.6. – 2.7.2022
Peter Hay Halpert Fine Art
in cooperation with
Anders Wahlstedt Fine Art
521 West 26th Street
New York, NY 10001
→ click to download the press release
The exhibition was accompanied by a panel discussion
at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York:
Mapping Queer Surroundings. A Panel on Visibility and Space
Speakers:
Drew Sawyer (Brooklyn Museum)
Matthew Leifheit (photographer, magazine editor)
Mario Kiesenhofer (artist)
The exhibition was generously supported by the Austrian Cultural Forum New York and the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Civil Service and Sport of the Republic of Austria.
Mario Kiesenhofer is a Vienna-based artist working with photography and video. His artistic focus centers around queer spaces and communities, with an emphasis on their representation and visibility.