Aura
Mario Kiesenhofer‘s photographic series of Qwien archive materials focuses on the history of queer and, in particular, gay lifestyles, for which he places the objects in an auratic field of representation. The artist uses in-camera effects that are created directly during photography by various filters in front of the lens. The activating dynamic inherent in the images is inscribed in the sensor through the combination of flash and a slight movement of the camera when the shutter is released.
Kiesenhofer employs a dual strategy. First, he selects objects to photograph that trigger an inner resonance in the artist and thus reveal their auratic effect. With the help of the photographic dispositif, Kiesenhofer introduces a second level in order to place the objects in an auratic image field for viewers as well. Presented as a series composed in terms of colour and concept, the individual photographs refer to moments in a history marked by pain, stigma and trauma – the latter, incidentally, also contains the word aura. The photographic movement leads to a blurring of what is depicted and raises the question of how far memories of stages of liberation overlap with regard to the acceptance of same-sex practices, the AIDS crisis and the development of HIV control and prevention.
Kiesenhofer‘s photographic history begins with the confirmation of Franz X. Gugg‘s 1969 conviction for „the fornication against nature with persons of the same sex according to Section 129 Ib of the Criminal Law of 1852.“ A request for the re-awarding of his doctorate also refers to those social mechanisms that once led to the disempowerment of the subject and reveal specific aftereffects in a post-Nazi era. This made the emergence of safe spaces that contribute to community building all the more important. Such as the Club Wiener Freiheit (Viennese Freedom), which existed from 1989 to 2021 and whose lockers for valuables and facade sign appear in the photographs. Part of this archival history is a T-shirt bearing the slogan „SILENCE=DEATH,“ designed in 1986 by the Silence=Death Project in New York and subsequently adopted by the activist group ACT UP to raiseawareness for the AIDS pandemic and combat social stigma.
Parallel to the development of political activism and club life is the medical advancement of HIV research. This includes, among other things, the image of the pill that transformed HIV from a fatal disease into a chronically treatable disease – right up to PrEP as the ultimate preventative option.
With these objects from a history, Kiesenhofer refers to Walter Benjamin‘s definition of aura, which is associated with the concepts of “inaccessibility,” “authenticity,” and “uniqueness.” These concepts definitely apply to the objects selected by the artist, whose photographic depictions evoke numerous memories for all those who identify with queer history.
Text: Walter Seidl
Exhibition views: Mario Kiesenhofer. Aura, Qwien, Vienna, 2025
Aura
2025
16 pigment prints
Mounted and framed
Each 50 × 70 cm
Archival materials: Qwien, Vienna
Texts accompanying the photographs: Andreas Brunner
Vintage SILENCE=DEATH T-Shirt
The pink triangle is upside down. Homosexual men in Nazi concentration camps were forced to wear it with the tip pointing downwards. In the 1970s, the young gay rights movement used it as a sign of pride. It now sits like a thorn on the lettering SILENCE=DEATH. The New York action group ACT UP made it a symbol of protest against silence and ignorance in the AIDS crisis.
Designed by The Silence=Death Project (Avram Finkelstein, Jorge Socárras, Chris Lione, Charles Kreloff, Oliver Johnston, and Brian Howard) © 1987 The SILENCE=DEATH Project, used by permission of ACT UP, The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power.
Cage from the fetish club [lo:sch]
The cage from [lo:sch], the clubhouse of the gay leather and motorcycle club LMC Vienna, has served its purpose as an object of desire. Today, it stands in the archive as a relic of a place that many associate with exciting memories but also a sense of community. Because [lo:sch] was more than just a place for sex; it was a safe space where people could experiment and have new experiences.
Headrest from the Kaiserbründl Sauna
The wooden headrest from the Kaiserbründl sauna is rotten and fragile. Opened as the Central Baths in the 1880s, this elegant bathing establishment has always been a popular meeting place for men who desired men. The age of the headrest remains uncertain – who knows whether Luziwuzi, the homosexual brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I, might not have rested his head upon it.
Vintage LMC Vienna Tank-Top
Little noticed as an undershirt, gay men in particular discovered the tank top as an expression of masculinity and sex appeal. The shoulder and chest area, emphasized by the cut, became even more erotically charged. So it’s no surprise that LMC Vienna, as a fetish and motorcycle club, offered tank tops with its logo to its members and friends.
Roll with INFECTIOUS sticker
The yellow color alone suggests alarm, which is confirmed by the bold inscription: INFECTIOUS. The sticker was used to highlight the risk of infection posed by HIV-positive patients. What was intended as a protective measure for hospital staff, however, also led to the stigmatization of HIV-positive people and those with AIDS, a stigma that persists to this day.
Antiretroviral medication
As the HI-virus spread rapidly and no longer affected only marginalized groups, the pharmaceutical industry began searching for treatments. The first antiretroviral drugs had serious side effects. Kiesenhofer’s photograph draws an analogy: the clamp fixes the pill in place, just as science fixes the ephemeral. Photography and research share the momentum of capturing the moment in which knowledge is created.
Vintage T-shirt with a motif by Siegfried Anton Felder (front) and SAFE SEX lettering (back)
Two men crouch close together, pleasuring each other. Drawn in scrawling lines, the image on the T-shirt is difficult to recognize at first glance; at second glance, the obvious ecstasy of the figures, who also stick out their tongues lustfully at each other, may be irritating. This is especially true when you read the message on the back: SAFE SEX. The connection is clear: gay sex that should be safe—or rather, that must be safe to prevent infection with the potentially deadly HI-virus. The artist Siegfried Anton Felder died of AIDS at the age of just 29 in September 1989. The T-shirt was produced after his death at the initiative of AIDS activist Hannes Pähler, who also died of AIDS in early 1992. A T-shirt as a memento mori.
"Lesbo Boy" and "Transphobia kills!" Protest signs from the Türkis Rosa Lila Villa
Protest signs are always a reflection of their time, as these two from the Türkis Rosa Lila Villa collection demonstrate. They reflect political and social conditions and contexts. LESBO BOY and TRANSPHOBIA KILLS! refer to gender discourses of the 2010s and beyond. LESBO BOY tells of a playful, ironic and selfconfident approach to gender identity and attributions of sexual orientation. The second sign, on the other hand, refers to the violence to which trans*people were exposed when the sign was created around 2015. As an object, the protest sign is a historical artefact that was carried at a demonstration years ago. The slogan is contemporary and, in view of the political shift to the right and increasing transphobia, urgently relevant.
PrEP medication and empty PrEP medication container
A small blue pill enclosed in a steel ring, closing the gap. For some, it became a promise of sexual freedom; for others, it meant the removal of an emotional burden, because taking PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) prevents HIV infection through the preventive effect of the drug. The World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the end of AIDS by 2030, with PrEP, along with advances in treatment, long considered a beacon of hope. But the pill bottle is not full for everyone. Right-wing, conservative-reactionary politics, dominated by religious zealots of all denominations (whether in Russia, Muslim countries, or the USA), are increasingly anti-sexual and are cutting funding for comprehensive prevention, thereby jeopardizing public health goals.
Confirmation of the conviction of Franz Xaver Gugg and application for the reinstatement of Franz Xaver Gugg's doctoral title
Section 129 Ib of the Criminal Code of 1852 prosecuted sexual acts between persons of the same sex as ‘crimes of unnatural fornication’. The section was not repealed until 1971. Lawyer and gay rights activist Franz Xaver Gugg, after whom the HOSI (Homosexual Initiative) Wien bar is named, was sentenced to ten months of severe imprisonment in 1969 for a relationship with a 16-year-old lasting several months. The conviction also resulted in the revocation of his academic title, which meant not only social decline for the lawyer, but also the end of his professional existence. Five years after the conviction, in 1974, the university granted his request to have his doctorate reinstated, but he was still unable to work as a lawyer because the Bar Association refused to reinstate him until 1981.
Facade sign and lockers for valuables of the Wiener Freiheit
It all began in an apartment in the secont district, where Alexander and Franz opened the Wiener Freiheit (Viennese Freedom) in 1988. Located on the third floor of a residential building, the constant comings and goings on club nights did not appeal to everyone. A new home was sought and found in the gay district around the Naschmarkt. After a stopover, the couple and their team ended up at Schönbrunner Straße 25. A cosy, plush atmosphere on the ground floor and a disco in the basement provided a safe haven for queer people who were often denied entry elsewhere because they did not conform to ideas of chic or had a migrant background. Despite its openness, the Wiener Freiheit was also concerned with safety, and it was advisable to lock valuables in the lockers before venturing into darker areas.
Aura was on view from October 8 to November 2, 2025 at Qwien, Vienna’s Center for Queer Culture and History, and was curated by Andreas Brunner and Hannes Sulzenbacher.
As part of the exhibition program, the panel discussion Invisible Traces: Queer History, Trauma, and Photography took place on 30 October 2025. The panel addressed transgenerational trauma, archival practices, and artistic approaches to queer history, featuring Walter Seidl (curator, author, artistic director of SPARK Art Fair), Lara Lik (psychologist researching transgenerational trauma, Sigmund Freud Private University Vienna) and Mario Kiesenhofer (artist). It was moderated by Hannes Sulzenbacher.
The exhibition was part of Foto Wien 2025.
