Treasure
In his ongoing series Treasure (since 2023), Mario Kiesenhofer focuses on key figures of the queer rave and electronic music scene in Eastern Europe, where the club becomes an inclusive place of protest and the dance floor a stage for queerness in increasingly illiberal systems.
Bathed in colored flashlight, Mario Kiesenhofer's photographs reflect a party culture in which the techno scene of the 1990s is experiencing a revival, while simultaneously making a highly resistant and political claim. As light inscribes itself on the camera sensor, the artist is interested in what is inscribed in human identity. In Treasure, Kiesenhofer questions these social attributions. Tattoos, jewellery and colourful skin become markers of queerness, celebrating self-chosen identities. These gemstone-coloured portraits, all mounted in shiny chrome frames, represent communities that counter discriminatory narratives with a queer perspective.
Treasure
since 2023 (ongoing)
45 pigment prints
Mounted in chrome frames
Each 40 × 60 cm
"... Mario Kiesenhofer: Treasure amalgamates photography, video and text into a spatial installation. The artist has focused on the queer electronic music scene in Eastern Europe, with an emphasis on Warsaw. In recent years, this community has formed itself into the powerfully expressive platform of an active resistance movement that celebrates the concerns of the LGBTQIA+, which are not only justified in Eastern Europe but also important for all of us. Mario Kiesenhofer’s photographs are evidence of a party culture in which the techno scene of the 1990s is experiencing a revival, but which at the same time also makes a highly resistant and political claim. Like flashes of light that flare up again and again in the dark, intimate moments, he captures preparations for a drag performance, make-up, jewellery, tattoos and outfits, but also details that have almost poetic qualities, such as a still life of paper flowers, as well as architecture and lighting situations. Photographing them through blue, red, green and pink colour filters, Mario Kiesenhofer detaches spatial situations and interpersonal encounters from their original context and transfers them to the tresor. The club as an inclusive place and stage is moved to the exhibition space, which in turn is transformed into a queer treasure trove. Mario Kiesenhofer approaches the protagonists through his camera carefully and with respect. All produced in the same format and mounted in frames made of chrome, these images are restrained and at the same time incredibly cool and selfconfident portraits of DJs, people who run these clubs, performers and of course the audience. [...]
Excerpt from the exhibition text of the exhibition Mario Kiesenhofer: Treasure (tresor – Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien, 2023/24) by the curator Lisa Ortner-Kreil.
Exhibition views: Mario Kiesenhofer: Treasure, tresor – Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien, 2023/24
"... The titular work Treasure is installed as a text work on the main wall of the room. It is composed of lettering approximately three metres wide consisting of anodized aluminium letters connected by delicate chains as they are also popularly worn as accessories by the audience at raves, and whose typography is reminiscent of Gothic aesthetics on the one hand, but also of a revival of the currently omnipresent 90s on the other. What interests the artist most about the so-called “mall goth” trend [...] is the commercialization of underground culture. The very same phenomenon, Mario Kiesenhofer tells me, is currently happening to every form of “queerness”, which is being appropriated and instrumentalized in line with promoting consumer appeal. But the chain of links between the letters is also a sign of cohesion and solidarity within the queer community. ..."
Excerpt from the exhibition text of the exhibition Mario Kiesenhofer: Treasure (tresor – Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien, 2023/24) by the curator Lisa Ortner-Kreil.
Treasure, 2023, lettering made of anodized aluminum, chains, approx. 300 × 160 cm
The artist thanks:
Apo:lonia
Krzysztof Lubka
Lil Autotune
Michal
Gabriel
René
Zaim
Avtomat
Beata
Vladyslav
Livbertine
Mateusz
Joanna Oleksy
Jakub
Palina
Ilan
Ewa
Pont-Levis
Gael
Kasia
Olga
Anna Smoszyńska
Maksim
Danil Vitkovski
Volodymyr Yeremieiev
Oliwer
Mateusz
Aldona Relax
Jakub
DiV4
Terry Rivers
Vani Vachi
Veselka Kyiv
Michal
Dominik
Reflektra
Ciężki Brokat
K-Bar Powiśle
Queer Spaces Network
Queeriety
Fuchs2
Lisa Ortner-Kreil
Paul Mayer
Christian Zagler
Paweł Żukowski
Siggi Hofer
Sophia Hatwagner
Veronika Chambas-Wolf
Emilia Sheikhestani
Remo Cocco
Thomas Gallhuber
Download exhibition text and further information (PDF) – English
Download exhibition text and further information (PDF) – German
Exhibition views: Mario Kiesenhofer: Treasure, tresor – Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien, 2023/24