Vienna, 18 April – The Calle Libre Street Art association, known for its artworks on façades in urban spaces, is surprising us with its latest initiative: the exhibition “Comm:unity – a female street art exhibition” brings street art to the renowned Galerie Hartinger. From 25 April 2024, the gallery will be presenting a diverse selection of works by six talented female artists from the street art scene.
For around ten years, more and more grey building facades in Austria’s capital have been enhanced by colourful works of art: Every year, the Calle Libre Festival invites street artists from all over the world to give different parts of the city a new, colourful coat of paint. Vienna thus becomes an open-air gallery – but the art form in the form of murals should not be missing from traditional galleries either. Together with Galerie Hartinger Calle Libre is opening its exhibition “Comm:unity – a female street art exhibition”. Six representatives of street art, both local and international, will be showing various works in the renowned gallery in the first district from 25 April.
Different cultures – one “Comm:unity”
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, representatives of street art form a community that extends across borders and cultures and usually operates with the same communication patterns. “Comm:unity” and the works on display reflect the global influences and rich diversity of the contemporary street art scene. Calle Libre and Galerie Hartinger invite you to experience the profound interaction between subculture and high culture from 25 April.
Female art – a male-dominated field
“Comm:unity” poses the question of the role of women in the art discourse. Works by Austrian artists Ms Isa and Linda Steiner, Ledania from Colombia, Indonesian artist Yessiow, Swoon from the USA and German artist Jumu, who in turn has Peruvian-Chilean roots, will be exhibited. These talented street artists are not only masters of their art, but also form their own community within the art world: they fight for equal rights and female representation in the mainly male-dominated arena. Their works are an expression of strength, courage and creativity and encourage us to look at art from a new perspective.
“As in so many areas, the role of women is often underrepresented in street art. Our exhibition is a tribute to the disruptive ‘community’ that questions the status quo and reflects social ruptures.”
so Anya Karmaeva, Projektmanagerin bei Calle Libre.
Emerged from a subculture – arrived in high culture
Modern street art has long since ceased to be found exclusively on the streets of urban areas: The art form that emerged from the North American graffiti subculture has long since found its way into the world’s galleries and has become mass-produced. Nevertheless, exhibition formats such as “Comm:unity” are still rare in Austria. The aim of “Comm:unity” is therefore to show how street art and high culture can merge, how the street becomes a canvas and art becomes a social discourse.
Calle Libre has also realised positions in established institutions such as the Weltmuseum or the mumok. Gerald Hartinger, founder of Galerie Hartinger, has long collected originals by street art greats such as Banksy alongside works by Andy Warhol and Keith Haring.
About Calle Libre
Since 2014, the Calle Libre festival has placed new artistic trends in the fields of urban art and street art at the centre of a public discussion. The interdisciplinary cultural project positions itself at the interface of visual art (street art, urban art, exhibition), time-related art practices (new media), interculturality (international participation, collaborative works), critical examination of the concept of public space (lectures, artist talks) and participation (workshops, art education). Now the largest street art festival in Central Europe, Calle Libre enjoys an international reputation as a platform for creative expression for artists from all over the world. In 2016, the festival was honoured with the prestigious Austrian Event Award in the Public/Social/Cultural category with gold.
About Galerie Hartinger
Galerie Gerald Hartinger has been presenting a remarkable collection of modern art for over 15 years, focussing primarily on works of American Pop Art. Starting with the most important representatives of this movement, such as Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein and many others, the collection has been expanded over the years to include exciting positions in urban art and now also includes outstanding works of street art, including original works by the icon Banksy. At two locations in Vienna’s first district, Gerald Hartinger and his team present both established and young, up-and-coming artists in regular exhibitions alongside selected works from the collection. The gallery’s field of tension is made up of collecting, trading, profound experience and communication for a great branch of art.
