What if we could not see everything that was created? Or what if the artists hadn’t created everything that we want to see? This question is addressed by art sponsor Christian Zott’s exhibition “KAIROS. The Right Moment”, which runs from 4 to 21 September 2019 in the Bank Austria Kunstforum. Paintings by Wolfgang Beltracchi (born 1951), the master of artistic styles, and photographs by Mauro Fioresi (1970 – 2016), one of the most highly appraised photographers on the international scene, are juxtaposed to each other. Together they show the lacunae in our view of art.

With his award-winning series “Treasure Rooms”, the photographer Mauro Fiorese allows us to see into the archives and depots of major museums, where the major part of the art produced in the last millennia has been preserved. Only about ten percent of collections are on display in exhibitions, the rest stays in the archives or the depot. The Italian’s work makes us aware that we actually only have access to a small, selected part of our cultural heritage in forming our perception of art.

While Fiorese’s photographs spotlight the unseen works, Wolfgang Beltracchi throws light on art that never existed. He paints historically significant motifs in the modes of style-defining artists from 2,000 years of European art. From classical antiquity to Modernism, Roman fresco painters, or artists of the twentieth century; the voyage of HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin on board, Martin Luther struck by lightning, the murder of Rosa Luxemburg, and many other cataclysmic moments are encountered for the first time in the style of the masters of their age. Beltracchi’s paintings thus take us on a time trip through the history of art.

Christian Zott uses the latest options in art communication, such as an app with augmented reality function, making the exhibition a multifaceted experience.

The artists:

Wolfgang Beltracchi was born as Wolfgang Fischer in 1951, the son of a church painter. Already in his young years he assisted his father hands-on, immersed himself into the latter’s work and also delved deeply into books about art. Thus with playful ease he set up the basis for his profound understanding of art and his extraordinary skill as a craftsman, with which he was to baffle – and also hoodwink – the art world.

The works of the photographer Mauro Fiorese (1970–2016) brought him international acclaim. They were shown in such institutions the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in Paris, the Museum of Fine Art in Houston and the Museo die Fotografia Contemporanea in Milan. At the beginning of 2016, the World Economic Forum in Davos distinguished him with an award designating him one of the most socially engaged and important artists in the world.

 

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