Kurt Hentschlager

Kurt Hentschlager (also: Kurt Hentschläger, born in Linz, Austria in 1960) is a Chicago-based Austrian artist who creates audiovisual installations and performances. Between 1992 and 2003 he worked collaboratively within the artist duo Granular-Synthesis.

1982 – 2001

From 1982–85, Hentschlager studied at the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst (College of Applied Art) in Vienna under Peter Weibel. He began to exhibit his work in 1983, building surreal machine-objects and then video, computer animation and sound works.[1] In the beginning of his career, he also worked under the name Kurt Kitzler.

1991 – 2003: Granular-Synthesis

In 1991 in Vienna, he co-founded with German artist Ulf Langheinrich the duo GRANULAR-SYNTHESIS. Their name refers to the technique of "granular synthesis", they apply to both sound and image, creating a new audiovisual language.[2] In more than a decade the two media pioneers created monumental multimedia installations and performances such as MODELL 5 (1994), AREAL (1997), NOISEGATE (1998) or the latest POL (1998). Figurative or abstract, immersive and monumental, sometimes interactive, their works were conceived in a theatrical approach and marked a new step in the aesthetic of perception. They toured worldwide in the most prestigious spaces and festivals. Several compilations of GRANULAR-SYNTHESIS works have been released on DVDs and they received the first prize of the International Biennial in Nagoya in 1995 as well as stipendiums in Austria and the USA.[3]

Since 2003: Solo Projects

Hentschlager’s work is in between installation and performance, mostly audiovisual and immersive in nature. It focuses on the metaphor of the sublime and the human condition in the 21st century.

The nature of human perception, individual and collective consciousness and the forming of habits also via transformative technologies, are the subject matter he is conceptually orbiting. Hentschlager’s approach is interdisciplinary, creating installations, public artwork and live electronic performances. Over the course of his career he has worked using various media, early on moving from analogue into the digital realm.[4]

A recurring topic in his work is the human body, human expression and the human apparatus, especially the way that the brains process the outside world and of how human perception is colored by imagination, subjectivity and one's individual psychology.[5] In this regard, he follows research in psychology and neurology as much as he is immersed in contemporary art and culture.[6] Currently his work focuses on ideas about nature and artifice, from a post-utopian, post science fiction perspective. The dynamic process of civilization remains a major interest.

Exhibitions and Awards

Selected presentations include the Venice Biennial, the Venice Theater Biennial, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, PS1 New York, Creative Time, Inc. New York, Musée d'art contemporain de Montreal, MAK – Museum of Applied Arts Vienna, National Art, ZKM – Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, National Museum of China, Beijing, National Museum for Contemporary Art Seoul, ICC Tokyo, Arte Alameda Mexico City, MONA – Museum of Old and New Art, Hobart, Tasmania, Art Basel (Hong Kong, Basel, Miami Beach).[1][4]

Hentschlager is a recipient of numerous prizes and large scale commissions. He received, among others, the Quartz New Media Art Award in 2010, Paris, File Prix Lux, São Paulo, Austrian Federal State Grant for Media Art, Austria and Chicago Studio Grant, Austria. In 2012 he was commissioned, as part of the Cultural Program of the 2012 London Olympics/London Festival, to create CORE, a large-scale, symphonic installation.[7]

Hentschlager was an exhibiting artist at Eyebeam in 2005.[8]

He is currently a full-time Visiting Artist at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.[9]

References

  1. 1 2 Richard Castelli, MATTER-LIGHT 2 (exhibition catalogue), Borusan Holding, Istanbul 2011
  2. ↑ Christopher Philips "Machine Dreams" in Art America, November 1999
  3. ↑ ZKM | Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe: immersive works, GRANULAR SYNTHESIS, Kurt Hentschläger, Ulf Langheinrich (DVD with booklet), Hatje Cantz 2004, ISBN 3-7757-1351-4
  4. 1 2 G. Roger Denson (November 27, 2013): And Some See God: Getting to the CORE in the 3D and Immersive Art of Kurt Hentschlaeger, Huffpost
  5. ↑ Samia MAJID, La désorientation dans les installations de brouillard immersif. 2014
  6. ↑ Eleanor Larsen: Between Math and Mystery: Kurt Hentschläger’s Immersive Installations, F Newsmagazine, Chicago 2014
  7. ↑ BBC: Ironbridge Gorge commissions 2012 art, 2011
  8. ↑ "Kurt Hentschläger | eyebeam.org". eyebeam.org. Retrieved January 28, 2016.
  9. ↑ "SAIC - Kurt KH Hentschlager - School of the Art Institute of Chicago". Retrieved 5 May 2016.

External links

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