Particolare

Client

CultTech

Year

2024

Location

Vienna, Austria

Project

Temporary Exhibition

Role

Naming, Branding, Photography art direction, Website design,
Exhibition design,
Install coordination

Particolare redefines current expectations of what an art fair is through the careful curation normally associated with a museum exhibition. This art salon without booths, presents a unique selection of artworks in dialogue with rich architectural surroundings. The final aim is to encourage new collecting pathways.

The first edition took place in September 2024, at Vienna’s Kursalon. The curatorial theme chosen for this edition was a bold exploration of the concepts of Time and Movement.

The evocative setting of Kursalon hints to the domestic opulence of an imaginary collector’s home while establishing creative dialogue with contemporary and tech-based art.

Our role in the project was to conceptualize its identity, and create a visual universe that communicates it. We did so through branding, website design, social media strategy, spatial concept and exhibition design.

“(...) the museum as we know it today will be very different in the coming years. We all feel it, but no one knows what this museum will be. The same feeling goes with all the exhibition formats and venues: art fairs, biennales, art center, galleries, collectors home, public spaces, etc. We know these things are going to radically evolve in the next few years. How? We don’t know but we can test new ways, build new paths, together with the artists.

Exhibition views.

Our exhibition design strategy was to produce sparks through the juxtaposition of bold, contemporary artworks, set against the pastel backdrop of Kursalon. Carrying out the overall theme of “distorting the classic”, we aimed to establish rich dialogues between existing architectural features and the works on display. 
 
Faced with the challenge of working within a historic building, our interventions needed to be light and freestanding. The square parquet patterns of the ballroom became a garden of sculpture plinths, the circular shape of a dome sang with Žilvinas Kempinas’ floating cassette tape ring. A palimpsest that speaks about the evolution of our visual culture, as well as the permanence of our taste for joy and beauty. 

Images: Baptiste Janin, Andrey Gordasevich & Rotondo.