Sometimes the title of an exhibition says it all. The Beauty of Diversity provides an eclectic mix of works by the kind of artists you rarely find in older museum collections.
- Art from historically underrepresented groups
- e.g. women & people of colour
- Also includes famous names who challenged the status quo
- …like Basquiat & Sherman
- Runs Feb 16 – Aug 18, 2024
- See also:
- Albertina Modern overview
- Art exhibitions in Vienna
Not Old Masters
(Cecily Brown, Cherries and Pearls, 2020; ALBERTINA, Vienna – On Loan from the Dames Collection, Berlin © Cecily Brown. Courtesy of Paula Cooper Gallery, New York)
Inevitably, most museum art in western Europe has drawn on the work of white males and Europeans.
When an exhibition pointedly seeks to offer a more diverse range of artists, this is not to diminish the achievements of the past. Albrecht Dürer’s Young Hare is still Albrecht Dürer’s Young Hare.
Instead, more diverse approaches to collections and exhibitions are a chance to widen the wellspring of creativity, better represent the full spectrum of humanity, and avoid the biases of less enlightened times.
By tapping into underrepresented artistic realms, a diversity of sources of art inevitably means a diversity of art itself: more styles, techniques, media, motifs and perspectives to explore, consider and compare.
The Beauty of Diversity at the Albertina Modern aptly demonstrates the point.
(Gelitin (previously Gelatin), MONA LISA (2184), 2020; plasticine, paraffin, beeswax and pigments on wood; ALBERTINA, Wien – Familiensammlung Haselsteiner © Gelitin & Bildrecht, Wien 2024)
The exhibition draws on the richness of the in-house collection, giving attention to those artists who have stood outside what local museal society traditionally defined as the standard.
Women artists, artists of colour, indigenous artists, LGBTQIA+ artists, the marginalised, artists from beyond North America and Europe, and those who never sat in an art class all gather under a unifying spotlight.
By combining these different sources and perspectives, we benefit from a multilayered experience. Not through an explicit rejection of the past, but through a repositioning, remix and rejuvenation.
Of course, the benefits and validity of diversity have now become embedded in modern museum thinking, as evidenced by some of the names in The Beauty of Diversity.
For example, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Cindy Sherman, Maria Lassnig and VALIE EXPORT all have works featured and all had major exhibitions in Vienna in recent times.
(Amoako Boafo, Ivy Off Shoulder Dress, 2023, oil on canvas; ALBERTINA, Wien – Familiensammlung Haselsteiner © Bildrecht, Wien 2024; photo © Sandro E. E. Zanzinger)
A walk around the eclectic mix of paintings, puppet dioramas, sculptures, fabrics, installations etc. in the exhibition certainly emphasises the increase in diversity you can get by, well, increasing diversity.
On a personal front, I’ll never tire of seeing the Gelitin group’s plasticine Mona Lisas (yes, plural). Other works that made a notable impression on me:
- Grayson Perry’s monumental 2011 tapestry Maps of Truths and Beliefs: as much to explore as on any actual map
- Tal R’s radial 2005-2008 collage Adieu Interessant (Green): like an explosion of green in 2D
- Basil Kincaid’s The River: a huge dream landscape in colourful textile
- Iris Sageder’s 2023 BUDDHAMINDERS, N-O-W bronze sculpture: an orang-utan that already draws the eye from the preceding gallery
- Daniel Lezama’s paintings that prove the need for the premise of the exhibition: the style leads the biased European eye to expect white Europeans to feature. Spoiler: they don’t.
- Sungi Mlengeya’s black figures in white clothing on a white background.: remarkably impactful
Dates, tickets & tips
Discover a wider picture of human artistic endeavour from February 16th to August 18th, 2024. An entrance ticket from or for the Albertina Modern includes the exhibition.
A number of artists featured in The Beauty of Diversity can be found in special exhibitions elsewhere during 2024. For example:
- If you also enjoy Gelitin’s take on the Mona Lisa, then pop across to the MAK museum and their HARD/SOFT exhibition. Gelitin covers an entire wall with a collage of ceramic faces.
- The Albertina has a solo exhibition for Eva Beresin scheduled across the summer.
- The end of the year sees Amoako Boafo enjoy a solo exhibition at Lower Belvedere.
How to get to Diversity
A question society and politics continue to ponder. But in a travel sense, the Albertina Modern is central and well served by public transport options. See the main museum article for tips.
Address: Karlsplatz 5, 1010 Vienna