Pablo Bronstein
A Celebration of the Historical Evolution of the Local (Graz, Austria) Architectural Polemic (2024)
Commissioned work
Pablo Bronstein, Coffee Urn in Honour of the Prospective NatWest Tower (2022), Acrylic and ink on paper, artist’s frame, 200 × 115 cm (unframed), 238 × 163.5 × 14 cm (framed), ©️ Pablo Bronstein, courtesy of the artist and Herald St, London
Dates
20.9.2024–16.2.2025
Details
Mixed-media installation
Location
Neue Galerie Graz, Graz
Part of
Horror Patriae: Exhibition
Production specifics
Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ’24
© Pablo Bronstein, courtesy of the artist; Herald St, London; and Galleria Franco Noero, Turin
With the kind support of the British Council
Project sponsor: legero united – the shoemakers | Initiator of con-tempus.eu
Central European towns such as Graz might look ancient, but many of their buildings date to the late 19th century, the heyday of historicism, when neoclassical and national revival styles vied for influence. Pablo Bronstein’s large-scale installation explores this tension, delving into the national and imperial imaginaries these styles embody while revealing their grotesque, fanciful possibilities.
Bronstein presents the model of an “endless building” celebrating the seeming eternity of the liberal fin de siècle—remarkably similar to our own neoliberal “end-times.” A plaster sculpture snakes around a series of psychedelic posters explaining the model. It depicts an elaborate cake design made on the occasion of the city’s imaginary new masterplan, mixing and mashing up elements such as cornices, rosettes, and columns.
The posters draw upon Alexander von Humboldt’s famous climatic schemes as well as designs by postwar architectural group Archigram. Bronstein thus also playfully responds to the neighboring Kunsthaus, designed by former Archigram members Peter Cook (born 1936) and Colin Fournier (born 1944).
Retrospective
Retrospective