RETRO SPECT
"The thread is not lost"
June 27 to August 27, 2000
Works by Oliver Strametz, Irene Trawöger, Herwig Zens.
In the Theseus temple
Volksgarten
A-1010 Vienna
RETRO SPECT has nothing to do with the formerly so popular "Look Back in Wrath. RETRO SPECT is dealing rather with the formal, aesthetical and historical phenomena revolving around the group of figures by Antonio Canova.
At the beginning of the 19th century a housing was created for the monumental group by the contemporary "superstar of sculpture the well known Theseus temple. The fact that there is only half of the original project visible today is not so well known. The first concept included a continuation in a subterranean section that would be used for the presentation of additional classical sculptures. These subterranean rooms still exist, however, they are not open to the public.
When the centre-piece of the ensemble, the Theseus group, was moved to the staircase of the Art Historical Museum, where it is up to this day placed dominantly almost frighteningly, only the shell of the work of art remained.
RETRO SPECT is the attempt to revive the shell of the emptied Theseus temple with the spirit of the formerly installed group by the means of a variety of media (sculpture, sound, painting, graphics).
Herwig Zens
Irene Trawöger
Oliver Strametz