Softshell Archipel
Artist
Curators
Date, Location
- 13 February 2026–10 April 2026 Salzburg, Austria (Fünfzigzwanzig)
Keywords
Sculptural Art
Text
Group exhibition with works by Sasha Auerbakh, Jason Bunton, Vasco Costa, Uladzimir Hramovich, Bögdana Kosmina, Wolfgang Obermair, Lesia Pcholka, and Ekaterina Shapiro-Obermair An anecdote about the coincidental convergence in the works of three artist friends stands at the beginning of the exhibition “Softshell Archipel”. The shared story can be read as the basis for a futuristic landscape, but also as a model for active collaboration between artists, who often experience growing isolation. This is only possible when similarities are not perceived as a threat to one's own originality, but rather as something new that emerges from the exchange. The exhibition is based on the visual idea of “plateaus” and “archipelagos” that connect with one another. The dense juxtaposition of artworks reveals not only proximity, but also differences. The selection of participants reaches into intra-European conflict zones. Geopolitics, memory culture, migration, history, and cultural archaeology form central levels of reflection. The works address both formal questions and social relationship structures, attempting to escape the dilemma of national attributions. The exhibition was curated by the Viennese artist-run space hoast. Wolfgang Obermair suspends oversized objects just below the ceiling: a car tire, arrowhead, a severed foot—archetypes referencing elements of the exhibition, which he first shaped as clay miniatures before digitally enlarging them. Attached to Tyvek balloons, they form an ironically fractured assemblage: heterogeneous elements torn from their original functional contexts, now constituting a fragmented historical panorama. The work points to Obermair's method of thinking aesthetic and technical innovation together.
Opening
2026-02-12
Activity List
-
- Universität für Angewandte Kunst Wien
- Shapiro-Obermair, Ekaterina
- Jason Bunton
- Vasco Costa
- Bögdana Kosmina
- Sasha Auerbakh
- Uladzimir Hramovich
- Lesia Pcholka
Location
Address
- Salzburg, Austria
- Salzburg
- Austria
Associated Media Files
Image#1- Image#2
- Image#3
