Robert Zahornicky

Robert Zahornicky (* 1952 in Vienna ) is an Austrian artist who prefers to work in the field of photography and lives in Pressbaum.

Live and act

One of the first works was a photographic documentation of the performance festival in Vienna in 1978. The first black and white series began in the early 80s, documenting actions photographically ( “Carnuntum - Carnac”, 1982, “The Last Journey of Venus von Willendorf”, 1984) or asking questions about perception ( “Missing”, 1984) as well Documentary works ( "Trees without Shades", 1985 and "In the Dark of the Night Light", 1986/87). Between 1985 and 1987 Zahornicky regularly visited the Haus der Künstler in Gugging, where idiosyncratic portraits of Gugging artists were created. 1982 to 1986 Polaroid works ("Puzzle") on the subject of clothing and role play.

From the mid-1990s, artistic reflections on nature, which culminated in his series “Wilderness” , which he created until 2005 , which was resumed as “Bonsai wilderness” from 2013 onwards. In 1992 and 1993 "terraforming", in 1996 the beginnings of films became "horizons" and from 2001 pinhole camera work. In between working with photograms (also Polaroid) and dealing with libraries, telephone books and their deconstruction “Shredder” (2000–2005), but also “Double Vision” (2009–2011), where two images coincidentally meet in transmitted light and have a new meaning surrender. The most recent series were “Lichtungen” (2010–2012) and “Himmel” (2012–2016).

From 1993 to 2008 numerous acoustic works ( “Alitheia” and “11 Heads Of Error” 1993, “Die Welt von Morgen” 1995, “26” and “Future Snack” 2000, “Blind Photography” 2002 and “Take the 'A '-Train “ 2008) for the Ö 1-Kunstradio.

Awards and grants

• Gold Medal of Honor for Services to the State of Lower Austria (2017)
• Recognition (2004) and appreciation award (2014) for media art - photography from the state of Lower Austria
• Paris- (2004), New York- (200/2001), London- (1996) and Rome grant (1991) from the Federal Chancellery, Art Section, State grant for artistic photography (1994)

Exhibitions

• Current

• Galerie Johannes Faber , Künstlerhaus , Photo Gallery Vienna , Leopold Museum , Austrian National Library, all Vienna, Würth-Art Room, Museum Niederösterreich / NÖ Landesmuseum, St. Pölten, Museum der Moderne Salzburg / MdM Mönchsberg and Fotohof Salzburg, Museum of Contemporary Art Stift Admont , Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut, Viennafair, Art Basel, Art Cologne.

literature

• Robert Zahornicky: Art This Way. Steinverlag, Hartwig Knack, 2017
• Robert Zahornicky: Traces | Traces. Publishers of the Munich Secession, 2012
• Photo gallery Vienna: Work show 17th Robert Zahornicky, Vienna 2012
• Nö-ART, Lower Austria Ges. Für Kunst und Kultur: In the dark of the night light. 2012
• Robert Zahornicky: Wilderness - Wilderness. Johannes Faber Gallery, Vienna, 2002
• Blue-Yellow Gallery: Autopoiesis. Cat. Lower Austria State Museum, new series 285/1991
• Berthold Ecker, Brigitte Borchardt-Birbaumer, Culture Department of the City of Vienna: The 1980s. De Gruyter, Vienna 2015
• Agnes Husslein-Arco, Brigitte Borchhardt-Birbaumer, Harald Krejci: The night in twilight. Prestel-Verlag Vienna-Munich, 2012
• Fritz Simak, Andra Spallart: Magic of the Object. Christian Brandstätter Verlag, Vienna 2011, p. 54
• Peter Weiermair: Books, books, nothing but books. Ursula Blickle Foundation 2009
• Stella Rollig: Journey to the Sources. museum in progress 1993
• Margit Zuckriegl: Austrian photography after 1945. Catalog Rupertinum
• Hildegund Amanshauser, Dieter Ronte, Dieter Schrage: 1984, Orwell and the present.