For the exhibition The Color of Energy, curator Mirela Baciak employs color as a metaphor to narrate stories that reflect on energy flows: red in its different hues links heatwaves scorching major European cities to the color of blood; green is as much the color of grass as it is of money; black, being the color of the soil, also signifies oil and pollution, narrating darker stories of uninhabitability.

Altogether fifteen local and international artists participate in this two-chapter exhibition. Among them, Sophie Jung presents a new performance that tackles climate anxiety. Through a blend of sculptural and performative elements, she explores the profound grief and frustration tied to the climate crisis. Her performance challenges viewers to confront their own climate dread, using mythical and contemporary allegories to transform this anxiety into a call for collective action. Linda Lach’s (PL) interest lies in understanding how fragile or sensitive data is maintained and protected, drawing parallels to ecosystems and homeostasis. In her semi-transparent works that utilize aluminum in combination with resin, she features motifs such as stars, clouds, and drops—elements that challenge traditional anthropocentric views of technology and advocate for a more balanced perspective, while acknowledging technological systems’ inherent properties and limitations. Oleksiy Radynski (U presents his film Where Russia Ends (2024 an essayistic road movie that interrogates the overlooked histories of settler colonialism and environmental destruction in Russia-occupied indigenous lands. Shubigi Rao’s works from the series These Petrified Paths address the impoverished and dying landscapes resulting from settler colonialism, emphasizing how the extraction processes, particularly fossil fuel and rare metal extraction, necessitate the destruction of topsoil and fertility.

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VCT STATEMENT ENERGY:
The Color of Energy
Co-Produced with Salzburger Kunstverein

Curated by: Mirela Baciak

Curatorial Project Assistant: Erka Shalari

 

Chapter I: The Color of Energy: Sara Bezovšek, Judith Fegerl, Ursula Mayer, Veronika Hapchenko, Katrin Hornek, Sophie Jung, Linda Lach, Shubigi Rao, Guan Xiao, Liv Bugge | viennacontemporary, 12–15 September 2024

Chapter II: The Color of Energy: Bertille Bak, Edson Luli, Oleksiy Radynski, Agnes Scherer, Shubigi Rao, Emilija Škarnulytė, Ursula Mayer, Guan Xiao, Sophie Jung  | Salzburger Kunstverein, 21 September–24 November 2024

 

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With the kind support of ERSTE Foundation

Supported by Trampoline, Association in Support of the French Art Scene, Paris

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