March 10 until May 5

Heidrun Holzfeind
«Never Neverland»

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Kunstraum Lakeside is proud to present the first solo show in Carinthia of the work of video artist Heidrun Holzfeind, a native of Kötschach-Mauthen, in the form of an adapted presentation of her three-part video project “Never Neverland.”

The Austrian artist’s works trace relationships between individual life stories and political realities. For “Never Neverland,” commissioned by the steirischer herbst festival, Holzfeind traces an arc from an artist community in the Californian desert to experimental lifestyles in Styria and Slovenia. In a 3-channel video installation, the exploratory film portrays people who have embarked on an alternative way of life remote from consumer society. The search for a more humane lifestyle becomes the springboard for reflecting on the meaning of creativity, spirituality and sustainability, and on the contrast between communalism and individualism. Holzfeind’s work can be understood as an artistic attempt to take up neglected social narratives and juxtapose them with the viewers’ own desires, expectations and feelings. She thus manages to generate a political moment that transcends the conventions of political art.

A film evening will be held in May with Heidrun Holzfeind and the art historian and curator Silvia Eiblmayr, during which another of the artist’s works, “EXPOSED” from 2005, will be shown and discussed. The protagonist in that film is suffering from a syndrome known as Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), which is caused or exacerbated by environmental pollutants. The film shows us the dancer’s vulnerability and susceptibility, but also her struggle for recognition of her medical condition and the support she needs.