viennacontemporary 2024 Positions the Austrian Capital among Europe’s Top Emerging Art Destinations

If contemporary art isn’t the first thing that springs to mind for you when thinking about Vienna, you’re not alone. Host to Old Master paintings, storied opera houses, lavish architecture, and ample fine dining institutions, the Austrian capital is often more associated with Baroque than the bleeding edge. Yet the 10th edition of viennacontemporary makes clear that the city is making a serious claim as a European capital of contemporary art, too.

Vienna is home to more project spaces than any other city in Europe, as well as a growing crop of emerging galleries, and world-class institutions and art schools. Plus, next year it is slated to host 15 art fairs, marking a new record for the city. It is this context that viennacontemporary’s new artistic director Francesca Gavin—one of Europe’s leading curators who has overseen projects for organizations from Soho House to Manifesta—was keen to expound on when she spoke with Artsy on the fair’s VIP day.

“I feel a fair can be a catalyst for changing the perception of a city,” she said. “I am truly passionate about the art coming out of this region. I think it’s fresh. I think it’s skillful. I’m seeing new artists that I’m really excited by.”

And thanks to a sharply selected crop of galleries and a strong emphasis on emerging art, the fair is well on its way to achieving this lofty aim. This year’s edition features more than 100 galleries from 22 countries, with a focus on “the emerging scenes of Central and Eastern Europe.” The only mega-gallery at the fair is Salzburg’s very own Thaddaeus Ropac; there are no galleries from the U.K. and just one from the U.S.—New York’s ASHES/ASHES. This makes for an art fair that is more tightly focused than most of its peers, and where “discovery” is more than just a buzzword.

As a result, viennacontemporary stands out amid a busy season for the art market—quite a feat as it is sandwiched between last week’s editions of The Armory Show and Frieze Seoul and the major October art fairs, Frieze London and Art Basel Paris. Gavin is sensitive to this, and her intention is to carve out a unique place in the crowded calendar. “I would like to create a regional fair that isn’t trying to compete with the big boys, but that is a really strong space for discovery of new aesthetics, of different names, of something fresh,” she said.

This freshness is demonstrated most bluntly in the price points for works at the fair. While some works climb as high as the mid-six-figures, there are plenty of accessible prices—as low as €300 ($331)—particularly for works by emerging artists that will be pleasant surprises to even the most informed collectors.

This year’s fair is split into four parts. Along with the main section, there is Zone 1, curated by Bruno Mokross, which focuses on young artists with a strong connection to Austria; and the Emerging section, which features galleries that have been in business for seven years or fewer.

The fourth section, new this year, is Context, curated by Pernilla Holmes, which gives recognition to overlooked artists from the late 20th century—a signature of Gavin’s curatorial career. Six of the nine artists whose works are on view are women. One standout booth features the works of Vlasta Delimar, a Croatian performance artist renowned for her provocative and boundary-pushing works from the 1980s.

Four decades of video, photographic, and mixed-media works by the artist are on view at Galerie Michaela Stock’s booth, where the artist also performed at the fair’s vernissage last night; prices for works at the booth range from €400 ($442) to €15,000 ($16,554).“I was very happy when I was invited for this section,” said founder Michaela Stock, who opened her Vienna gallery in 2007 and described the current energy in the city as “vibrating.”

But while the city itself was being talked up, the energy during the opening hours of the fair’s rainy VIP day was rather calm, with less of an opening hour rush that more seasoned art fair attendees might be accustomed to. Several of the dealers Artsy spoke with at the fair did not seem concerned, however, with many expressing confidence that transactions will take place across the upcoming weekend. And by 4 p.m., the trickle of visitors had turned into a stream, with a noticeably younger crowd in attendance compared to other similarly sized fairs.

“You have a lot of collectors from Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, and Belgium coming to Vienna for this weekend,” said Andrei Jecza, co-founder of Jecza Gallery, based in Timișoara, Romania. “In my experience, over the years, we have mostly sold to German, Swiss, and Austrian collectors, which is quite a good collector group.” The gallery is showing a dual-artist presentation of geometric abstraction, contrasting the soft pastel works of Austrian ultra-contemporary artist Anita Schmid with the more rigid works of late Romanian constructivist painter Molnár Zoltán. Works by the former are priced in the range of €2,800–€6,500 ($3,090–$7,174), and €3,000–€22,000 ($3,311–$24,280) for the latter.

Jecza’s sentiment was echoed by first-time exhibitor Anton Janizewski, who noted that the collector base at the fair was aligned with his Berlin gallery’s program of local artists. “It’s a really practical reason,” he said of his motivation to take part in viennacontemporary. “I think it’s a great fair, with an interesting new director, and Vienna is a great city.” The booth, which features works priced from €3,000–€25,000 ($3,310–$27,591), is anchored by a formidable, 7.8-foot black urinal sculpture by Emma Adler that playfully skewers the conspiracy theories of white male protagonists.

Other galleries spoke of the city’s historical connection and geographic proximity to Eastern Europe, which is reflected across the fair. “In the beginning, when the fair started with a focus on Eastern European galleries, it was a great opportunity for us,” said Laura Rukute of Galerija VARTAI, which is based in Vilnius, Lithuania. “The gallery has been participating in this fair since its inception, and today, with a wide network, viennacontemporary continues to be a significant platform within Vienna’s vibrant art scene. It remains essential for galleries to connect with a broader international audience and to network with each other.”

The gallery’s booth features work by a trio of Lithuanian women artists in their thirties: Donata Minderytė, Monika Radžiūnaitė, and Neringa Vasiliauskaitė. Exploring themes of identity, translation, and memory, there are several eye-catching works, including a close-up portrait of an open mouth by Minderytė. Prices here range from €700–€10,000 ($726–$11,037).

But the buoyant mood of the Viennese galleries was the most overwhelming impression of the fair’s VIP day. Many pointed to the fair’s evolution as a sign of a thriving local art ecosystem. “Vienna is very vivid; it’s a very interesting young art scene, very interesting young artists, and also galleries,” said Thomas Krinzinger of Vienna stalwart Galerie Krinzinger. Founded in 1971 and a participant in viennacontemporary’s first edition, the gallery is in a better position than most to observe the changes in the city’s art scene.

One of Vienna’s most exciting younger galleries is Kandlhofer, which opened in 2016 and has quickly become a local tastemaker. Its booth offers a thoughtful selection of works by women artists Nadia Ayari, Frauke Dannert, and Acaye Kerunen. A highlight is the work of Kerunen, who was the first artist to represent Uganda at the Venice Biennale in 2022. Her sculptural works incorporate materials such as banana fiber, raffia, reeds, and palm leaves, interrogating the impact of climate change. The booth’s works are priced at €5,000–€25,000 ($5,518–$27,591).

“I started moving back to Vienna 16 or 17, years ago, and there were hardly any emerging galleries or project spaces, and now we have so many,” gallery founder Lisa Kandlhofer told Artsy. “There are a lot of galleries who are moving to Vienna; it has this feeling of being a vibrant new place.” This is illustrated further by the gallery’s participation in CuratedBy, a month-long “gallery festival” that opens tonight with a buzzy, party-like atmosphere. Some 24 spaces across the city have invited international curators to put together shows based on the theme of “Untold Narratives.”