Occupying Space: Generali Foundation Collection

Some art is dismissed as "difficult"--difficult because of the media it employs, but even more so because of the sociopolitical themes it addresses. This art is often conceptual or performative, works cross-disciplinarily with architecture and design, and critically examines social parameters and the role of the media. Its media is naturally mixed, spanning and going beyond photography, film, video, and installation, all of which allow for process-oriented engagement. The Generali Foundation in Vienna has devoted much of its collection, exhibition energy, and research focus to this "difficult" type of artwork. Though many of the artists that form its collection are part of the canon of recent art history, they are mostly underrepresented in institutions--but not the Generali Foundation. Occupying Space presents a dense, comprehensive selection of projects from its collection by such artists as Valie Export, Andrea Fraser, Isa Genzken, Dan Graham, Hans Haacke, Hans Hollein, Mary Kelly, Gordon Matta-Clark, Adrian Piper, Martha Rosler, Allan Sekula, Peter Weibel and Franz West, together with brief, articulate texts on their work.