SPARK ART FAIR VIENNA
Blalla W. Hallmann15.–17.03.2024
Booth H5Marx HalleKarl-Farkas-Gasse 191030 Vienna, Austria
Portfolio
Preview + Opening on Thursday, 14 March: 12–5 pm + 5–8 pmOpening hours on Friday and Saturday, 15 and 16 March: 11 am–7 pmOpening hours on Sunday, 17 March: 11 am–6 pm
"In his paintings, Hallmann creates an imaginative world theatre that comes close to and even surpasses the apocalyptic tableaux of Hieronymus Bosch in terms of cruelty. Hallmann's criticism of the present, in which he repeatedly saw the traces of the excesses of violence and destruction of the 20th century and understood them as a continuation of the inglorious history of mankind, which was riddled with terror, oppression, and wars, was so comprehensive that he succeeded in bringing together a huge cast of characters from various historical and mythological contexts." - Matthias Reichelt
In 1990, Blalla W. Hallmann dedicated his 31-work series of reverse glass paintings to the themes of religion, power/abuse of power, sexuality/sexual abuse, and fanatical nationalism.His depictions, based on folk art, utilise the seemingly harmless and trivial world of Disney characters and popular culture and place them behind glass - more precisely, behind window glass. Hallmann removed the windows during the demolition of a factory building in Düsseldorf at the end of the 1980s.
The creation of the 31 reverse glass paintings was documented. This documentation will be shown in full for the first time at the Spark - Art Fair Vienna. Our booth concept is based on the permanent presentation in the former studio of Blalla W. Hallmann (now: Blalla Museum/Blalla Haus) in Windsbach, Bavaria.
There, three scene-like works entitled Spielothek 1-3 are placed in front of some of the reverse glass paintings. This group of sculptures deals with obsessive sexuality and fanatical religiosity and thematically complements the reverse glass works. For our first participation in Spark - Art Fair Vienna, we are pleased to be able to show Spielothek 1-3 as well as part of Blalla W. Hallmann's series of reverse glass works that are not part of Albertina's collection.
