Weikendorf

2024
45 b/w images, each 30x40cm, framed
Wallpaper, 300x600cm


Funded by 
KOER Niederösterreich


Exhibition design
in collaboration with Fernando Gallegos

Research
with the support of  Robert Hanel and Gerardo Montes de Oca Valadez 


Exhibition views
Julia Gaisbacher
Julia Gaisbacher's photographs are a unique look at the village of Weikendorf. The artist, who focuses on architecture-related themes in her work, has explored the transformation of the town centre over the past decades.

Historical images from the Weikendorf archive, extensive conversations and extensive walks through the community form the starting point for how the various changes can be captured in snapshots. Gaisbacher's photographs for Weikendorf are a successful mixture of documentation and a particular artistic view, which, as framed moments, tell us a lot about temporality and change.

Please find images from the exhibition opening here





Im Zentrum

2023-ongoing

Funded by
Kunstraum Steiermark, scholarship by the Province of Styria (AT), 2023-2024
The Austrian Federal Chancellery (AT)


I grew up in the 1980s in the brutalist “Terrassenhaussiedlung” (terraced housing estate) in Graz planned by the architects Werkgruppe Graz. In the middle of the four estate blocks is "Das Zentrum", which is run on a voluntary basis by the estate's self-governing interest group (IG) and where I spent a lot of time in the library or at events. The idea of housing with its many communal areas influenced me as a child and helped shape my artistic interest in urban development and housing.

My new work Im Zentrum (working title) is part of a long-term project and deepens my artistic examination of the housing estate in Graz. I am interested in the question of how the (real) utopian architecture of the 1960s is used today and whether the architects' vision has been realized by the residents.
I will photographically juxtapose my family's personal stories with the changes to the site. The aim of the project is to create an artistic photographic work from current photos and private archive images that can be presented both in exhibitions and in book form.

As part of the long-term project, I am interested in the directions in which similar housing projects in other countries, such as Split 3 in Split, Croatia (started in 2021 with the title Of Trees and Cars) have developed due to the respective political situation. What are the ways of living and dealing with the buildings today under the different political conditions in the respective countries? Which generation of residents lives in the apartments today and what issues concern them?





A Sign of the Time (working title)

2024–2025

Commissioned by the Province of Styria as part of the revitalisation of Graz Castle, Graz (AT)


Patina, arisen by the wear and tear of time and also smaller, often inconspicuous details such as ornaments, cracks or traces of paint that indicate past renovations, are the focus of Julia Gaisbacher's photographic project "A Sign of the Time" about Graz Castle. The work examines the traces and signs of past eras that are still visible in the building today, thus opening a dialogue between the past and the present.
Julia Gaisbacher uses the properties of the medium of photography to capture the light that falls on the architectural structures, modelling spaces, surfaces and shapes. The interplay of light, material, and time not only creates documentary images of the architecture of Graz Castle but also creates visual compositions that invite the viewer to reflect on the effect of architecture across eras.

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