Fernheilung: The 1980s and Early 1990s Through a Distorted Lens

An exhibition by Collection and Archive at the University of Applied Arts Vienna

Starting in fall 2025, the University of Applied Arts Vienna will celebrate the 45th anniversary of its art collection, which was founded in 1980 as part of the university archives, with events, guided tours, and an exhibition at the University Gallery of the Angewandte, located at Heiligenkreuzerhof. With Fernheilung (Distant Healing), the Angewandte looks back at the artistic scene in Vienna during the decade in which its collection was founded in 1980 by Oswald Oberhuber, the rector at the time: Works from the university's environment at the time, documents and selected loans are used to create a parcours that highlights important events in the art world, exhibitions, artistic movements and discourses of the time in their context.

Practices of numerous teachers and students are situated in the context of the exhibition scene in Vienna as well as in the international trends of the time. The exhibition addresses developments such as the canonisation of early Viennese Modernism and the late confrontation with the Nazi past, as well as the internationalisation of the art field in the context of the University of Applied Arts. On display are works from the Angewandte's art collection and archive, including pieces by Ernst Caramelle, VALIE EXPORT, Franz Graf, Birgit Jürgenssen, Gerda Lampalzer, Dorit Margreiter, Brigitte Kowanz, Friedl Kubelka-Bondy, Maria Lassnig, Bruce Nauman, Albert Oehlen, Franz West, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Gabriele Senn, Rini Tandon and Heimo Zobernig, as well as numerous loans.

Curated by Robert Müller in dialogue with Helmut Draxler
Overall management: Cosima Rainer
Curatorial Assistance: Judith Burger, Laura Egger-Karlegger, Manon Fougère
Exhibition design: Robert Müller
Team University Gallery: Marei Buhmann, Anette Freudenberger (Leitung)
Text contributions: Laura Egger-Karlegger, Manon Fougère, Robert Müller, Samira Plunger

Exhibition opening: October 15, 2025, 6 p.m.
Duration: October 16, 2025–January 31, 2026
Curator's tour with Robert Müller in dialouge with Helmut Draxler
Thursday, 16 October 2025, 6 p.m.
Friday, 21 November 2025, 4 p.m.
Saturday, 13 December 2025, 2 p.m.
Monday, 12 January 2026, 6 p.m.
Discussion Exhibiting the 80s with Helmut Draxler, Hedwig Saxenhuber, Jakob Schillinger and Eva Maria Stadler Moderation: Robert Müller
Friday, 9 January 2026, 6 p.m.
Guided tour with Arianne Mueller and Robert Müller,
Saturday, 10 January 2026, 5 p.m.
Talk Noise of the 80s with Edek Bartz
Thursday, 22 January 2026, 6 p.m.
Opening hours: Wednesday–Saturday, 2 p.m.–6 p.m. (closed on public holiday)

Location
Angewandte University Gallery Heiligenkreuzerhof
Schönlaterngasse 5 / Grashofgasse 3, Staircase 8, 1st floor, 1010 Vienna

With works by: Fareed Armaly, Georg Baselitz, Martin Beck, Tina Bepperling, Linda Bilda, Ecke Bonk, Herbert Brandl, Günter Brus, Ernst Caramelle, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Clegg & Guttmann, Douglas Crimp, Hermann Czech, DIE DAMEN, Heinrich Dunst, Martin Ebner, Alfons Egger, Cerith Wyn Evans, VALIE EXPORT, Mariano Fortuny, Andrea Fraser, Peter Friedl, Rainer Ganahl, Markus Geiger, Franz Graf, Helmuth Gsöllpointner, Richard Hoeck, Josef Hoffmann, Hans Hollein, IntAkt, Margarete Jahrmann, Birgit Jürgenssen, Johanna Kandl, Martin Kippenberger, Klub Zwei, Jutta Koether, Peter Kogler, Willi Kopf, Elena Koptschalijski, Josef Kostial, Brigitte Kowanz, Michael Krebber, Elke Silvia Krystufek, Friedl Kubelka-Bondy, Ruth Labak, Gerda Lampalzer, Helmut Lang, Maria Lassnig, Bernhard Leitner, Sherrie Levine, Louise Lawler, Dorit Margreiter, Helmut Mark, Paul McCarthy, Alois Mosbacher, Ariane Mueller, Christian Philipp Müller, Bruce Nauman, Arnold Nechansky, Oswald Oberhuber, Albert Oehlen, Victor Josef Papanek, Pas Paravant, Heinrich Pichler, Mathias Poledna, Cora Pongracz, Eva Presenhuber, Ursula Pürrer, REM, Eugenia Rochas, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Ulrike Rosenbach, Constanze Ruhm, Ashley Hans Scheirl, ManfreDu Schu, Gabriele Senn, Peter Sickert, Gustav Siegel, Rini Tandon, Octavian Trauttmansdorff, Franz Vana, Arye Wachsmuth, Martin Walde, Peter Weibel, Hans Weigand, Lois Weinberger, Franz West, Ingrid Wiener, Zelko Wiener, Eduard Josef Wimmer-Wisgrill, Erwin Wurm, Robert Adrian X, Heimo Zobernig

Supplementary documentation material and photographs from the holdings of the Art Collection and Archive, including: Das ästhetische Feld: Vorträge zu Praxisformen in der Kunst, Hochschule für angewandte Kunst in Wien (1992), Symposium mit Beiträgen von Colin de Land, Peter Fend, Andrea Fraser, Renée Green, Jeff Koons, John Miller, Christian Phillip Müller, Raymond Pettibon, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Jessica Stockholder, Peter Weibel

Exhibition

Duration

16. October 2025 - 31. January 2026