CALIFORNIA feeling

wonderfully puzzling "Food Party Shorts" by American artist Thu Tran

... after reading about the (relatively new) artspace LUST GALLERY in Vienna's 2nd district and the apparently rather colourful exhibition DEATH BY CANDY it presently houses, I thought I might just as well include the gallery that was set up by New Yorker Max Lust in 2010 on my Saturday afternoon wanderings. And I sure was glad to do so because the exhibition turned out to be a really nice piece of art candy. Shapes, nuances and patterns galore, indeed indeed. Even though I may find it a little hard to understand how someone from New York can decide to move to Vienna permanently (but isn't it nice that some mysteries should remain unsolved for each and every one of us...), I was, overwhelmed would probably be too strong a word, seriously impressed by this array of witty pieces that altogether conveyed a West Coast feeling (Alex Katz? ... not really; it was Max Lust's pieces that positively remindend me of the ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING interior design of the Beverly Hills home from which Bette Midler was abducted when she played the part of MRS STONE in the marvellous comedy RUTHLESS PEOPLE, do you remember that one?) - since I plan to go to California this summer, that definitely was a nice appetizer in a way ...

Max Lust would like to operate his gallery in New York and Vienna at the same time;
a good idea, and definitely one that the Austrian cultural community would like
(from "Food Shorts" by Thu Tran)

... je voulais profiter du beau temps qu'il faisait (on ne va pas commencer à parler des pollen qui s'étaient évidemment envolés ce weekend) samedi pour me promener un peu ; c'était dans le deuxième arrondissement de Vienne que j'ai visité la galerie fondée par le new-yorkais MAX LUST l'automne dernier. Un espace d'art très sympa, je dois dire, qui confirme le statut de LEOPOLDSTADT quelque part où il pourrait côtoyer celui de Belleville à Paris (enfin bon, on ne va pas exagérer tout de même, Vienne restant Vienne). L'exposition "Death by Candy" qu'on peut y voir (jusqu'au deux avril) présente une sélection de travaux très COULEURS-FLASH, très nuancés, très fun. Et pourquoi pas, c'est assez amusant, très amusant même, avec une pincée de CÔTE OUEST là-dedans, qui m'a fait penser au salon du couple Barbara et Sam Stone (interprétés par Danny DeVito et Bette Midler) dans l'incomparable film Y A-T-IL QUELQU'UN POUR TUER MA FEMME ? dont vous vous souviendrez sûrement et qui a, pour moi, forgé une imagé de la CALIFORNIE que je vais finalement pouvoir mettre à l'épreuve cet été ...

drawings by Thu Tran are also part of "Death by Candy"

... siccome faceva bel tempo questo weekend e volevo assolutamente approfittarne, mi sono reso nel secondo distritto di Vienna per esplorare lo spazio d'arte LUST GALLERY che fu aperto l'autunno scorso dal new-yorkese Max Lust. Sebbene mi rimanga completamente incomprensibile il perchè di questo passo, cioè perchè una persona potrebbe volontariamente cambiare New York per Vienna, mi è piaciuto molto la sua galleria, e trovo che la mostra DEATH BY CANDY que vi rimane aperta fino al 2 aprile, rappresenta una selezione di lavori assolutamente convincenti, divertenti, piacevoli. L'approccio di far venire degli artisti statunitensi e di esporli fianco a fianco con giovani austriaci è uno molto simpatico. E l'insieme della mostra, COLORATA, VARIOPINTA, SFACETTATA, mi ricordava un po' l'interiore della casa del matrimonio Stone (interpretato da Danny DeVito e Bette Midler) nell'ilarissimo film PER FAVORE, AMMAZZATEMI MIA MOGLIE del 1986. Assai californiano, insomma. E siccome vi andrò, probabilmente, la prossima estate, è anche stata una bella anticipazione ...

"Prom Night" by Max Lust himself, the artist turned gallerist - soooo Beverly Hills, don't you agree?

an installation by Kay Walkowiak; not too sure about this one, even though I find it entertaining, in a way

an in situ installation for the entrance areay created by Marlene Hausegger

a graphic work by Bernhard Fuchs and Malin Schoenberg (if I understood correctly) - each and every piece they created for the exhibition I'd immediately buy off the wall ...

more by Fuchs & Schoenberg, the beautiful thing was to see so many of their pieces alongside each other

I think I'm a fan of Fuchs & Schoenberg ...