In the Studio James Lewis, Vienna

James Lewis works with the things that remain when certainty disappears — data, photographs, scent, fragments of memory. Born in London, based in Vienna, he builds installations that ask how we construct knowledge, turning a statistic into a sculpture, a memory into a scent.

In the Studio Cecilia Vicuña, New York

Cecilia Vicuña’s practice moves fluidly between poetry, sculpture, textile, and performance, always returning to what she calls arte precario: an art built from debris, unspun wool, feathers, and stone that she has been making since 1966. Rooted in Indigenous Andean knowledge systems, and above all in the khipu—the knotted cord long dismissed as a mere accounting device—her work reframes precariousness and fragility as forms of consciousness rather than loss.

Person with long wavy hair sits on a stool in a gallery, looking at the camera, wearing a navy jacket; left wall covered in blue Life posters.

In the Studio Robin Kid, Rambouillet, France

Robin Kid works with images that feel less made than encountered. Cowboys, cops, fragments of cartoon Americana: images that existed long before he picked them up, suspended somewhere between memory and mass culture. Raised in the south of the Netherlands by his grandparents, in a former mining neighbourhood bordering an American army base, he grew up with the idea of the U.S. glowing faintly from the other side of the fence.

Adult person in a navy suit sits at a table, hands clasped, speaking, in a room with built-in white bookshelves, a black fireplace, and red chairs

Collector Stories Robert Punkenhofer, Barcelona/Vienna

For more than 20 years, Robert Punkenhofer has been involved in international corporate and art management. His agency Art & Idea considers itself a nexus between art, architecture, design, and economics. He has curated more than 100 exhibitions, among them the annual Vienna Art Week. He has served as Trade Commissioner for the Austrian Foreign Trade Organisation in Mexico City, New York, and Berlin, a role that he currently holds in Barcelona. We spoke with the unusual collector about art, his ability to repeatedly create things from nothing, and about his passion for Vienna’s brilliant k. and k. period.

Culture Briefing

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Iranian-born artist Soli Kiani creates a body of work in which fabric becomes both a formative substance and a carrier of social meaning. Themes such as origin, physicality, and negotiating patriarchal structures are combined in her work with a distinctive, sculptural language. For the Dominikanerkirche Krems, she has conceived a spatial installation in which textile materials serve as the central artistic medium.

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For the 22nd time, VIENNA ART WEEK puts Vienna’s vibrant art scene in the spotlight. Under this year’s theme, “Navigating Angst,” the festival explores the fears and uncertainties of our time. Together with around 70 programme partners, the festival offers a full week of inspiring art – from contemporary to Baroque – with free admission.

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Swab Barcelona will celebrate its 19th edition from October 8 to 11 at the Victoria Eugenia Palace (located at the Fira Barcelona-Montjuic site, in the city of Barcelona, Spain) in a space of more than 3,150 m2 that will use reusable elements such as wood to minimize the event's ecological footprint and reduce waste. Under the metaphor of the eclipse as a change of perspective, the international independent art platform, which will feature more than 180 artists from 22 different countries, debuts the OFF-SITE program and commits to decentralizing artistic practice and strengthening community ties. This will respond to the need to rethink exhibition and market structures in the face of the current climate and socio-political crisis.

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ART COLOGNE is the world's oldest and one of the most important fairs for modern and contemporary art. Every year, renowned galleries, artists, collectors and art lovers meet in Cologne to discover high-calibre paintings, sculptures, photographs, installations and digital artworks. As an international art fair, ART COLOGNE sets standards in the art market and offers a unique platform for dialogue between artists and investors. Visit ART COLOGNE and experience high-quality works of art, exciting special exhibitions and exclusive vernissages in an inspiring atmosphere.

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With Elisabeth von Samsonow, the Heidi Horten Collection is dedicating a major solo exhibition to an artistic and philosophical perspective that transcends narrow disciplinary boundaries. This is the first time that Elisabeth von Samsonow’s multifaceted body of work has been presented on this scale, showcasing its artistic breadth and intellectual depth.

Nordic Notes

Adult male with round glasses sits in a fluffy chair, gesturing with hands in a cluttered art studio with red prints on the walls and wooden crates.

Heikki Marila, Turku
Heikki Marila’s works are endowed with an extreme physicality that often conveys an exaggerated sense of drama and often irony. Sumptuous layers of paint conceal powerful social messages and sentiments.
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