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.

Two adults pose in a doorway with ornate wallpaper; man in a suit and pink striped tie, woman in a dark dress with necklace and glasses.

Collector Stories Otto and Saskia Wiesenthal, Vienna

It has been twenty-five years since Otto Wiesenthal resigned from a managerial position to devote his time to the transformation of a house in Vienna’s seventh district built during the period of intensive industrial expansion at the end of the nineteenth century into the Hotel Altstadt Vienna, a key role in this decision, was the intention of installing his personal art collection. We met with Wiesenthal and his daughter Saskia, the hotel’s marketing and art manager and an art collector in her own right, in one of the suites of the “Altstadt” filled with design and art for a conversation about life with beautiful things and of that which is special about Vienna.

Culture Briefing

Where to meet art, culture and creativity

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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.

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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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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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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.

Nordic Notes

Collectors Agenda's view on the Nordic art scene

Older woman with glasses sits in a worn red armchair, hand on her cheek, legs drawn up, in a rustic room with wooden walls and a large window.

Marjatta Tapiola, Sysmä
Visiting Marjatta Tapiola, one of the main protagonists of Finnish Neo-Expressionism, in her mansion in Sysmä, a two-hour drive from Helsinki, takes you back in time. From her studio in a 400-year-old threshing house, far removed from the outside world, Marjatta creates her monumental paintings that recount life's cruelty and carnal indulgences and, more recently, increasingly take their inspiration from biblical themes.
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