Thomas Hörl
Ahnengalerie (Ancestral Gallery, 2024)
Courtesy of the artist; © Bildrecht, Vienna 2024
In his new installation, Thomas Hörl created a portrait gallery of Perchten—mythical figures of Alpine folklore—turning the Joanneum’s vestibule into a theater of superstition. Like many Austrian artists, Hörl grew up with these masked, costumed characters. His attitude toward them is ambivalent and playful: they represent sources of fear—imposed on children by parents and other figures of authority—but at the same time they act as role models for gender fluidity and liberation from oppressive church norms.
Hörl’s protagonist is Frau Perchta, usually depicted as a scary old woman who appears in midwinter to check if children have behaved well. If not, she (in some versions) slits their bellies and fills them with straw. Frau Perchta’s flamboyant entourage of Perchten have no clear gender and can be either good and beautiful (Schönperchten) or evil and ugly (Schiechperchten).
It is worth noting that in the Third Reich, this carnivalesque pagan tradition was strongly promoted by Nazi folklorists as an expression of Germanness.
Thomas Hörl (1975, Hallein, Austria) is an artist who works individually and in collaborations with regional myths and narratives, transforming aspects of these traditions—such as disguises, masks, and processions—in various ways. His practice encompasses film, performance, video, installation, object, collage, and photography. Hörl has received numerous awards, including the Outstanding Artist Award of the Republic of Austria, the H13 Lower Austria Prize for Performance, and the City of Vienna’s Prize for Fine Arts (all together with Peter Kozek). He lives in Vienna.
Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ’24
Education event
6.10., 10:00
Exhibition tour with Thomas Hörl
Installation with seven collages, UV print on aluminum composite panel, photo wallpaper, ca. 1000 × 450 cm
Needlework: Thomas Hörl, Peter Kozek
Wallpaper photos: Victor Jaschke
Wallpaper design: Johannes Lang
Assistance: Luis Prath
Printing: Cyberlab Wien
Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ’24
Education event
6.10., 10:00
Exhibition tour with Thomas Hörl
