Greta Schödl: Street Poetry
Phileas, Opernring 17, Vienna
29 January – 26 April 2025
Greta Schödl, installation view at 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, 2024. Photo: Marco Zorzanello
Greta Schödl, installation view of Street Poetry at Phileas, 2025. Photo: Kunst-Dokumentation.com/Manuel Carreon Lopez
Based on her participation at the 60th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia Stranieri Ovunque – Foreigners Everywhere, 2024.
Over 40 years since her last solo exhibition in Austria, the work of Greta Schödl can now once again be seen in the country of her birth. This exhibition, which follows her participation in the main exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 2024, traces her artistic development from the 1950s to the present day.
Born in 1929 in Hollabrunn, Greta Schödl studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna before moving to Bologna, Italy, shortly after her graduation in 1959. She has lived and worked there ever since. Writing plays a central role in Schödl’s work and links her to the movement known as Poesia Visiva (‘Visual Poetry’), centered around the artist and poet Mirella Bentivoglio, a friend of Schödl with whom she frequently collaborated. In her art making, Schödl uses a variety of materials, such as stone, paper, or everyday found objects, systematically overlaying them with handwritten words. The emphasis is less on the content and meaning of the writing itself, and more on the visual appearance of the text. Gold accents are used to accentuate the rhythm and pattern of the linework. Writing is liberated from its original function and instead develops an independence, revealing the interplay between language and image.
Greta Schödl's last institutional solo exhibition in Austria took place at the Künstlerhaus in 1977. The following year, in 1978, she participated in the exhibition Materializzazione del linguaggio (‘Materialization of Language’) as part of the 38th Venice Biennale, and a few years later, in 1981, she exhibited at the 16th São Paulo Bienal in Brazil. In 2024, she participated at the 60th Venice Biennale, curated by Adriano Pedrosa and supported by Phileas.
In collaboration with Richard Saltoun Gallery.
Opening hours at Opernring 17, Vienna
Tuesday - Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 3pm
& by appointment