Top Viennese contemporary art galleries

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Top Viennese contemporary art galleries

Certainly, the most common thing about Vienna is the art in the big museum collections. But that doesn't mean that the buyer-oriented contemporary art world is brightly presented only in the Austrian capital - it is surely on display in other world capitals. The rich cultural context of museums enrich the practices of local contemporary artists, who are at the centre of the activities of art galleries in Vienna. As a rule, says Wischer, curator at MAK Wien (Vienna Museum of Applied Arts), the galleries are the first to find gifted artists. And only afterwards, of course, do these artists end up in the collections of big museums.

However, an important difference between Vienna and other capitals is that there are not as many individual contemporary art collections as there are in Germany or Switzerland. Therefore, gallery owners have to cooperate more actively with foreign collectors.

Curated By

Curated By invites young international curators to undertake unconventional exhibition projects - usually with local artists, students of art academies. The gallery also organises the Curated By festival of the same name.

Galerie Nächst St. Stephan

The first gallery in Austria showing minimalist and conceptual art was founded a century ago, in 1920. «The gallery next to St. Stephen's Cathedral» is its literal translation. The artists who have exhibited during its existence are Imi Knoebel, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Gerhard Richter, Richard Prince. Today, the gallery is also discovering international artists, with a recent exhibition by Miao Rin, one of the most sought-after artists in China today.

Galerie Krinzinger

Named after the owner, Dr. Ursula Krinziger, who founded the gallery, however, first it was not in Vienna, but in Bregenz. The gallery grew in popularity and moved first to Innsbruck, then finally to Vienna, where it is now located in the former flat.

Since its foundation, Ursula has exhibited artists whose practice is closely linked to Viennese actionism, and therefore also to the body. Among them are Günter Brus and Hermann Nitsch, as well as the younger generation represented by Marina Abramović and Chris Burden. The latter have also become patriarchs over the years.

In addition to the experimental spin-off, the gallery has launched several residencies in Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Sri Lanka.

In fact, there is the legendary Loos Bar just around the corner from the gallery. We've written about Adolf Loos before, but we'll do a separate article about the bar.

Krinzinger Projekte

The second gallery by its owner and art history professor Ursula Krinziger.

Gabriele Senn Galerie

It focuses on the work of German artists, including some of the most representative and influential. In the 90s they exhibited Kai Althoff and Cosima von Bonin; today they devote solo exhibitions to these artists at New York's MoMa.

Georg Kargl Gallery

The story begins with the opening of the Metropol Gallery in Vienna, by two friends in 1976. Twenty years later they split the project into two parts: the Georg Kargl Gallery and the Meyer Kainer Gallery. For many curators, the Georg Kargl Gallery's exhibition projects serve as a real inspiration, because the gallery owner does not follow the laws and demands of the art market, he rather focuses on his own tastes and understanding of art and exhibition processes.

The Meyer Kainer Gallery is focused on young Austrian and international artists. This has an impact on the nature of the exhibitions. The gallery works with artists such as Verena Dengler, the hope of the Austrian art establishment. It also has its famous artists - Franz West and Heimo Zobernig, as well as Liam Gillick, Yoshitomo Nara and Raymond Pettibon are all exhibited here.

Galerie Martin Janda

The gallery exhibits conceptual art, but doesn't focus on a particular genre. They show painting as well as drawing, film and video, photography, sculpture and installation. Janda is one of the few gallerists in Vienna who works closely with artists from Eastern Europe, including Roman Ondak, a Slovakian artist with a studio in Bratislava.

Galerie Emanuel Layr

Situated over two floors, the gallery works exclusively with young artists. The gallerist sees his role as a talent developer- and he succeeds. Lili Reynaud-Dewar and Anna-Sophie Berger are the examples of his success.

Felix Gaudlitz

Gallery founder Felix Gaudlitz works mainly with collections rather than artists. He plays an important role in the world of Austrian curators of contemporary art, because he knows how to find a new talent.

Vin Vin

The gallery's primary aim is to give space to young artists who have not yet exhibited. Like many of its colleagues, Vin Vin is constantly looking for new talents and bringing it to big institutions by organising exhibitions. Most importantly, they not only work with Austrians, but also with young artists from other countries.