(What we make of our environment and how we have “tamed” it)

11. January – 4. February 2024, Künstlerhaus, Factory

Curated by Tanja Prušnik

Martin Roth can be considered one of the pioneers of the currently very lively art activist scene, which advocates for the preservation of our environment in the name of climate protection.

The artist, who died far too early, studied and lived in his adopted home of New York, from where he attracted attention with site-specific installations and interventions in the field of tension between art, people and nature. Sensitively analyzing, humorously caricaturing and very powerful, he made socio-political topics part of his artistic program. Last but not least, changes in nature caused by humans and ecological upheavals were the subject of his artistic curiosity.

In addition to the site-specific installation works, his legacy also includes a rich, well-archived early work. Although he kept it meticulously locked away throughout his life, it nevertheless led him down the artistic path he chose. Social criticism and socio-political issues were central aspects of his work from the very beginning. It often revolves around the value or price of every individual person, every living being, every object. What does a person cost, what does nature cost? Which brings us to the question that is more than relevant today: at what price…? (Tanja Prušnik)

More about Martin Roth: martinroth.art

More about the exhibition: https://www.kuenstlerhaus.at/besuch/kalender/ausstellung/456/martin-roth.html