This year, a major anniversary is being celebrated: 40 years of FOTOGALERIE WIEN – a long time during which much has changed in regard to artistic photography: The understanding of what photography can be, how it is taught and mediated, the theoretical reflections on it and the cross-medium opening it has undergone.

The FOTOGALERIE WIEN was founded in 1981 by the artist and designer Josef Wais and shortly thereafter began to be run collectively on a grassroots democratic basis. The non-profit gallery is constituted as an association, Association for the Promotion of Art Photography and New Media, whereby new media only enters the picture after 2005. From the beginning the gallery has consistently fought for public acceptance and recognition of photography as an art form in its own right. Communication, exchange of information and cooperation with others was important in this endeavour and was always sought. The start of a collective collaboration was a photo breakfast in 1982, where people interested in photography came to develop initial conceptions of a gallery with a focus on artistic photography. Exhibition rooms, an office and, later, a cinema were built into an old machine hall in the WUK. In 1983, the first extensive and important exhibition curated by the collective at the time took place: New Photography from Vienna. Many years have passed in the meantime and photography is now an established art form.

Over 40 years, FOTOGALERIE WIEN has shown around a thousand exhibitions in various formats – such as special focus, solo shows, work shows and thematic group exhibitions as well as exchange projects accompanied by programmes involving thousands of artists from Austria and abroad. There have also been numerous publications and editions. The invitational BILDER magazine has become a gallery trademark.
 

Artists: Thomas Albdorf (AT), Sabine Bitter (AT), Helmut Weber (AT), Robert Bodnar (AT), Eva Choung-Fux (AT), Philipp Fleischmann (AT), Thomas Freiler (AT), Nikolaus Gansterer (AT),  G.R.A.M. (AT), Birgit Graschopf (AT), Mary Gold (AT), Rosa John (AT), Alek Kawka (AT), Friedl Kubelka (AT), Gašper Kunšič (), Robert F. Hammerstiel (AT), Claudia Larcher (AT), Simon Lehner (AT), Anja Manfredi (AT), Julian Lee-Harather (US), Roberta Lima (BR), Sissa Micheli (IT), Michael Michlmayr (AT), Andreas Müller (AT), Michaela Moscouw (AT), Hyeji Nam (), Olena Newkryta (UA), Anja Nowak (DE), Klaus Pamminger (AT), Hermes Payrhuber (AT),  PRINZGAU/podgorschek (AT), Wolfgang Reichmann (AT), Gabriele Rothemann (AT), Bastian Schwind (AT), Eva Schlegel (AT), Laura  Sperl (AT), Simona Reisch (AT), Patrick Topitschnig (AT), Julian  Turner (), Christina Werner (AT), Robert Zahornicky (AT)

Time:
15/12/2021 – 06/01/2021

Opening Hours:
Di.: 2pm-7pm
Mi.: 12am-7pm
Do.: 12am-7pm
Fr.: 2pm-7pm
Sa.: 10am-2pm

Location:
Fotogalerie Wien 
Währinger Strasse 59/WUK, 1090 Vienna 
Austria