Bruno Gironcoli

_{1936 Villach - 2010 Vienna}

Bruno Gironcoli takes an exceptional position in the field of international contemporary sculpture. The Austrian Artist finds an inimitable vocabulary of forms which he refines, from the early delicate wire objects to the enormous sculptures of the last two decades. Simultaneously, he creates an extensive oeuvre of works on paper as well as drawings.

Gironcoli’s first exhibition took place at Galerie Hildebrand in Klagenfurt in 1967; one year later, he held his first exhibition in Vienna at Galerie nächst St. Stephan, which was followed by exhibitions at the Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts in Vienna in 1971 and at the 11th Bienal de Sao Paulo in the same year, at the ICA in London in 1977, at Lenbachhaus in Munich in 1978 and at the Frankfurt Art Association in 1981. In 1989, he participated in the Prospect 89 at Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. 1990 is the year of his much acclaimed solo show at the Museum Moderner Kunst / Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts which first displayed his new stage of production of the large-scale assemblage-like sculptures.
It was followed by a solo show at MAK – Museum of Applied Arts / Conteporary Art Vienna in 1997, which confirmed the advancement of his large-scale sculptures and the creation of an entirely new vocabulary.
In 2003, Gironcoli was the Austrian representative at Biennale di Venezia and also took part in the Lyon Biennal. In 2005, his works were on display at the Haus der Kunst Munich, in 2007 they could be seen at Palais de Tokyo in Paris. In 2012, the MAMCO Geneva dedicated the first international solo show to the artist after his death in 2010. In 2013, “Gironcoli.Context“ is held at Belvedere; the exhibition first showed his oeuvre juxtaposed to international contemporary artists (Carl Andre, Francis Bacon, Joseph Beuys, Louise Bourgeois, Bruce Nauman, amongst others). In 2017, the Clearing gallery in Brussels dedicated a large solo show to the artist’s large-scale sculptural oeuvre. In 2018, mumok Vienna displayed an extensive exhibition featuring his sculptural and graphic works.