Kiki Kogelnik

Kiki Kogelnik is one of the most important Austrian artists of the 20th century. She is considered the only female protagonist of Pop Art in Austria – but her work extends far beyond this label. Kogelnik’s art is playful, critical, colorful, and at the same time highly political. Her themes are astonishingly topical, which she expressed in painting, drawing, ceramics, glass, bronze, installations, and even performative practices.
She studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and had her first solo exhibition at the Galerie St. Stephan. From the mid-1950s onwards, she was part of the avant-garde circle around Monsignor Otto Mauer, in whose Galerie St. Stephan she caused a sensation with exhibitions such as “Kunst kommt von Künstlich” (Art Comes from Artificial).
Traveling through Europe and meeting Sam Francis prompted Kogelnik to move to New York in 1962. There she quickly established herself in the lively art scene and her works were shown in numerous exhibitions. She now worked with stencils and used materials such as vinyl and plastic. From then on, she commuted between New York, Vienna, and Bleiburg in southern Austria, developing an extraordinary and versatile oeuvre in which she explored themes such as the body, technology, consumption, and gender roles.
With humorous profundity, sharp wit, bold aesthetics, and a sense of pop culture mission, Kogelnik questions ideals of beauty and role models, finding her own unique path in the process. From today’s perspective, her art is one of the most diverse and independent examples of early postmodern art.