Large retrospective in the Landesgalerie Niederösterreich
Krems (OTS) – Elfriede Mejchar (1924-2020) is considered the grande dame of Austrian photography. Although she wrote Austrian photography history with her photo-documentary investigations of the outskirts of Vienna in the 1960s, like many artists of her generation, she was only given official honors in her old age. On the occasion of her 100th birthday, Mejchar’s extensive work will be honored for the first time in parallel at three different locations on the initiative of the Landesgalerie Niederösterreich. In cooperation, the Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, the Vienna Museum MUSA and the Museum der Moderne Salzburg illuminate the artist from different perspectives.
“With Elfriede Mejchar we present an artist whose impressive photographic oeuvre occupies a special position in Austrian photography. Together with the Vienna Museum MUSA and the Museum der Moderne Salzburg, we are honoring the extraordinary artist on the occasion of her 100th birthday
“, is glad Gerda Ridlerartistic director of the Landesgalerie Niederösterreich.
„In 2013, Elfriede Mejchar donated almost her entire life’s work to the State Collections of Lower Austria. Drawing on this generous donation, the State Gallery and the State Collections are providing a retrospective insight into their diverse oeuvre
“, emphasize the curators of the exhibition Alexandra Schantlhead of the “Art after 1960” collection at the Lower Austria State Collections, and artist Edgar Lissel.
Retrospective in Krems
Elfriede Mejchar worked as a photographer for the Austrian Federal Monuments Office for almost forty years. At the same time, she developed a multifaceted oeuvre that includes documentary photographs as well as experimental studio works. The State Gallery of Lower Austria provides an insight into 34 groups of Mejchar’s works with around 300 photographs.
Between documentation and staging
On her countless business trips through Austria, Mejchar discovered the motifs that were her real artistic interest in seemingly meaningless, ugly or ruinous things such as scarecrows, rotting car wrecks or electricity pylons and which were reflected in extensive series. The genre of industrial photography, which runs like a common thread through her work, is also inextricably linked to her name.
Mejchar’s earliest series of works, “Artists at Work,” which he created on his own commission, provides insight into the life and studio situation of the post-war avant-garde. Among those portrayed are Friedensreich Hundertwasser and Josef Mikl. From the late 1980s onwards, her works were mostly created in the studio. The motifs range from plant studies to bizarre still lifes to collages in which she dissects female ideals of beauty.
Exhibitions in Vienna and Salzburg
The Vienna Museum MUSA places a particular emphasis on Mejchar’s serial, long-term topographical studies of the periphery of Vienna (“Single-handedly. The photographer Elfriede Mejchar“, April 18th – September 1st, 2024). The Museum der Moderne Salzburg presents the artist primarily as a portraitist (“Poetry of the everyday. Photographs by Elfriede Mejchar“, 26.04.-15.09.2024).
Photo book
On the occasion of the anniversary exhibitions in Krems, Vienna and Salzburg, a photo book with generously designed photo series is being published in collaboration between the three museums, which presents the different facets of Elfriede Mejchar’s entire oeuvre.
ELFRIEDE MEJCHAR. FRONTIER OF PHOTOGRAPHY
13.04.2024 – 16.02.2025
www.lgnoe.at/mejchar
Opening: Saturday April 13, 2024, 11 a.m
Landesgalerie Niederösterreich, Museumsplatz 1, 3500 Krems an der Donau
As part of the opening, the… Elfriede Mejchar Prize awarded to Lisa Rastl for photography.
Photos for the opening (online on April 13, 2024 from 3 p.m.)
Questions & Contact:
State Gallery of Lower Austria
Elisabeth Zettl
+43 664 60499 178
elisabeth.zettl@kunstmeile.at