Galerie Eva Presenhuber is pleased to announce Karen Kilimnik’s first solo exhibition in Vienna in over a decade. Kilimnik was previously the subject of solo exhibitions in Vienna at the Belvedere in 2010, Intervention organized by Agnes Husslein-Arco, and Galerie Ballgasse in 1992.

At Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Vienna, Kilimnik presents a selection of her most recent works on canvas and paper. Detailed, finely-worked architectural drawings from 2020 are on view alongside oil paintings created between 2020 and 2022. Together they illuminate the scope and complexity of Kilimnik’s thematic world. For more than 40 years, Kilimnik has navigated an inexhaustible cosmos influenced by the traditions of Romantic painting, architecture, and landscape painting. Her work gives equal weight to a broad array of subject matter, finding inspiration in such diverse sources as Old Master paintings and television programs, fairy tales, films, literature, magazines, advertising, and store window displays.

Her oeuvre explores themes of mythology and femininity, history and fiction.The detailed architectural drawings are reminiscent of the ambitious landscape depictions and architectural drawings made by artists and sightseers during the Grand Tour.

Karen Kilimnik was born in 1955 in Philadelphia, PA, US, where she lives and works. Kilimnik’s work is represented in major museums worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, US; the Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, US; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, US. Kilimnik has been the subject of important solo exhibitions at institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, CO, US (2012); Belvedere, Vienna, AT (2010); Serpentine Gallery, London, UK; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA, US; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL, US; the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL, US; Le Consortium, Dijon, FR (all 2007); the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, FR (2006); Istituzione Fondazione Bevilacqua La Masa, Venice, IT (2005); and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, IE (2002). In 2018, Kilimnik participated in the 57th Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA, US; and has been featured in significant group exhibitions at institutions including Fondazione Prada, Venice, IT (2021); the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY, US (2016, 2008, 1993); Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, NL; MoMA PS1, New York, NY, US (both 2006); the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, US (2005, 2001, 1999); Institute of Contemporary Art, London, UK (1997, 1992); and Secession, Vienna, AT (1994). In 2011, Kilimnik created the sets for the ballet Psyché, staged by the Ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris, Palais Garnier, Paris, FR.