Norbert Brunner

“EVERYDAY HEROES”

For years now, public space has been an adventure for me. Watching people interact in their respective cultural backgrounds and societal structures always manages to fascinate me. As a kind of voyeur I love to question learned, adopted and artificially made ideas, structures and terms and at the same time make them relative. Because, in the end, what are all our important experiences, judgements, revelations, pieces of knowledge and information really worth?

I have developed my own visual vocabulary which allows the respective beholder of my works to question and make relative every image, pictogram or text in them; things he or she had already thought to have recognised. This is done by building the objects in question in such a way that they can only be recognised from a certain, pre-determined viewpoint and otherwise dissolve visually in a myriad of single dots.

For the exhibition “EVERYDAY HEROES” at F2 Gallery in Beijing, China, I have created a series of eight portraits which show the importance of everyday heroes. With this series I want to make the notion “hero” in itself relative. I feel that everybody is a hero; it all just depends on the point of view.

Aside from the portraits I have created two prototypes of a future series of acrylic glass objects which are slightly larger than life-size. With these I want to allude to the Western tradition of sculpture such as Michelangelo’s David – which had its 500th anniversary last year – as well as to the idea of focussing on the ideal image of man. By creating my “new heroes” using my visual vocabulary together with a contemporary work material language, I aim to question and make relative the notion of sculpture in a Western context altogether.

Biography

1969 Born in Hohenems, Vorarlberg, Austria
1984 – 1987 Joinery apprenticeship in Hohenems
1987 – 1990 Higher technical school for sculpture in Tyrol
1990 – 1994 Studies at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna, master sculpture class with Prof. Wander Bertoni; Oswald Oberhuber, Bernhard Leitner, Franz Graf, Isabelle Graw

Solo Exhibitions

1992
“ROLLEN!”, Academy of Applied Arts, Vienna, Austria

1996
“TEDDY“, Cubic Gallery, Osaka, Japan

1997
“COMMUNICATION“, Cubic Gallery, Osaka, Japan
“SHORT CUT“, underground car park, Bank Burgenland, Eisenstadt, Austria
“FIRST STEP“, Gallery Eboran, Salzburg, Austri
“COMMUNICATION II“, Projekt – Galerie, Deggendorf, Germany

1998
“NOW", Galeria Litera, Prague, Czech Republic
“JUST NOW" Cubic Gallery, Osaka, Japan

1999
“WHY NOT“, CICR, UN building, Geneva, Switzerland
“IT IS NOW", SFP Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
“2 FOR/4 1 AND MORE", Technologiezentrum Eisenstadt, Austria
“SUPASACHE“, private rooms, Vienna, Austria

2000
“ZWERGENKRIEG“, rooms of betandwin.com, Vienna, Austria
“W/E(A)ST“, Galerie 141, Nagoya, Japa 

2001
“07.12“, Epstein Coffeelounge, Vienna, Austria

2002
“ANOTHER STEP”, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Vienna, Austria
“VIP”, Galerie 141, Nagoya, Japan
“NEXT STOP ANDELSBUCH”, in the former train station Andelsbuch, Austria 

2003
“00.00.00“, Cubic Gallery, Osaka, Japan 

2005
“WISDOM OF NATURE”,  exhibition in connection with EXPO in Aichi-Nagoya, curator Robert Punkenhofer, in cooperation with Galerie 14, Nagoya, Japan

2006
“EVERYDAY HEROES”, exhibition at gallery F2, Beijing, China

Group Exhibitions & Art Fairs

1992
“1-2-3-4 DREIDIMENSIONALE ARBEITEN“, Cselley Mühle, Oslip, Austria

1993
“SCHÄFER - BRUNNER“, Gallery FASHION MODA, New York (Bronx), USA 

1994
“5 POSITIONEN ZUR KUNST“, Gallery COSMOS, Vienna, Austria

1995
“OESTERREICHISCHE KUNST IN ESTLAND“, Tartu, Estonia
Participation in art fair “KUNST WIEN 95“, MAK Museum, Vienna, Austria
Participation in art fair “ART-MULTIPLE“, Düsseldorf, Germany

1996
“STATEMENTS“, Gallery CULT, Vienna, Austria
“STATEMENTS II“, Gallery CULT, Vienna, Austria
Participation in art fair “KUNST WIEN 1996“, MAK Museum, Vienna, Austria
Participation in art fair “ART MULTIPLE 1996“ Düsseldorf, Germany
“1000 JAHRE ÖSTERREICH – Gegenwartskunst aus Österreich“, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

1997
“1. Kunstmesse Innsbruck”, art fair, Innsbruck, Austria

1999
“DIE NEUEN“, group exhibition for new entries into the Professional Association of Fine Artists of Vorarlberg, Palais Thurn und Taxis, Bregenz, Austria
“DAS DING MIT DEM FOTO“, Museum auf Abruf, Vienna, Austria

2000
“EN“, Gallery Garden, Kyoto, Japan

2001
“COLLABO“, invited by Bruce Lee Torizawa, Object Galleries, Customs House,
Sydney, Australia

2002
“BBEBAE..“, Semper Depot, Vienna, Austria
“LIMITED EDITIONS“, Rodenstock, Tabakmuseum, Vienna, Austria 

2003
2nd Biennial Valencia, “A&M – Department of Proper Behaviour“, invited by curators Will Alsop & Bruce McLean, Convento del Carmen, Valencia, Spain

2004
1st Architecture Biennial Beijing, TIMEPILL installation, Beijing, China
“GEGENLICHT”, installation invited by “Wolke 7”, Vienna, Austri
Stage design for “MILUJ  MA” , Aktionstheater, Vienna, Austria 

2005
“WE LIVE TOMORROW”, group exhibition, curator Nicola Borg Pisani, Paris, France
“VIENNA – PRAGUE”, group exhibition, Galerie Litera, Prague, Czech Republi
“HERE - NOW”, curator Chikako Mori, Gallery Kaze, Tokyo, Japa 

2006
“TAKE TIME”, “FIRST PIPE INSTALLATION” and “TIMEPILLS” Vienna Art Week, curator Robert Punkenhofer, installations in and in front of Hotel Le Meridien, in cooperation with the artists Will Alsop and Darryl Georgiou, Vienna, Austria
“ARTFIELD TECHNOLOGY”, outdoor hanging object installation (sphere) upon invitation of AIDAN Gallery, Moscow, Russia

INSTALLATIONS & PROJECTS IN PUBLIC SPACE

1993
Object “KUGEL“, sculpture park of Edition NN, Oslip, Austria

1994
Object “AUTOABSCHUSSRAMPE“ in front of office building “Juricon“, Vaduz, Liechtenstein

Object “STUHL“, sculpture park of Edition NN, Siegendorf, Austria

1995
Street project “TEEKANNE“, Kobe, Japan

1996
Artistic design of event hall 25, Vienna Fair Arena, Vienna, Austria 

1998
Project “UNITED COLOURS OF BRUNNER“ 

2000
Street project “BAG OBJECTS“, Osaka, Nagoya, Kobe and Kyoto, Japan

Photo object installation “RAPSAK“ in cooperation with Marianne Greber, Rapsak (former Gösser Bräu), Bregenz, Austria

2001
Photo installation “REALITY” in 54 hotel rooms, Hotel Theresianum, Vienna, Austria
Street project “VIP BAGS“, Sydney, Australia
Photo project “VIENNA VIP ANGELS, Vienna, Austria
Spatial installation “NOW–00.00.00“, Epstein Coffeelounge, Vienna, Austria
Street project “ICH BIN”, Vienna, Austria

2002
Installation “NOW–IMA“ during the Soccer World Cup 2002, in front of Kobe Harborland Information Center, Kobe, Japan

“DAS SPIEL“, in cooperation with Greta Jamkoijan and school children for the revitalisation of the 5th district, Vienna, Austria

Photo object installation “I THINK THEREFORE YOU ARE“, Ristorante Barbaro, Vienna, Austria

2003
Elevator installation “FAMILY“, Franz-Josefs-Kai 43, Vienna, Austria
Artist-in-residence invited by THEpUBLIC, West Bromwich, UK

2004
Artist-in-residence invited by THEpUBLIC with follow-up exhibitions of created works in public space in West Bromwich, UK

“LIFE BALL 2004”, digital print installation, ARGE Greber-Brunner, photos: Marianne Greber, objects: Norbert Brunner, Vienna, Austria

Digital photo installation “SORRY, WHAT DO YOU MEAN?”, architecture: Delugan & Meisel/Brullmann, contractors: KALLCO, Wienerberg City, Vienna, Austria

“LA VITA É BELLA”, restaurant street front photo installation, Barbaro, Vienna

Panel discussion “No Art, No Architecture” with Will Alsop, Sylvia King (Director THEpUBLIC), Volker Dienst, www.noart.at, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria

“GEGENLICHT” – Installation of TIMEPILL with video „FISH“TIMEPILL, street project by invitation of Wolke 7, curator Volker Dienst, Vienna, Austria

2005
“OOHHH”, object and projection installation in public space, Vienna, Austria

“PARA CITY”, curators Volker Dienst and Nicola Borg Pisani, Vienna, Austria

1^st place in the invitational competition for the expansion of the Edmonton Art Gallery together with Will Alsop, façade projection installation in Edmonton, Canada

2006
“IMAGINE THIS COULD BE REALITY”, permanent installation at “Glacis Beisl”, Museumsquartier, Vienna, Austria