Mathias Poledna

First solo exhibition in the Netherlands

Witte de With opens its new season in 2006 with the first solo exhibition in the Netherlands of Mathias Poledna. The exhibition will present two of his recent film installations – Western Recording (2003) and Version (2004) – in dialogue with works in other media, giving viewers a concentrated and unique insight into his practice.

Historical research

Mathias Poledna's art is informed by historical research, by archives and collections. In his work, he shares and develops his interest in the histories of avant-garde cinema, of modernism in architecture and design, of the crossovers between popular culture and art, and of the post-conceptualist critique of institutions. In recent years, his projects have taken the form of highly reduced filmic reconstructions that suggest ephemeral moments from 20th century culture, often popular culture, yet in a much broader sense, of modernity.

Mathias Poledna

Mathias Poledna (born Vienna, 1965) lives and works in Los Angeles. Recent exhibitions of Mathias Poledna include a solo show at MUMOK, Vienna (2003) and group shows Adorno at Frankfurter Kunstverein (2003), 3rd Berlin Biennial (2004), 20/20 Vision at Stedelijk Museum CS, Amsterdam (2004), Liverpool Biennial (2004), Occupying Space, Sammlung Generali Foundation, Haus der Kunst, Munich / Witte de With, Rotterdam / Center for Contemporary Art, Zagreb (2005), Whitney Biennial, New York (2006).

Publication

This exhibition is curated by Renske Janssen and is accompanied by a cinema screening conceived by Poledna as an integral part of the exhibition. The publication Western Recording has been produced for this occasion by WdW Publishers and Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig Vienna (MUMOK), featuring an introduction by Matthias Michalka and Nicolaus Schafhausen, with essays by Alexander Alberro and Nora M. Alter, and Tom Holert (ISBN 90-73362-67-9).