Du sollst dir ein Bild machen!

group show at Künstlerhaus Vienna

Curated by Günther Oberhollenzer
Curatorial assistance: Miriam King

The exhibition DU SOLLST DIR EIN BILD MACHEN (Thou shalt make an image unto thee) explores the imaginative power of religious experience, its visual counterpart in Christian iconography, and its interpretation by contemporary artists. The focus is on works whose creators approach Christian iconography with a critical but also loving, humorous but also feminist eye, enabling new perspectives on pictorial motifs that have been handed down over centuries. In its conception and orientation, the show does not stand for superficial provocation or loud protest, but rather for a differentiated view, a search for common ground, and an effort to promote a dialogue between contemporary art and religion.

Religion and art are both part of human nature and deal with fundamental questions about humanity: the question of meaning, the world, our existence. Religion makes the unfamiliar familiar, while art often contrasts the familiar world with the unfamiliar. Church and art are also connected by the irrational, the mysterious, and especially the imagination and the power to create a world with its own rules and laws—a world that also reflects back on our lives and tells us about our existence. A diversity of these worlds is made visible in DU SOLLST DIR EIN BILD MACHEN (Thou shalt make an image unto thee).

Artists: Marina Abramovic, Irene Andessner, Sumi Anjuman, Anouk Lamm Anouk, Siegfried Anzinger, Teodora Axente, Ursula Beiler, Renate Bertlmann, Guillaume Bruère, Victoria Coeln, Aron Demetz, Leslie De Melo, Christian Eisenberger, Manfred Erjautz, VALIE EXPORT, Paul Sebastian Feichter, Paolo Gallerani, Philipp Haslbauer with Marco Schmid and Aljosa Smolic, Lois Hechenblaikner, Siggi Hofer, Martin Kippenberger, Julia Krahn, Evelyn Kreinecker, Lena Lapschina, Ina Loitzl, Sissa Micheli, Hermann Nitsch, Adrian Paci, Drago Persic, Margot Pilz, Arnulf Rainer, Johannes Rass, Bettina Rheims, Sylvie Riant, Thomas Riess, Deborah Sengl, Andres Serrano, Thomas Sterna, Esther Strauß, Billi Thanner, Timm Ulrichs, Markus Wilfling

Duration: 23.10.2025—8.2.2026