Hundertwasser

"The rigid, straight line is fundamentally alien to humanity, life and the whole of creation". Hundertwasser applied this philosophy not only to the famous Viennese buildings for which he was renowned, but all the media and art-forms he has experimented with during his wild career. Whether it be painting, sculpture, performance art or designing a kindergarten, Hundertwasser's works are multi-coloured, organic, and shot through with a sense of the magical or fantastic. However, Hundertwasser's art has always contained a political shade. He has consistently rebelled against rationalist or determinist ideas, promoted ecological awareness, and mantained a passionate belief in the anarchy of the imagination. In this retrospective, Pierre Restany covers all the bases of Hundertwasser's eclectic development as an artist, from the tenant revolt and nude lecture of the early 70s, through the housing projects in Vienna, right up to his designs for an alternative society.