KPMG-Austria kicks off the new year with art
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
The aluminum sculpture by Karl Karner in the courtyard of KPMG-Austria
New year, new art
KPMG-Austria is starting the year with a creative new beginning: The prestigious offices in Vienna's 9th district are now being enlivened by a diverse selection of new artworks. Thanks to the art rental program, the space will not only feature visual highlights but also provide a platform for cultural discourse and exchange.
In the light-filled courtyard, as well as in the entrance areas and corridors, one finds works by young, up-and-coming talents such as Simon Iurino, Julian Jankovic, and Alex Ruthner, alongside works by established artists like Karl Karner, Hans Staudacher, and Franz Grabmayr. This mix of fresh, experimental perspectives and proven positions creates a creative tension that inspires visitors and KPMG Austria employees alike.
With this commitment, KPMG is sending a clear signal of support for and promotion of the art scene – especially for young artists in Vienna. This platform makes their works accessible to a wider public and fosters dialogue with the people who work in or visit these spaces. This is an essential step in bringing talent out of the often elitist sphere of art fairs and galleries and integrating it into people's everyday lives.
Such initiatives not only make art visible but also open to discussion. Young art is often experimental, challenging, and thought-provoking – an ideal basis for fostering exchange on social and cultural issues. In an innovative company, where openness and problem-solving are essential, this approach finds fertile ground.
Karl Karner, Nufun
Aluminum casting, 2016
Karl Karner (*1973 in Feldbach, AT) moves as a sculptor in a field between material experimentation and form finding.
His abstract, often amorphous sculptures and installations are created through processes he describes as "controlled chance": Hot wax is poured into water, where it deforms unpredictably. He then expands these raw forms with wax, everyday objects, or natural elements such as toothpicks and twigs before they take on their final shape through various casting techniques.
Karner's works unfold an organic presence reminiscent of the structure of a coral reef – a growth that gains an inner order from apparent chaos.
Despite its proximity to nature, the artist's creative intervention remains palpable; he does not leave the abstract form to chance, but rather infuses his hand into the material. It is a sculptural approach that rejects classical categories and instead renegotiates the boundaries between nature and art.
Simon Iurino, Untitled / (folded surface)
Cyanotype on cotton, 2019/2024
Simon Iurino , born in 1986 in Bolzano, Italy, is a contemporary artist who lives and works in Vienna, Austria. He studied in the master class for object sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Urbino, Italy. He then completed a year of study at the renowned Central Saint Martins Academy in London, UK. The artist concluded his studies with a master class in text sculpture under the well-known artist Heimo Zobernig, with whom Iurino subsequently collaborated for several years.
Iurino's work encompasses a wide range of media, from architectural interventions and installations to sculpture and painting. His practice in all these forms is linked by an engagement with the formal language of modernism. The artist aims to make the support material—canvas and paper—independent of the artwork itself. A key element in Simon Iurino's sculptures, both large and small, is the use of industrial materials such as copper or extruded ceramic pipes. The sculptures are bent, twisted, and snake their way upwards through ceramic screen prints, enamel, and oxides.
Julian Jankovic, Melting laboratory
Molten polypropylene. 2022
Julian Jankovic (born 1992 in Vienna) works at the intersection of material, process, and context. For him, materiality is not merely substance, but the ability of systems to articulate their own nature under certain conditions – from plastic film to the finished artwork. His sculptures are created from melted polyethylene bottle caps, the transformation of which he does not fully control.
The interplay of glowing plastic mass and cooled formations remains an experimental process in which the final form is less important than the portrait of a material in the tension field of universal conditions.
Jankovic's work questions the throwaway aesthetic of modern mass production by transforming industrial materials into vibrant forms such as hornets' nests or organically inspired structures. He intertwines nature and artifice, spontaneity and cycle, without neglecting the inherent ambivalence of the material. Despite his interdisciplinary approach—ranging from sculpture and object art to photography—Jankovic remains consistently grounded in social issues. His art is less a self-contained object than an open dialogue with the world.
Alex Ruthner, The Dark Side of the Moon
Acrylic on canvas, 2024
Alex Ruthner (*1982 in Vienna) is a contemporary Austrian artist. He completed his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Professor Daniel Richter and continued his training at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main.
Ruthner is known for his diverse work, which often blends abstract and figurative painting. He uses bold colors and dynamic forms, inspired by everything from pop culture references to personal experiences.
His works question traditional painting techniques and experiment with materiality and composition, securing him a prominent position in the modern art scene.
Franz Grabmayr, Untitled
Oil on canvas
Not only new artworks find their place in KPMG Austria's new concept, but also existing works (Franz Grabmayr, Hans Staudacher) are integrated and showcased. With years of experience in art consulting, ARTCARE is happy to assist in presenting existing collections in a new light.
Franz Grabmayr (1927–2015), born in Carinthia, is one of the most important Austrian painters of the post-war period.
His work is characterized by an expressive, impasto painting style that captures natural motifs such as sandpits, sheaves of grain, waterfalls, and ponds in powerful colors and dynamic brushstrokes. In the 1980s, he increasingly devoted himself to the element of fire, creating so-called fire and ash paintings as well as depictions of charred tree stumps. By mixing ash and other materials into black oil paint, he expanded his expressive range and lent his works a sculptural quality.
His works have been presented in numerous exhibitions and are represented in important collections. The Albertina in Vienna dedicated a comprehensive retrospective to him in 2024, underscoring his significance for contemporary art. Grabmayr is considered an important representative of Austrian Expressionism and material painting.
