Club Liaison
Liesl Raff
with Luca Bonamore & Lau Lukkarila, Stina Force, Haepaary, Hyeji Nam, Danielle Pamp, Karolina Preuschl, Alex Franz Zehetbauer
Austrian Pavilion at the 15th Gwangju Biennale
7 September – 1 December 2024
For Austria's first national participation at the 15th Gwangju Biennale in 2024, Liesl Raff transformed the LEEKANGHA Art Museum into Club Liaison – an expansive sculptural installation and performance space inspired by cabaret stages, fringe theatres, underground clubs.
In her installation, hand-cast purple latex curtains, an atmospherically lit stage, and ornamental light objects offered an intimate setting and a space for performance and retreat. For years, Raff has pursued a sculptural practice that is centred around the idea of bringing things together – often forming what she calls a liaison. This can be seen in the contrasting materials she uses, the spaces she creates, and the people that she collaborates with or hosts. To her, space is less a physical location and more a phenomenon where time, historic inscription, social participation and interaction convene. Club Liaison focussed on the relationship between objects, spaces, and viewers, fostering a sense of togetherness and collective participation. The accompanying soundscape by Austrian artist Karolina Preuschl enhanced the sensory experience.
On selected evenings during the Biennale, Club Liaison opened its doors and handed over the stage to the live arts. The invited Austrian- and Korean-based artists had different backgrounds – from contemporary dance to performance art to experimental music – but shared an interest in practices where popular genres and forms of entertainment meet a conceptual and experimental approach. In a nod to Club Liaison being inspired by cabaret stages, they explored the subversive potential of the absurd, the dramatic or the sensual. The performances investigated how the stage can be a place to push boundaries, insert subtle shifts and offer new readings; destabilizing expectations and norms. As a central element of Club Liaison, the performance programme aimed to highlight the transformative power of collective experience.
The accompanying publication with texts by Marianne Dobner, Fiona Liewehr, Cathrin Mayer and Carolina Nöbauer as well as contributions by the performers has been published by DISTANZ.
Liesl Raff (born 1979 in Stuttgart) is an Austrian-based sculptor, renowned for her innovative use of materials and her ability to create immersive environments. One of the artist’s preferred materials is natural rubber, which can be used in liquid form to cover all types of surfaces like a second skin. As such, it perfectly accommodates her artistic approach oriented toward the body, process and action. She pours rows of latex dyed in different colors onto the floor, which, once dry, retain the properties of the subsurface while recording the various stages of their hardening. These elements are subtly placed within the architectural context, creating protective zones and mysterious hideaways that invite exploration and touch. Raff has presented her works in solo exhibitions at fjk3 - Contemporary Art Space, Vienna; Sophie Tappeiner, Vienna; Nicolas Krupp Gallery, Basel; NEVVEN, Gothenburg; Biennale Freiburg, Freiburg; and Sharp Projects, Copenhagen; among others. She has also participated in group exhibitions, including at Galerie Eva Presenhuber, Zurich; Belvedere 21, Vienna; mumok, Vienna; and Kunst Meran, Merano. Upcoming exhibitions include the 17th Biennale de Lyon, which Phileas has co-produced, and a solo presentation at Eva Presenhuber in Zurich in 2025.
The exhibition was curated by Fiona Liewehr, a Vienna-based curator known for her focus on the phenomenology of perception and the crossover of disciplines. The performance programme was curated by Carolina Nöbauer, who brought her expertise in contemporary dance and performance to the project.
The Austrian Pavilion was commissioned by Phileas – The Austrian Office for Contemporary Art and co-financed by the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport. Additional support was provided by the Federal Ministry for European and Foreign Affairs. With thanks to the Gwangju Biennale and the LEEKANGHA Art Museum.
Learn more about Club Liaison in this film.
For press inquiries and further information please contact: press@austrianpaviliongwangju.com
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For further information about the LEEKANGHA Art Museum in Gwangju please click here
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The Gwangju Biennale, established in 1995 to honour the Gwangju Democratization Movement, is one of Asia's premier contemporary art events, drawing around 500,000 visitors per edition.
French curator Nicolas Bourriaud will curate the 15th Gwangju Biennale in 2024 under the title Pansori – A Soundscape of the 21st Century. Built as a narrative, the Biennale tells of the spaces we live in. Bourriaud draws on the Korean pansori tradition: a lyrical or epic chant by a single artist accompanied by a drum. Pansori – A Soundscape of the 21st Century presents itself as a visual symphony composed by international artists at various locations in Gwangju. For the duration of the Biennale, the city will be orchestrated with madangs, ‘individual songs’ of pansori, as musical or sonic projects that mix sound and visual elements. ‘From social distancing due to the pandemic to climate change, including flooding, desertification and rising sea levels due to global warming, humanity’s relationship with space has changed dramatically over the past few years.’ (Nicolas Bourriaud)
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Club Liaison at fjk3 - Contemporary Art Space was the first institutional solo show of Liesl Raff, for which she transformed the exhibition space into an immersive installation which also functioned as a setting for live performances, produced in collaboration with Wiener Festwochen.
Wiener Festwochen is a multidisciplinary art festival in the city, combining theatre, performance, dance, music, fine arts, installation, discourse, participation, workshops, and new art forms that cannot yet be categorized.
