Give Nature a Break
Edgar Honetschläger

The Nordico was dedicating a comprehensive solo exhibition to the visual artist, filmmaker and environmental activist Edgar Honetschläger. His artistic œuvre has already received recognition through numerous art and culture awards in Austria, Japan and Italy, and has been presented at documenta X and the Berlinale. His work embraces a wide spectrum from drawing, painting and photography to performance, installation, short films and feature films.

Born in Linz, Honetschläger has been using multimedia to explore the dichotomy between man and nature since the 1980s. Subtly critical, while at the same time displaying a poetic and humorous quality, he uses surprising perspectives to question conventional perceptions. For Honetschläger, it simply is not enough for art to address the ongoing environmental crisis in terms of mere aesthetics. As an artist, he sees himself duty bound to take concrete action.

In 2018, as a response to the catastrophic impact of the Anthropocene, Honetschläger founded GoBugsGo – Set Nature Free, a non-profit organisation (NGO), thereby developing a groundbreaking, all-encompassing approach that combines art with environmental activism. This international project initiates collective renaturalisation measures designed to help insects regain their habitats. As a utopian artistic vision, zones are created from which humankind is excluded. In addition to a hundred works, including large-format film backdrops, a ​“Non-Human Zone” – ​“a living sculpture of the 21st century” – is also a central element of the exhibition in Linz.

Curator: Sabine Fellner