The definition of the ‘mise en abyme’ is a depictive or narrative process that frequently occurs in the vanitas depiction of the 17th century. It refers to the lifelessness of the depiction and the absence of the sitter. This is intended as a challenge to the viewer’s imagination in relation to today’s flood of images.
‘Mise en Abyme’, the title originally refers to defining an image within an image. An image that contains itself. Mise en abyme is therefore a specific repetition process on the narrative level, or rather on the level of discourse.

Each of the works reacts to an image, opens a photographic dialogue and shows different visual interpretations of an idea. All photographic works have already been shown individually in the window of the smallest gallery (Grieskai 2, Graz). Thu, 06.02. – Sat, 08.02.2025 from 2 pm to 6 pm

With Platz nehmen No. 3: Right of Passage—Wegerecht, we aim to highlight how visual art can use its means to convey the concerns of democracy, the public sphere, and public space while inviting participation. Similar bridges for translation and engagement playfully explore social and democratic boundaries—encouraging us to recognize our exclusions and the barriers. The work highlights themes of social empathy, obstacles, and art’s role in shaping public space. Michael Höpfner (Institute for Fine Arts, Art and Image/Photography) Claudia Kaiser, Project Management (Academy/Art/Public Sphere) Ruby Sircar (Institute for Fine Arts, Art and Image/Context)
Academy of Fine Arts: Clemens Grömmer, Kweku Okokroko, Ilay Schwingshandl, Matei Alexandrescu, Esther Vörösmarty, Randolf Helmstetter

Group exhibition in the context of Curators’ Agenda: VIENNA 2024 in cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna at Das Weisse Haus. Together with Yela An, Luiza Furtado, Ava Binta Giallo, Sunggu Hong, Sebastian Konzett, So Young Park, Luiza Spotorno, Francisco Valença Vaz, Esther Vörösmarty. Curated by May Algaydi, Andreja Drobnjak, Daniel Gardeazábal, Nitza Perry. Curatorial mentoring by Anamarija Batista, 9th Nov 2024–25th Jan 2025

10 photographers. 1 source image.

The smallest gallery shows collected works 2024

The inspiration for this exhibition is a photograph. Each of the works reacts to an image, opens a photographic dialogue and shows different visual interpretations of an idea. Photographers from different disciplines are invited to respond to a specially produced original image published in December. At the end of a call cycle, all works are shown in the form of a group exhibition at Forum Stadtpark Graz.

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Beton on Mars

[Chorus]
And the world
The world turns around
And the world and the world
The world drags me down
And the world and the world and the world
The world turns around
And the world and the world and the world and the world
The world drags me down

The Cult, 1985

Folds of flesh colored foam are digitally printed with fragments body parts in Esther Vörösmarty's Back to the Future. While their pleated shapes evoke the tactility of flesh, the tubular metal structures from which they hang have a cold and clinical aspect. In a world in which sexual encounters are increasingly navigated through digital means, these sculptures might serve to highlight the gulf between the pixels we watch on a screen and the physicality of touch.

Rosa Abbot & Krishna Balakrishnan

Deliver Me from Pain is a work adresssing the inequalities of human social structures in relation to living spaces. It is inspired by Silvia Federici's Caliban an the Witch, offering a Feminist perspective on gender, drawing historical parallels between the medieval period and current social transformation processes, such as privatization as a continuation of exploitation. It highlights the conflict between ruling structures and opressed populations through the restriction of the emancipation of the self, particularly female subjectivities.

The concept and vision presented by Esther Vörösmarty and Rage create a captivating fusion of 3D scans and objects captured through Lomography photography. It invites viewers into an engaging dialogue that transforms their understanding of materiality and motion. Link www.lomography.de/magazine/349309-lomography-auf-der-kunstuni-esther-voeroesmarty-s-ghost

Lomography Esther Vörösmarty & Rage

3D Objects Esther Vörösmarty

3D Animation Rage

The Blue, The Pink, The Immaterial, The Void. Group Show with: Arang Choi, Pyo E, Aitor González, Natalia Gurova, Nora Aaron Scherer, Kubakub, Laila Majid, Jérôme David Meinlschmidt, Tamu Nkiwane, Rebecca Parkin, J Ramsauer, Alfred Rottensteiner, Esther Vörösmarty, Grace Woodcock. Curated by: Rosa Abbott, Krishna Balakrishnan

Esther Vörösmarty and Lona Szep took part in the ‘Plan Neige’ project in the Tyrolean Alps for a ‘Medienfrische Residency’. In folklore, foxes have been said to have various magical powers since the 5th century BC. Fox spirits can theoretically appear in the form of fox, but can also transform into humans. In most cases, the fox spirits take the form of women. The daily dream between unfolding and mystical Divinations within the duration of the stay in Tyrol, are the foundation of this work; sleep experiments arise, an interface where the day being, the living, mixes with the night being, the inanimate or subconscious. The beautiful ones always smash the picture

The group exhibition UOMO UNIVERSALE LA FEMME presents works by 15 female artists from the fields of abstract painting, textual sculpture, art and photography as well as figurative painting.

Artists: Anouk Lamm Anouk, Pia-Veronica Aström, Alexandra Barth, Angela Fischer, Julia Frank, Ludmila Hrachovinová , Ma Jia, Susanna Klein, Elena Kristofor, Anthia Loizou, Jelena Micic, Danielle Pamp, Siggi Sekira, Veronika Suschnig, Esther Vörösmarty

House of Losing Control - as part of the Vienna Art Week

'Losing Control' is the multi-interpretable theme that invites artistic exploration of experienced or impending loss of control. A former car dealership, including workshops and courtyard, will be transformed into a 'House of Losing Control' together with an adjoining residential building. For one week during Vienna Art Week 2021, the entire building block will be transformed into a creative experimental space.

All artwork Esther Vörösmarty, except black chair Martin Sommer

Sammlung Lenikus

Artists: Elisabeth von Samsonow, Laikka, Angela Fischer, Natalia Dominguez Rangel, Jelena Micic, Esther Vörösmarty

Neon on my naked skin, passing silhouettes
Of strange illuminated mannequins
Shall I stay here at the zoo
Or should I go and change my point of view
For other ugly scenes

You did what you did to me
Now it’s history, I see
Here’s my comeback on the road again
Things will happen while they can
I will wait here for my man tonight
It’s easy when you’re big in Japan

ALPHAVILLE

Contemporary fashion designed/made in Austria is the focus of the first comprehensive major exhibition on Austrian fashion design. Around 30 photographers in Vienna and beyond give insight into Austrian fashion photography. Guest Curator: Ulrike Tschabitzer-Handler Guest, Co-Curator: Andreas Bergbaur, Scientific Advisor: Brigitte Winkler, Exhibition Architecture: Gregor Eichinger

Vienna Art Week 2020—Art Melange Performance, November 18, 17h
Curator Maria Christine Holter with Esther Vörösmarty & Julia Hürner. This performance explores rituals of self-dissolution and horror vacui (fear of emptiness) within the theme of Living Rituals. Are rituals fading, or do crises heighten our need for them? What role will physical presence play in an increasingly digital arts world? The artists present a cinematic documentation of their evolving process—not a final work, but an open space for creation.

Heavy Mental Superheroes
As a continuation of the installation and intervention „Heavy Mental“ as part of the Parallel Vienna 2019, an electronic mass mediation and multimedia processing performance took place at Ö1 Radiokulturhaus.

Video Concept: Esther Vörösmarty
Sound Performance & Design: Runar Magnusson
Foam Objects: Josef Trattner
Performance: Esther Vörösmarty & Josef Trattner

17.10.2020, Ö1 Radiokulturhaus, Life Performance / Live on Air

Heavy Mental is an Intervention by Esther Vörösmarty and Josef Trattner that took place during the Parallel Art Fair Edition’19, 24th–29th Sept, 2019, Lassallestrasse 5, 1020

Esther Vörösmarty initiated Heavy Mental within this project and has continued it in various projects up to the present day.

GETA sculpture, japanese wood, foam, 60cm

White oversized SHIROMUKU, Nasa Material, insensitive to cold & heat.

Photographed by Mato Johannik

Fashion Moments from 19th June till 25th September explores the intersection of art and fashion photography, addressing themes like beauty, gender roles, stereotypes, and the transience of fashion. The exhibition blends commercial and artistic practices while reflecting on societal impacts, featuring works by Dora Kallmus (Atelier d’Ora) and other Austrian and international artists. Artists include Anna-Sophie Berger, Cooper & Gorfer, Marina Faust, Luise Hardegg, Caroline Heider, Jakob Lena Knebl, Elena Kristofor, Mira Loew, Rita Nowak, Hanna Putz, Elfie Semotan, Esther Vörösmarty, and Eva Zar. A catalogue by Fotohof Edition Salzburg features texts by Annette Geiger, Ursula Guttmann, and Gabriele Hofer-Hagenauer.

Impressions from Exhibition Opening 22nd June 2018, DongGang Museum of Photography

Interntional 17th Photo Festival/ South Korea. The Show was running from 22nd June 2018 – 21st September 2019

The intention 'Cadavre Exquis' is to foreground the metamorphosis of social perception, which is supported by the surrealistic praxis. To overcome contemporarily constructed relations (relatio rationis) and literally go back to nature.

Album Art Work II for Messiah - Teresa Rotschopf

Club Tropicana—Parallel Vienna 2018/2.16, Esther Vörösmarty and Martina Luef. Quixotic people spread the word—why not taste paradise worldwide? Pack your pouch, leave your affairs, and embrace the exuberance. Doff the armor, skip the coup de grâce, and enter where membership’s just a smiling face! At Club Tropicana, worries fade—no need to pay. Ascend the gaudy throne, create your comfort zone. A mirror ball spins under palm trees, casting halos as you dance in the sea breeze. After tripping the light fantastic, your body glistens like plastic. Poolside hanky-panky, suntanning cool, waves crashing—life’s a summer holiday! Here, escapism and lovers meet, kissing in Tropicana’s green summer heat. In the hall of mirrors, you ponder: Is life just imagination? Balanced between shame and glory, you laugh—then sip another free umbrella drink. Annabella Khom

In self-presentation, we project an illusion of perfection, concealing flaws. Society’s rejection of imperfection drives a relentless pursuit of artificial ideals, overshadowing the true self. “The seal of freedom: no longer be ashamed of oneself.” – Irvin Yalom, When Nietzsche Wept. A narcissistic culture values wealth and body perfection over wisdom and dignity, exemplified by bodybuilding’s artificial spectacle. Trapped between self-hatred and self-love, individuals seek validation through exaggerated ideals. This obsession fuels superficial recognition and societal crises. Tackling narcissism is essential to reversing these destructive trends. – Annabella Khom

Therapy Blauw—A Fictional Resort in Our Frantic World is a Dutch-Austrian exhibition by Esther Vörösmarty, part of the cultural program of the Dutch Embassy in Austria. Esther Vörösmarty took part as an artist & curator, featuring works by Helene van Duijne, Teresa Grandits, Vere van Hal, and Iris Woutera de Jong. It explores human vulnerability, identity, and renewal through mediums like photography, sculpture, and textiles. The exhibition’s blue theme links Dutch porcelain traditions with the tension between past and modern life.

Therapy Blauw—A Fictional Resort in Our Frantic World is a Dutch-Austrian exhibition by Esther Vörösmarty, part of the cultural program of the Dutch Embassy in Austria and as a continuing exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts. Esther Vörösmarty took part as an artist & curator, featuring works by Helene van Duijne, Teresa Grandits, Vere van Hal, and Iris Woutera de Jong. It explores human vulnerability, identity, and renewal through mediums like photography, sculpture, and textiles. The exhibition’s blue theme links Dutch porcelain traditions with the tension between past and modern life.

Album Art Work for Messiah - Teresa Rotschopf

First published in 1927 by André Breton, Exquisite Cadaver blends collective creativity and surrealist thought. The term reflects societal collapse and redefinition, exploring the tension between reality, fiction, and subconsciousness. Once limiting women to passive roles, it now redefines beauty and femininity, embracing complexity and reshaping desire. Through surrealistic praxis, Cadavre Exquis aims to transcend constructed relations and reconnect with nature—relation in nature.

In order to be able to exaggerate all secret sympathy, or even magical effect, one must find the world very, indeed, completely comprehensible. You can only do this if you look into it with an extremely lackadaisical gaze that leaves you with no idea that we are immersed in a sea of mysteries and incomprehensibilities and that we know and understand neither things nor ourselves from the ground up.

A cooperation between Esther Vörösmarty and Awareness&Consiousness

The exhibition “Refashioning Austria” took place from December 8–26, 2016, at the Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, curated by Claudia Rosa Lukas. It explored Austrian awareness, consciousness, and artistic expression, pushing cultural and aesthetic boundaries. The catalog featured over 70 designers and artists from fashion, illustration, textile art, photography, and animation, highlighting works from the past 20 years. Artists: Britta Burger, Michael Dürr, Benjamin Eichhorn, Georg Eckmayr, Lukas Gansterer, Peter Garmusch, Irina Gavrich, Hannes Gröblacher, Yasmina Haddad, Caroline Heider, Ernst Herold & Marcus Wiesner, Kris Hofmann, Bettina Komenda, Guenter Parth, Inge Prader, Bernd Preiml, Martin Reinhart, Stefan Sappert, Elfie Semotan, Anneliese Schrenk, Daliah Spiegel, Udo Titz, Universität für Angewandte Kunst, Esther Vörösmarty, Andreas Waldschütz, Jork Weismann, Maria Ziegelböck.

Parallel Vienna 2016, Alte Post

Horror movies have long emphasised societal fears and latent developments. Recently, this genre has gained mainstream popularity, reflecting increased critical thinking. In the 1970s, individuality was monetised, creating a fear of conformity seen in films like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1978).The Giallo subgenre blended design and fashion with stylised brutality. This tension between identity, consumerism, and the uncanny is central to this exhibition, paying homage to Giallo's gaudy exaggeration. – Sandra Petrasevic

GIVEN THAT INDIVIDUALITY AS A CONCEPT WAS BEING ENTWINED WITH CAPITALISM, WE CAN WATCH THE MARKET REACTING WITH EVER GROWING ACCELERATION TO THE INDIVIDUAL’S ATTEMPTS FOR DIFFERENTIATION. A SPLENDID EXAMPLE WOULD BE THE RAPID “SWALLOWING” OF ATTRIBUTES BELONGING TO SUBCULTURES AND THE SUBSEQUENT PROVISION OF AN EASIER DIGESTIBLE IMITATION THEREOF, ADAPTED TO THE MAINSTREAM’S TASTE.

Exquisite cadaver—“cadaver” sounds impersonal, often referring to an unidentified body. Derived from “cadere”—to fall—it signifies both decline and transformation. The cadaverous features can no longer be hidden; a new social role emerges— a radical redefinition. The game “Exquisite Cadaver,” a collective assembly of words or images, explores the interplay between consciousness and subconsciousness, reality and fiction, and public and autocrat. Folding montage, a controlled viewing technique, exposes society’s fragmentation and critiques the present “sub-realism.” Women, often passive subjects, reclaim identity—challenging conventional beauty with a more complex, multifaceted femininity. A radical redefinition of desire. Mission, commission, submission—born into position or unquestioned order?
Cadavre exquis reveals the metamorphosis of social perception, rooted in surrealist praxis. To transcend constructed relations (relatio rationis) and return to nature. Back to relatio in natura.

Identity is fluid, shaped by cultural frameworks and personal interactions. It exists in tension between change and stability, comfort and exploration. Self-image, often imagined as constant, evolves as a living experiment. In this flow, boundaries blur, driving conflict and integration into new realms. Photography captures and interprets this dynamic, reflecting the fluidity of identity. Esther and Elena explore this interplay through surrealistic images that deconstruct and reconstruct the human form, pushing the limits of self-expression and fashion, using the body and new shapes as tools for understanding.

GREEK ΝΕΩΤΕΡΙΚΟΊ “NEW POETS”

Project by Esther Vörösmarty & Elena Kristofor

Group exhibition “Ledig” with Martin Grandits, Leni Michl, Esther Vörösmarty, and Mathias Seemann. In most languages, the word “ledig” also means “free,” in Swedish it already means “empty,” and in Danish it means “unemployed.” In Chinese, “ledig” means clever, something that is made up but could be true. In earlier German-speaking times, an illegitimate child was considered "ledig.” “Ledig” has changed over time, but it was never married, just as art has never been married. “Ledig” is a free word.