Wish You Were Gay

Kunsthaus Bregenz presents Wish You Were Gay by Anne Imhof from June 7th to September 22nd, 2024. The exhibition is a deeply personal survey of new works that explore Imhof’s core themes of finitude, reality, artifice, chance, fate, absence and presence, all set in a post-apocalyptic environment.

The exhibition includes all-new sculptures, paintings, sound pieces and six never-before-seen video works. These videos revisit material from 2001-03, a crucial period in Imhof’s life when her art and personal experiences were indistinguishable, creating a biographical tone throughout the exhibition. MARIA, an early self-portrait video, opens the exhibition with red light and scenes of Imhof boxing to West Side Story songs, symbolising her early self-defence training. On the first floor, a Barricade divides the space, creating a narrow corridor reminiscent of claustrophobia and concert stages. Nearby, a ready-made sculpture refers to Imhof’s past discomfort and dysphoria.

Behind the Barricade, Imhof’s new cloud paintings depict hyper-realistic, digitally generated dystopian skies full of beauty and horror. The video work Zebra shows the twentysomething Imhof in precise movements with tattooed angel wings, looping scenes of violent zebra battles on a glitchy TV screen. A monolithic glass structure from her previous show Natures Mortes now serves as a projection space, emphasising absence. On the second floor, another Barricade and a raised steel stage floor create oppressive spatial boundaries, reminiscent of her 2017 Venice Biennale show Faust.

Wish You Were Gay III is a large, almost abstract painting featuring a thermographic image of a figure with a gun to his head, obscured by a moiré pattern. Imhof’s bronze reliefs depict androgynous figures with halos, appearing as contemporary broken saints, inspired by her chosen family and personal memories.

The exhibition concludes with TURNPIKE, a video by Imhof and Nadine Fraczkowski, revealing raw, unscripted scenes from their early relationship. On the third floor, monumental paintings and vertical barricades direct the visitor’s movement through narrow corridors. Eerie, dreamlike soundscapes, composed of reworked recordings from 2001-03, reinforce the juxtaposition of raw personal action and artificial unreality throughout the exhibition.