Helmuth Gsöllpointner's abstract sculptures hold as many forms of validity as possibilities. Even at the age of 70, the artist has not tired of designing variable telescope sculptures that generate volumes instead of pretending them. His objects always suggest ideal positions and assert constellations without establishing anything final. Gsöllpointner's Styrofoam bodies outline order structures which transcend simple modular assembly concepts. Thus, both the white, up to eight meters high shapes and the smaller models provide spatial experiences that are equally impressive and surprising.

The starting point of Gsöllpointner's artistic considerations are Styrofoam blocks - simple geometric bodies revealing cutting traces on the surface. They fit accurately into each other. The labyrinths of cuts hidden within are complex and difficult to grasp. Entering into a haptic dialogue with the objects, pushing and drawing turns them inside out.

The solo presentation in the MAK comprises Gsöllpointner's sculptural work only. The artist developed seven plus fourteen major Styrofoam sculptures especially for the occasion of his show in the MAK's central exhibition hall and the adjacent rooms. The exhibition also includes about forty smaller metal works.

Exhibition Helmuth Gsöllpointner
MAK Curator Maria Bußmann

Catalogue Helmuth Gsöllpointner. Mutants. Temporary Objects
edited by Peter Noever, with contributions by Angela Hareiter, Reinhard Kannonier, Peter Kraft, Thomas Macho, Pascal Schöning, Walter Wippersberg.MAK, 2003, German/English107 pagesUniversitätsverlag Rudolf Trauner, EUR 24 MAK Design Shop