The SAMMLUNG FRIEDRICHSHOF (Friedrichshof Collection) currently owns the most extensive private collection of works by Viennese Actionism artists from the 1960s and early 1970s. The collection was compiled in the 1980s by the Aktions-Analytische Kommune (Action Analytical Commune) of Otto Muehl and introduced to a cooperative after the end of the Commune in 1990. Through a long-term collaboration with Dr Hubert Klocker the collection has been able to establish itself on the international map of Contemporary Art in Austria.
In early 2019, the ESTATE OTTO MUEHL was founded, which is haeded by Dr Hubert Klocker and combines the entire legacy of Otto Muehl for the first time. It manages both the holdings of the SAMMLUNG FRIEDRICHSHOF as well as of the ARCHIVES OTTO MUEHL Foundation. An important task of the Estates is the mediation and publication of the complete work of Otto Muehl and a reactivation of the collection activity.
The Estate Otto Muehl and the Sammlung Friedrichshof would like to point out that Otto Muehl was sentenced to seven years prison for offences committed (sexual abuse of minors and offences against the drug laws) and that he served his full sentence. In 2010 during his exhibition at the Leopold Museum, he apologised to his victims in a text which was published in the media.
The Estate Otto Muehl and the Sammlung Friedrichshof do not exhibit works in which the artist portrays his victims, out of respect for those involved, and we recognise the necessity for critical discussion of Otto Muehl’s transgressions in the Friedrichshof commune. The Estate Otto Muehl and the Sammlung Friedrichshof also believe in the democratic principle of freedom of artistic expression and reject attempts to hinder the presentation of Otto Muehl’s artistic work and to negate his oeuvre.
SHOWROOMS
SAMMLUNG FRIEDRICHSHOF
Römerstrasse 7, 2424 Zurndorf, Austria
The exhibition space designed by architect Adolf Krischanitz is situated at the site of the former communal experiment FRIEDRICHSHOF, around 60 km southeast of Vienna in the Neusiedler See region and can be reached via the A4 freeway (exit at Mönchhof). As well as the exhibition space and the collection, the site today includes a park landscape with apartments, artists’ studios, social projects, a hotel and restaurant, and playgrounds and paths for walking.
In the exhibition space of the Sammlung Friedrichshof, key art works and documents from the fundamental phase of Viennese Actionism between 1960 and 1973 are permanently shown as well as works from internationally recognized artists.
STADTRAUM
Sammlung Friedrichshof & Estate Otto Muehl
Schleifmühlgasse 6 (entrance through the courtyard), 1040 Vienna, Austria
The STADTRAUM is located in the Viennese Gallery District Schleifmühlgasse. It is the dépendance in Vienna of the Sammlung Friedrichshof and the seat of the office of the Etstate Otto Muehl. Here, apart from the exhibition program of the Sammlung Friedrichshof, the independent exhibition series “Project” is presented.