Gottfried Bechtold (*1947) is considered one of the defining figures of Austrian contemporary art. Since the late 1960s, he has developed a rigorously conceptual, cross-media practice encompassing sculpture, photography, drawing, text, and performative interventions in public space. His work is characterized by a precise analysis of social symbols and a sustained inquiry into perception, attribution of value, and the very conditions of artistic production.

Bechtold gained international recognition in particular for his engagement with the automobile as a cultural, economic, and ideological object. Since the 1970s, he has explored the car as a projection surface for beliefs in progress, promises of mobility, notions of status, and ideas of individual freedom.

The Concrete Porsche is among Bechtold’s most iconic works. The sculpture is an exact replica of a Porsche 911, cast in solid concrete. An object that normally stands for speed, elegance, and technical perfection is rendered literally heavy, immobile, and monumental. Concrete—symbolic of permanence, the construction industry, and urban infrastructure—stands in radical contrast to the very idea of a sports car. By stripping the object of its function, Bechtold transforms it into a sculpture that negates mobility while simultaneously exposing and questioning its cultural glorification.

At the end of April 2026, a Concrete Porschefrom the series Elf Elf (2006) will pull into the so-called “Director’s Parking Space” in the Hanuschhof courtyard. Weighing several tons, the sculpture subverts the promises of speed, freedom, and individual accessibility commonly associated with the automobile. Within the specific context of the courtyard, the work also unfolds a subtly ironic commentary on questions of ownership, privilege, and the hierarchical organization of space—particularly with regard to parking spaces as markers of power and status.

Bechtold’s interventions in public space are always defined by their precision of placement. At first glance, the Concrete Porsche appears familiar, yet its physical presence and materiality create a moment of dissonance. This very ambivalence—between recognizability and estrangement—is central to Bechtold’s artistic strategy. His works invite viewers to reread everyday symbols and to question their social meanings.

Complementing the installation, the auditorium will present photographs, films, and serial works that contextualize the Concrete Porsche and illuminate Bechtold’s long-standing engagement with the motif of the automobile, as well as with issues of reproduction, seriality, and documentation. These works make clear that the Concrete Porsche is not to be understood as a singular object, but as part of an artistic field of inquiry developed over decades.

With the exhibition Animalia. Of Animals and Humans, the Heidi Horten Collection explores the complex relationship between humans and animals. The term “Animalia,” borrowed from biology, serves as the guiding principle for a critical examination of how humans interact with animals, as reflected in over 100 works of art from the 20th and 21st centuries.

Derived from *anima*, the Latin word for breath or soul, the term *Animalia*—coined by the naturalist Carl von Linné (1707–1778)—encompasses both humans and animals alike. In contrast to this model of equality, humanity’s treatment of animals is characterized by a clear hierarchy.

As the supposed “pinnacle of evolution”—a rational being that rises above the animal world—humans assign animals ambivalent roles. Artistic representations that make these differing attributions visible reveal a great deal about humans themselves; they allow us to draw conclusions about their self-image and their methods of projection. Thus, humans are already present in every image of an animal—even when they are not part of the depiction.

The exhibition explores the question of which social, societal, and historical structures are inscribed in depictions of animals. These range from the idea of “man’s best friend” through the anthropomorphization and reification of animals to their exploitation. At the same time, the exhibition offers a perspective on ANIMALIA as a thought experiment—going beyond a shared biological category—as the principle of a shared model of life that conceives of animals as fellow creatures and co-actors.

Through the CO₂ntext project, the Heidi Horten Collection, in collaboration with the Bundestheater-Holding and ART for ART, is sending a clear message about climate awareness and sustainable urban design. The focus is on the colorful floor murals in the Hanuschhof—the plaza between the Heidi Horten Collection and the surrounding buildings—which are not only aesthetically pleasing but also have a positive effect on the microclimate.

“It was a central concern of ours to use the Heidi Horten Collection not only to create a space for art but also to actively assume social responsibility. With CO₂ntext, we’re transforming the Hanuschhof into a place that brings together climate, city, and art—and demonstrate that even small urban interventions can have a big impact,” say the curators of the Heidi Horten Collection.

The Graz-based artist collective Holla Hoop designed the courtyard using an innovative, UV-reflective special paint that reflects the sun’s rays more effectively than, for example, a dark asphalt surface. The result: a measurable cooling of the microclimate in the Hanuschhof, which benefits not only museum visitors and the staff of the offices and costume workshops located there, but also residents and passersby in the surrounding area.