Join us this Wednesday, May 13 for a special screening of Drake Carr’s Walk-Ins, as captured by Ethan James Green. The event takes place at the Schubert Kino (Mehlplatz 2, Graz) at 6pm and is shown in the context of House, the first institutional exhibition by Drake Carr, presented as part of our 40th anniversary program.

The screening will be followed by a short Q&A and some refreshments. 

Entree: €7/ free for members
Tickets: via office@grazerkunstverein.org or on-site.

In the Netherlands, it is a longstanding tradition to appoint a stadsdichter: a poet immersed in the civic life of a city for a full year, tasked with writing about it as it happens. Not just the inaugurations and official speeches, but also the broken escalators, overheard gossip, gray Tuesdays, the hiccups, and sudden flashes of beauty. For our 40th anniversary, we will attempt something similar.

Enter Drake Carr, an artist whose work observes how social worlds, places, and moments can be captured, recorded, and translated into drawing. For his first institutional exhibition in Europe, titled House, he takes up residence at the Grazer Kunstverein, bringing his ongoing practice of portraiture into the institution’s orbit. For six consecutive weeks, Carr invites artists, team members, new acquaintances, and visitors—the changing cast of members through which the institution forms itself—to sit for him, in an effort to create a portrait of the institution. 

The image that will emerge will not be neutral, nor will it be complete. Portraiture always involves a certain surrender of control. This is precisely the point. What we will get to see is the Grazer Kunstverein refracted through Carr’s attentive eye to the interpersonal. A snapshot. 

In order to facilitate these portraits, Carr has constructed a series of elaborate interior sets within the gallery. These environments are designed to evoke a sense of domestic space, places of comfort and self-expression, while also functioning as stages for the encounters that take place within them. There is something faintly Camp in this attention to décor and staging. In this, he follows in the footsteps of artists such as Marc Camille Chaimowicz and Jean Cocteau—or, closer to home, the ornamental intelligence of Dagobert Peche. Like in other projects, here again, Carr collaborates with his mother, Wendy Carr, who runs an interior design studio based in her home, where Drake grew up. When your home is on display, every room is a stage. Of course, exhibition spaces too can trigger a similar kind of self-awareness. Carr’s sets in Graz, somewhat counter this: they provide a framework that eases the discomfort of sitting for a portrait in public, while also heightening the drama of the act. 

In these playful environments, the Kunstverein is caught in the act of being itself—slightly overdressed, beautifully lit, a little self-aware, and entirely alive.

Public Programs 
Opening: April 24, 2026, 7-8pm 
Special Screening: May 13, 6pm  – The Walk In’s, captured by Ethan James Green at Schubertkino, followed by refreshments
Finnisage: June 21, 2026

Member Programs
Member Preview: April 24, 2026, 5-6.30pm

Drake Carr (b. 1993, Flint, MI) is an artist and illustrator based in New York. Carr has had solo exhibitions at Megan Mulrooney, Los Angeles, CA (2025); FIERMAN, New York, NY (2024); Mariposa Gallery, Paris, France (2024); Artists Space, New York, NY (2023); New York Life Gallery, New York, NY (2023); Situations/FIERMAN, New York, NY (2022); 0.0, Los Angeles, CA (2019); and The Hole, New York, NY (2018). He has participated in group exhibitions at Marvin Gardens, New York, NY (2024); The Hole, New York, NY (2024, 2017); Nicodim Gallery, New York, NY (2023); Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA (2021); and Karma, Los Angeles, CA (2017). Carr’s work has been published widely, including in Art in America, Artforum, Vogue, W Magazine, i-D, and Cultured, as well as Samuel R. Delany’s novella Big Joe (Inpatient Press, 2025).

This publication appeared in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name Druckgraphik 1970–85, which took place in 1986 at the Grazer Kunstverein. The collection shows a selection of the most impressive works created between 1970-85 and is intended to give an insight into the medium as well as its contemporary use and importance. 

Editor: Peter Pakesch
Authors: Bice Curiger, Martin Disler, Monika Faber, Johannes Gachnang, Günther Gercken, Per Kirkeby, David Shapiro, Emilio Vedova, Wolfgang Wunderlich
Artists: John Baldessari, Georg Baselitz, Marcel Broodthaer, Günter Brus, Werner Büttner, Francesco Clemente, Enzo Cucchi, Gunter Damisch, Martin Disler, Jörg Immendorf, Jasper Johs, Hubert Kiecol, Per Kirkeby, Sol Lewitt, Markus Lüpertz, Hermann Nitsch, Albert Oehlen, A.R. Penck, Arnulf Raier, Dieter Roth, Emilio Vedova, Franz Wanner
120 pages, 158 images in total, 124 b/w, 34 color images., 27 x 21,5 cm, 540g, German
Published by: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1986
ISBN 3-201-01326-9
Price: 31,– Euro

The articles of the first issue of the magazine Durch deal with space, the interweaving of art and science, philosophy and poetry and a lot more. 

Editors: Peter Pakesch, Elisabeth Printschitz, Klaus Feichtenberger
Authors: Rudolf Haller, Rolf Herken,Peter Kogler, Roger Penrose, August Ruhs, Ferdinand Schmatz, Elisabeth Schweeger, Albert Oehlen, Peter Weibel, John A. Wheeler, Oswald Wiener, Erich Wonder
Artists: Günther Förg, Reinhard Mucha, Meuser, Hubert Kiecol, Georg Herold, Albert Oehlen
Design: John Baldessari
66 pages, 33 images in total, 10 b/w, 23 color images, 24 x 16,5 cm, 180g, German/ English
Published by: self-published
Price: 29,– Euro

Die Wahlverwandtschaften is the publication of the exhibition of the same name, which took place as part of steirischer herbst ’86 at the Stadtmuseum Graz from 21 September to 20 November 1986. The exhibition dealt with the relationship between literature and the visual arts.

Editor: Peter Pakesch
Authors: Elechi Amadi, Alberto Boatto, Konrad Bayer, Elias Canetti, Raymond Carver, Daniil Charmes, Joseph Conrad, Alain Cueff, Gustave Flaubert, Sigmund Freud, Allen Ginsberg, Jenny Holzer, Per Kirkeby, Pierre Klossowski, Joseph Kosuth, Giacomo Leopardi, Thomas Mann, Mario Merz, Peter Pakesch, Edgar Allen Poe, Ezra Pound, Reinhard Pressnitz, Dieter Roth, Claude Royet-Journoud, August Ruhs, Johannes von Schlebrügge, Ferdinand Schmatz, William Shakespeare, Mariella Simoni, Daniel Walter, Franz West, Elisabeth Wiesmayr-Schlebrügge, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Denys Zacharopoulos, sowie aus dem Alten Testament, den Nachtwachen des Bonaventura und Suburban Souls
Artists: Hans Holbein, Mario Merz, Pierpaolo Calolari, Johan Baldessari, Alighiero Boetti, Reinhard Priessnitz, Norbert Brunner, Günter Brus, Werner Büttner, Francesco Clemente, Gilbert & George, Jenny Holzer, Ilja Kabakov, Per Kirkeby, Pierre Klossowski, Joseph Kosuth, Reinhard Mucha, Bruce Nauman, Dieter Roth, Mariella Simoni, Jan Vercruysse, Franz West, Ferdinand Schmatz, Otto Zitko
158 pages, 95 images in total, 57 b/w, 38 color images, 27 x 21 cm, 685g, German 
Published by: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz 1986
Price: 29,– Euro

The exhibition catalogue was created in the course of the exhibition of the same name Malerei – Wandmalerei, which took place from 20 September to 24 October 1987, in cooperation with steirischer herbst ’87, in the premises of the Stadtmuseum Graz.

Editor: Peter Pakesch
Authors: Otto Demus, Ludwig Hevesi, Dieter Bogner, Friedrich Kiesler, Georg Schöllhammer, Christian Gagerle, Markus Brüderlin, Denys Zacharopoulos
Artists: Mario Merz, Sol Lewitt, Arnuf Rainer, Robert Ryman, Gerhard Richter, Dan Flavin, Niele Toroni, Pat Steir, Blinki Palermo, Pierpaolo Calzolari, Günther Förg, Ernst Caramelle, James Welling, Herbert Brandl
Design: Günther Förg
120 pages plus issue, images in total 87, 44 b/w, 43 color images, 27 x 21 cm, 560g, German
Published by: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz
Price: 29,– Euro

The exhibition catalogue was created in the course of the exhibition of the same name Bildhauerzeichnungen, which took place in June 1987 in the premises of the Grazer Künstlerhaus. Curator Peter Pakesch put together the exhibition to define the behavior of contemporary sculptors in another medium.

Editor: Peter Pakesch
Authors: Bruno Corà, Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe, Antje von Graevenitz, Rafael Jablonka, Hubert Klocker, Dieter Koepplin, Ulrich Loock, John Yau
Artists: Richard Artschwager, Joseph Beuys, Bruno Gironcoli, Donald Judd, Hubert Kiecol, Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz, Bruce Naumann, Walter Pichler, Thomas Schütte, Richard Serra
Cover design: Hubert Kiecol
84 pages, 70 images in total, 41 b/w, 29 color images, 27 x 21cm, 370g, German
Published by: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz
ISBN 978-3-201-01347-1
Price: 29,– Euro (out of print)

The artist’s book was written during Albert Oehlen’s four-month residency in Graz in 1986, which was summed up with a solo exhibition from 10 to 27 January 1987 at the Graz Künstlerhaus.

Editors: Peter Pakesch, Albert Oehlen
Author: Peter Pakesch
Cover design: Doll by Julia Reichert
48 pages, 20 images in total and collages 81–86; 9 b/w, 11 color images, 24,5 x 17 cm, 310g, German
Published by: Akademische Druck- und Verlangsanstalt, Graz
(out of print)

The second issue of the magazine Durch gives an insight into the art world and scene of the culturally contrasting metropolises of New York and Moscow. It outlines the two cities and their atmosphere.

Editors: Peter Pakesch, Elisabeth Printschitz, Volker Schögler
Authors: Raimund Abraham, Josif Bakstein, Joseph Brodsky, Jean-Joseph Goux, Boris Groys, Gary Indiana, Tama Janowitz, Jonas Mekas, Viktor Misiano, Heiner Müller, Glen O’Brien, Dimitrij A. Prigov, David Robbins, Hans-Joachim Schlegel, Arlette Sennegon-Meister, Willis Truitt, Vadim Zacharov
Artists: Juri Albert, Annette Lemieux, Mc Dermott/ Mc Gough, Barbara Ess, Meg Webster, The Starn Twins, David Robbins, Nicolaj Filatov, A.V. Reuter,Georgij Lititschevskij, German Vinogradv, Igor Kapytjanskij, Vadim Zacharov, Alexander Kossolapov, Komar & Melamid, Erik Bulatov, Ilya Kabakov, Francisco Infante, Jonas Mekas, Raimund Abraham
Design: Ilya Kabakov, Joseph Kosuth
110 pages, 67 images in total, 36 b/w, 31 color images, 24,5 x 16,5 cm, 345g, German/ English
Published by: Akademische Druck- und Verlagsanstalt, Graz
Price: 29,– Euro

This issue of the magazine Durch is listed as a double issue due to its size and bilingualism. It is the first issue of a series of planned guest editors. Durch 3/ 4 was designed and editorially supervised by Albert Ohlen.

Editors: Albert Oehlen, Peter Pakesch, Elisabeth Printschitz
Authors: Werner Büttner, Guy Debord, Diedrich Diedrichsen, Rainald Goetz, Georg Herold, Jörg Immendorf, Asger Jorn, Michael Krebber, Markus Oehlen, Roberto Ohrt, Martin Prinzhorn, Mayo Thompson, Gil Wolmann
Artists: Joseph Beuys, Ian Davidson, Guy Debord, Uwe Gabriel, Tita Giese, Jörg Immendorf, Asger Jorg, Michael Krebber, Otto Mühl, Markus Oehlen, Friedrich Seidenstücker, Nic Tenwiggenhorn
Design: Jörg Immendorff
190 pages, 27 images in total, 18 b/w, 9 color images 24,5 x 16,5 cm, 360g, German/ English
Published by: self-published
additional edition of 30 pieces, numbered, signed
ISSN 1010-8378
Price: 29,– Euro