Lois Weinberger — À propos — Slash Paris

Lois Weinberger works on a poetic-political network that draws our attention to marginal zones and questions hierarchies of various types. Weinberger, who sees himself as a field worker, embarked in the 1970s on ethno-poetic works that form the basis for his ongoing artistic investigations of natural and man-made spaces.

Ruderal plants — “Weeds” — involved in all areas of life, are initial and orientation point for notes, drawings, photographs, objects, texts, films as well as big projects in public space.

In 1991-92 he designed the WILD CUBE, a rib steel enclosure for spontaneous vegetation to grow without human intervention — a RUDERAL SOCIETY that creates a gap in the urban environment. At the same time, Weinberger began a series of subversive plant transfers to urban and rural plots appropriated for this purpose.

In BURNING and WALKING he opened up the asphalt on the forecourt of Szene Salzburg during the 1993 festival summer and left this enclosed 8 × 8 m area to itself. This work was reinstalled in 1997 on the Kulturbahnhof car park at documenta X and again in 1998 in the City of Tokyo. At documenta X Weinberger also planted neophytes from southern and south-eastern Europe on a 100 m strech of railroad track, which became an internationally acclaimed metaphor for modern-day migration processes and with its poetic and political references furthermore. 2009 he was invited for the Austrian Pavillon at the Venice Biennal. With his work he contributed significantly to the recent discussion on art and nature since the early 1990’s.

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Lois Weinberger is now a recognised figure in the international art field. The list of hundreds of exhibitions and works in public space he has produced over his career also reflects his presence at major influential art events: the São Paolo Biennale (1991), the Venice Biennale (2009), Documenta in Kassel (1997), and group and solo shows in many prestigious museums and art centres.