Number Two

The Unfamiliar Familiars

Anna Jermolaewa's (b. St. Petersburg, 1970; lives and works in Vienna) art reveals her to be an acute observer of human communities, of their social foundations and political frameworks. Many of her works bring seemingly insignificant and mundane manifestations of the human condition into focus and interrogate them with a critical yet humorous eye sharpened by her experiences as an alert traveler. In addition to videos, photographs, and drawings, the artist creates expansive installations. Schlossmuseum Linz presents to date the most extensive exhibition of Jermolaewa's work. A cofounder of the Soviet Union's first opposition party and coeditor of a magazine that criticized the government, the artist was forced to leave her native country, was granted political asylum in Austria, and has been professor of experimental design at the University of Art and Design Linz since 2019. Jermolaewa will represent Austria at the Venice Biennale in 2024.

The richly illustrated catalogue showcases a selection of major works from the past twenty-five years as well as new works created specifically for the exhibition in which the conceptual artist turns her attention to the independence movements in the Baltic countries. Essays by Silvia Eiblmayr, Robert Pfaller, Claus Philipp, and Anna Tolstova analyze the performative characters, self-portraits, as well as the significance of the everyday and political dimensions in Jermolaewa's oeuvre.