Contact
Smolka Contemporary
Lobkowitzplatz 3, 1010 Vienna
Austria
Tue to Fri: 1 – 6pm
Sat: 11am – 2pm
and by appointment
Wilhelm Smolka KG
Spiegelgasse 25, 1010 Vienna
Austria
Open by appointment
Please note that we do not accept unsolicited artist portfolios
About Us
The gallery Smolka Contemporary was founded in 2013 by Elisabeth Melichar and is located in the 1st district of Vienna in the immediate vicinity of the State Opera, the Albertina and the Dorotheum auction house – in other words, in the heart of the cultural life of the capital of Austria.
The Smolka family has been present at this location on Lobkowitzplatz and Spiegelgasse since the 1950s. Originally solely for the frame production, which remains a family business, the space is now being run by the second and third generation. Contemporary art exhibitions are presented in the gallery space on Lobkowitzplatz.
The painters in the gallery’s programme, such as Ferdinand Melichar, Alois Mosbacher, and Hubert Schmalix, primarily represent the generation that rose to prominence in the 1980s under the label “Junge Wilde” (Young Wild Ones). In contrast to the conceptual and performance art of the previous decade, they favoured a new form of painting and sculpture: an ideologically unconcerned abundance of imagery and narrative, in which materials, colours and shapes were at the center of expression. Abstract painting is also featured prominently in the programme, with artists such as Elisabeth Plank and Walter Vopava.
In addition to painting, the gallery also focuses on sculpture, featuring artists such as Hans Kupelwieser, Matteo Negri, Markus Redl, Thomas Stimm, Manfred Wakolbinger and Uta Weber.
Furthermore, applied and conceptual art is represented with Uli Aigner (ONE MILLION) and Gilbert Bretterbauer, as well as drawing with Uli Aigner, Peter Hauenschild and Alois Mosbacher and photography with Mario Kiesenhofer and Rita Nowak.
Aside from supporting established artists, the gallery also increasingly works with young, emerging artists such as the painter Negra Bernhard and the photographer Mario Kiesenhofer.
Smolka Contemporary sees itself as a gallery that strives to ensure maximum national and international visibility through intensive collaboration with a limited number of artists – its location in Vienna’s 1st district offers an excellent opportunity for this. This visibility is enhanced by participation in international fairs such as Vienna Contemporary, Spark Art Fair, and Art Düsseldorf.