Freigang
Aldo Giannotti
The title Freigang refers not only to the freedom of movement that the corridor introduces to the MQ Art Box for the first time. It also plays on the name of the exhibition space beyond it, raising the question: if a place is described as a “free space”, how free is it really?
With Freigang, Aldo Giannotti creates a significant impact through seemingly minimal means: for the first time, a corridor enables visitors to walk through the MQ Art Box. Rather than presenting something to be observed, the installation invites action and participation – the act of passing through the corridor becomes the artwork itself. This temporary reconfiguration of the MQ Art Box reflects Giannotti’s broader artistic practice. For many years, he has explored through drawings and performative installations how rules and conventions shape our behaviour in public spaces and institutions. Rather than opposing them directly, he slightly shifts them. Through these nuanced and often humorous interventions, the artist questions assumptions about how spaces are used, who has access to them, and who is expected to remain an observer.
On the inner walls of the corridor, Giannotti presents drawings addressing themes such as accessibility, participation, freedom, and institutional conventions – not as illustrations, but as alternative propositions and as an expanded experience accompanying the passage through the space.
The route leads visitors through the Freigang corridor towards MQ Freiraum. In the current exhibition Vision and Resistance: How the MuseumsQuartier Changed Vienna, further incisive drawings by Giannotti are presented in the form of instructions for action.
Curator: Astrid Peterle
Exhibition management: Andreas Kurz
Aldo Giannotti, born in Genoa in 1977, is a visual artist who has lived and worked in Vienna since 2000. Drawing is at the center of his artistic practice and serves as a medium for him to explore and convey socio-architectural, socio-political, and socio-cultural themes. Aldo Giannotti studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Carrara, Wimbledon College of Arts in London, and the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. His works have been exhibited and realized in numerous institutions, including Albertina Wien, Kunsthalle Wien, Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien, Kunsthaus Graz, Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, and MAMbo Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna.
