Head: Univ.-Prof. Mag.phil.
Dr.phil. Eva Kernbauer
Today, more than ever, artistic work demands profound historical
knowledge, visual analysis competence, theoretical reflective capacity and linguistic communications skills. Art and visual
media affect every aspect of social-cultural activities such as economics, politics, media, high and pop culture, as well
as ethnic cultures, sexuality and gender relations, psychology, medicine and natural sciences, and philosophy. Like art, as
a discipline, art history is part of these discourses and social practices and therefore in addition to its classical methods
of style and work analysis, also furnishes methods for the scrutiny of these interdependencies.
One focal point
of art historical teaching and research at the “Angewandte” is contemporary art. The view of art history is evolved from current
questions, in order to render acquired historical knowledge fertile for a critical and creative approach to the present.
Current research focal points involve the relationship between text and image, the formation of early modern subjectivity
models in contemporary painting, historical and current transformation of the self- and role image of artists, gender issues,
the ambiguity of modern and contemporary art, methodological questions relating to the historicising of contemporary art,
surrealism and avant-garde research, as well as aspects of video art and film history. Conferences, lecture series and exhibitions
are organised for this purpose along with the publication of books.