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Tanja Boukal. The Artist

Lives, works and thinks in Vienna

Download CV Artists Statement

About Me

Humans are the focus of my work - their interactions with the environment and society, and their responses to challenging situations. Rather than focusing on the details of their faces or bodies, my interest lies in understanding their abilities when faced with unique life circumstances. I delve into their methods of problem solving, their determination to achieve goals, and their pursuit of finding happiness.

At the core of my artistic journey is a commitment to human dignity that seamlessly integrates ethical considerations into my work. I often highlight extraordinary individuals, not as isolated characters, but as representatives of those willing to endure significant challenges to realize their aspirations. This approach includes extending recognition to individuals who typically remain invisible.

Therefore, women's fates are often highlighted. By centering their stories, I seek to amplify the voices that have historically remained in the shadows, ensuring that their struggles, triumphs, and unique perspectives receive the attention they rightfully deserve.

My creative process involves the incorporation of traditional craft techniques to create a connection with the person or situation being portrayed. Craft, known for millennia as the art of ordinary men and women, represents to me human creativity and the joy of making. The aspiration of these individuals is to leave a lasting memory, to create something significant. Through the techniques I use, I emphasize the importance associated with portraying these individuals and their stories.

Studies

1999 – 2002 Various classes

with Barbara Fuchs, Tone Fink, Jean Silverthorne, Nancy Davidson, Paloma Navares, Wolfram Kastner and Frieda Baranek, International Summeracademy for Fine Arts, Salzburg, Austria

1995 – 1999 Stage Design

Wiener Kunstschule, Vienna, Austria View the final project

1990 – 1994 Embroidery

HBLA Herbststraße, Vienna, Austria

Solo Exhibitions

2021 - 2022 Do you know that we have lost?
Dům umění, Brno, Czech Republic
2021 Tanja Boukal & Carmen Pfanner
Remise Bludenz, Bludenz, Austria
2019 Tanja Boukal: Knitting and Embroidery Gone Rogue
Ruth Funk Center for Textile Arts, Melbourne, United States of America
2019 Where flowers bloom...
heimart, Neufelden, Austria
2016 No one has any intention of building a wall
Kunstverein Augsburg, Augsburg, Germany
2015 Path of Humanity
Bourbaki Panorama Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland
2014 Better Homes
Red Carpet Showroom Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria
2014 What to Do When Hell Breaks Loose?
AB Gallery Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland
2013 - 2014 Political Correctness
Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
2013 Tanja Boukal
TextilKUNST Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
2011 Pandora's Box
Galerie Eboran, Salzburg, Austria
2011 Pandora's Box
Alessandro Marena Project, Torino, Italy
2010 Welcome to Paradise
Galerie Peithner-Lichtenfels, Vienna, Austria
2009 Abandoned
Congress Centrum Alpbach, Alpbach, Austria
2008 Where your feet are standing,...
Gallery Peithner-Lichtenfels, Vienna, Austria
2007 Von der Notwendigkeit, Augen am Hinterkopf zu haben
Deutschvilla, Strobl am Wolfgangsee, Austria
2005 Selected Works

Gallery Ephram, Mikulov, Czech Republic

2003 selbst [?] sicher
Galerie Vernissage, Vienna, Austria
2001 Superficial View
Celeste, Vienna, Austria
2001 As Long As the Hunters Write History…

Galerie im Alcatraz, Hallein, Austria

Group Exhibitions (Compendium)

2023 - 2024 2000er Bye-Bye Zuversicht
Wien Museum MUSA, Vienna, Austria
2022 - 2025 Mouvements
Musée d'Art et d'Histoire, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
2022 - 2023 Appunti su questo tempo
Museo del Ricamo e del Tessile, Valtopina, Italy
CasermArcheologica, Sansepolcro, Italy
2022 The Very Fiber… Not Necessarily Domestic Goddesses
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, United States of America
2021 - 2022 EDEN - The Rainbow Tribe
WhiteSpaceBlackBox, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
2021 EDEN – Poisoned Temptations
WhiteSpaceBlackBox, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
2020 - 2021 Spuren und Masken der Flucht
Landesgalerie Niederösterreich , Krems, Austria
2020 Le monument, le labeur et l’hippocampe
La Kunsthalle, Mulhouse, France
2019 Dämonkratie
A.K.T, Pforzheim, Germany
2018 Efter Flugten
Moesgaard Museum, Højbjerg, Denmark
2018 COMPLEXELLENCE
WhiteSpaceBlackBox, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
2018 Leaden Circles Dissolved In The Air
Elgiz Contemporary Art Museum, Istanbul, Turkey
2018 PraterSternStunden
Projektraum philomena+, Vienna, Austria
2018 Artists 4 more anti-racism
Bezirksvorstehung Margareten, Vienna, Austria
2017 A World Not Ours / Part 2
La Kunsthalle Mulhouse, Mulhouse, France
2017 Plush
Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, United States of America
2017 Threads of Connection
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Coconut Grove, United States of America
2016 - 2017 Looking for the Clouds
MUSA, Vienna, Austria
2016 A World Not Ours
Art Space Pythagorion, Phytagoreio, Greece
2015 - 2016 Demonstrating Minds
Museum of Contemporary Art - KIASMA, Helsinki, Finland
2015 Memory Lab III - Traces
Cercle Cité, Luxembourg, Luxembourg
2014 - 2015 MemoryLab
MUSA, Vienna, Austria
Budapest Gallery, Budapest, Hungary
2014 The Dignity of Man
MUSA, Vienna, Austria
Artgallery of Bosnia and Hercegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
House of Arts Brno, Brno, Czech Republic
2013 The Art as Weapon
Red Carpet Showroom Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria
2013 REDUCTIA
Art & Fabrics Backhausen, Vienna, Austria
2013 Humans
Galerie Prisma, Bolzano, Italy
Künstlerhaus Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria
2013 Spuren legen
District Museum Vienna VI, Vienna, Austria
2013 Great Balls of Austria
CAMP! / Contemporary Art Meeting Point, Athens, Greece
2012 - 2013 APPROPRIATION, Part III: Socio-cultural Conditioning
Fotogalerie Wien, Vienna, Austria
2012 In Transition
Galerie der KG Freiräume, Hallein, Austria
2012 Crossover

Gallery Peithner-Lichtenfels, Vienna, Austria

2012 Answers on the Front of of Postcard

Opus Art, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

2012 Summer exhibition

Gallery Opus Art, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

2011 Fadenspiel
Kunstraum Pro Arte, Hallein, Austria
2011 Next

Galerie Peithner-Lichtenfels, Vienna, Austria

2010 Basel_back II

Galerie Peithner-Lichtenfels, Vienna, Austria

2009 BASEL_Back
Galerie Peithner-Lichtenfels, Vienna, Austria
2008 Qui vive? Moscow International Biennale for Young Art
Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Moscow, Russian Federation
2008 Parcours II

Galerie Freiräume, Hallein, Austria

2006 - 2007 Paper Road
Papiermachermuseum Steyrermühl, Steyrermühl, Austria
Handwerksmuseum Deggendorf, Deggendorf, Germany
2005 Fotonoviembre 2005
Escuela de Arte y Superior de Diseño Fernando Estévez, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
2005 Heima®t
Deutschvilla, Strobl am Wolfgangsee, Austria
2004 emBODYment

Rathaus, Mainz, Germany

2004 Collection Piramidon

Piramidon, Barcelona, Catalunya

2003 Das geduldige Papier (Paper is patient)
Palais Breuner, Vienna, Austria
2003 all about: female sex
Galerie Academie, Salzburg, Austria
2002 Spazialità Condivisa
Centro d´Arte Puccini, Firenze, Italy
2002 Papierkunst
PapierWespe, Vienna, Austria
2001 Fotonoviembre

6th International Biennale of Photography, Tenerife, Canary Islands

2000 Kulturlos
Uni für angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria
2000 Blind date
Institut für Astronomie, Vienna, Austria
1997 Jugend hat Kultur

Rotpunkt, Vienna, Austria

Scholarships & Cooperations

2023-2024 Art in Architecture

Tilia Residence, Rheinau, Switzerland

2020 Artist in Covidence

WhiteSpaceBlackBox, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

2017/2018 Artist in Residence

La Kunsthalle, Mulhouse, France

2016 Artist in Residence

Schwarz Foundation, Samos, Greece

2003/2004 Artist in Recidence

Centre d’ Arte Contemporani Piramidon, Barcelona, Catalunya

2002 Scholarship of the International Summeracademy for Fine Arts

Salzburg, Austria

Catalogues & Publications

2023 Die 2000er Jahre. Bye Bye Zuversicht
Brigitte Borchhardt-Birbaumer, Berthold Ecker
VfmK Verlag für moderne Kunst, ISBN: 978-3-99153-035-0
2022 Tanja Boukal: Do you also have pretty motifs?
Tina Teufel
Snoeck, ISBN: 978-3-86442-368-0
2022 Appunti su questo tempo
Manú srls
Artemorbida Edizioni, ISBN: 979 12 81088 00 9
2022 Eden
Hans Rudolf Jost
2020 Le monument, le labeur et l’hippocampe
2020 Tanja Boukal - The Mulhouse Project
2020 Spuren und Masken der Flucht
VfmK - Verlag für moderne Kunst, ISBN: 978-3903320895
2019 The Bloomsbury Handbook of 21st-Century Feminist Theory
ISBN: 978-1350268401
2018 COMPLEXELLENCE
Hans Rudolf Jost
2017 A World Not Ours - La Kunsthalle Mulhouse
La Kunsthalle Mulhouse
2017 European Month of Photography LUX
Paul di Felice, Pierre Stiwer
EMoP asbl www.europeanmonthofphotography.com, ISBN: 978-99959-674 -5-1
2017 Galerie Eboran 2001-2016

Galerie Eboran, Salzburg, Austria

2016 Looking for the clouds
Pierre Stiwer, Gabriella Uhl
EMoP asbl www.europeanmonthofphotography.com, ISBN: 978-99959-891-1-8 
2016 A World Not Ours - Art Space Pythagorion
Katerina Gregos
2016 eyes on. Monat der Fotografie Wien 2016
Pia Draskovits
Fotohofedition, ISBN: 978-3-902993-28-1
2016 Threads of Connection
Bernice Steinbaum
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, ISBN: 2016960218
2016 Spuren legen. Gegenwartskunst in Wiener Bezirks- und Sondermuseen 2010-2015
Basis.Kultur.Wien.
2016 Tanja Boukal : Etablierung des Textilen als medienkritisches Element der Kunst

Cosima Öllinger
Master's thesis, Catholic Private University Linz, 2016

2015 Demonstrating Minds - Disagreements in Contemporary Art
A Museum of Contemporary Art Publication
Finnish National Gallery, ISBN: 978-952-7067-20-8
2015 Photographie et Mémoire
Paul di Felice, Pierre Stiwer 
EMoP asbl www.europeanmonthofphotography.com, ISBN: 978-99959-674-4-4
2015 Tanja Boukal - The Melilla Project
2015 Ateliergespräche III
Sabine Coelsch-Foisner
Verlag Anton Pustet e.U., ISBN: 978-3-7025-0809-8
2014 Tanja Boukal - Political Correctness
Museum der Moderne Salzburg, Tina Teufel
Bibliothek der Provinz, ISBN: 978-3-99028-327-1
2014 Der Menschheit Würde. The Dignity of Man. Dustojnost cloveka. Ljudsko dostojanstvo
Berthold Ecker, Roland Fink
Ambra Verlag, ISBN: 978-3-99043-656-1
2014 Memory Lab / Photography Challenges History
Gabriella Uhl
EMoP asbl www.europeanmonthofphotography.com, ISBN: 978-99959-891-0-1
2013 Humans
Kunstverein Kärnten, ISBN: 978-3-200-03055-8
2012 ANEIGNUNG/Appropriation Fotobuch 49/ 2012
Petra Noll
Fotogalerie Wien, ISBN: 978-3-902725-34-9
2012 Die Kunst der Nadel - Stickarbeiten in der zeitgenössischen Kunst (p. 38 ff.)

Sandra Schwender
Diploma thesis, University of Vienna: Faculty of History and Cultural Studies

2011 Tanja Boukal: Pandora´s Box
2010 Tanja Boukal - Welcome to Paradise
2009 Tanja Boukal: Body of Works 2002-2009
2007 Tanja Boukal: Von der Notwendigkeit, Augen am Hinterkopf zu Haben
2006 Paper Road 2006 - internationale papierkunst - industry paper art
2005 Fotonoviembre: 8. Bienal Internacional de Fotografía de Tenerife
Tea Tenerife Espacio de las Artes
Tea Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, ISBN: 84-88594-38-0
2005 Heima®t
Martin Dietrich, Tina Teufel
2003 all about: female sex
Mario Mauroner
2001 Fotonoviembre: 6. Bienal Internacional de Fotografía de Tenerife
Tea Tenerife Espacio de las Artes
2001 Saison 2000/2001

 Galerie im Alcatraz, Hallein, Austria