Tanja Boukal. The Artist
Lives, works and thinks in Vienna
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)
2024 | DE/CODING TEXTILE FACTORY Künstlerhaus, Vienna, Austria |
2024 | Valley of the Simorgh Hinterland, Vienna, Austria |
2024 | A-dialogoi Palazzo Pianetti, Jesi, Italy |
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
2024 | Valleys of the Simorgh Anita Hosseini Self-published by Galerie Hinterland, ISBN: 978-3-903525-08-5 |
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 |
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 |
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 |