Obsessions In_Focus: Confrontations, Confessions and Glowing Friendships

Exhibition Created by Peter Noever
Curated by Betty Kassis and Peter Noever
Opening Reception: Friday, April 19 at 6pm

With manifestos by:

Raimund Abraham, Vito Acconci, Günther Domenig, Zaha Hadid, Magdalena Jetelova, Eric Owen Moss, Walter Pichler, Wolf D. Prix, Bernard Rudofsky, James Turrell, Franz West and Lebbeus Woods

“The contemporary must be fought for!” is not only a statement of belief, but also an expression of a present that was fought for and experienced. It is a manifesto for a critical attitude toward contemporaneity in times of growing non-commitments. Obsessions in Focus is also an attempt to clarify the essence of contemporary art and architecture through a festival of contrasting positions in which each day one visionary artist or architect will be in focus.

Peter Noever is an Austrian designer, Ausstellungsmacher and curator–at–large of art, architecture and media. From 1986 to 2011 he was the artistic director and CEO of MAK—Austrian Museum of Applied Arts and Contemporary Art, Vienna/Los Angeles. 1994 he founded the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, Los Angeles, occupying three of the most important buildings designed by architect Rudolph M. Schindler