mumok - Museum of Modern Art
The mumok, nestled in the cultural hub that is the MuseumsQuartier, is the largest museum dedicated to modern and contemporary art in Central Europe. It displays an impressive cross-section of 20th and 21st century art. With its collection focusing on Pop Art and Photorealism, Fluxus and Nouveau Réalisme as well as Viennese Actionism, the mumok combines highlights of social, realist as well as performative art. The collection comprises some 10,000 works by 1,600 artists: these include from paintings, sculptures, installations, drawings, graphics, photos, videos, films, architectural models and furniture.
Opened in 2001, the building that houses the mumok is an eye-catcher even from a distance. The cubist museum building was designed by architects Ortner & Ortner, is encased in anthracite gray volcanic stone and has a curved roof. It offers 4,800 square meters of exhibition space spread across several levels. The recesses in the ceiling that let in daylight and a panoramic window on the top floor are other distinctive features.
Highlights of the collection
Pop Art is represented amongst other things with works by Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns; Fluxus and Nouveau Réalisme with creations by Daniel Spoerri, Nam June Paik, Yoko Ono, George Brecht and Marcel Duchamp. Viennese Actionism, Austria's radical and most important contribution to the international development of the Avant-garde movement, is superbly documented with works by Günter Brus, Otto Muehl, Hermann Nitsch and Rudolf Schwarzkogler. A few leading works of the Classical Modern (including by Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee and Piet Mondrian) are also represented in the mumok.
In recent years the museum has successfully built up another focus in its collection: photo, video and film creations, most of which were produced in the last decade. The mumok has also housed a cinema designed by artist Heimo Zobernig since 2011, which showcases the manifold interrelationships between visual art and film.
