The Galerie nächst St. Stephan stands for the living tradition of contemporary art. Since the 1920s, it has been located in the same place in the center of Vienna, at Grünangergasse 1. Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, the gallery’s director since 1978 and owner since 1987, exhibits artists who represent precise, innovative, international abstract and conceptual art. The gallery’s program revolves around promoting a new visuality and discursiveness of art that is firmly rooted in the present day. The gallery was the first in Austria to exhibit Minimal and Conceptual Art, and its ongoing exhibition approach creates an ideal environment for examining the complexity and development of these artistic genres.
In its many symposia and publications, the gallery continues to focus on the importance of discourse and art theory, also as a basis of artistic production. The exhibitions and discussions hosted by the gallery also provide insight into the theoretical and linguistic conditions inherent to art that also frequently find their expression as artistic themes.
Recent publications by the Galerie nächst St. Stephan include the catalogue for Helmut Federle’s solo exhibition, the catalogue “WORK + WORK” for the group exhibition of the same name, and the book “Schwarze Sulm,” which features paintings by Herbert Brandl.
In its ongoing partnership with artists, the Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder plays an active role in the cultivation of their work. These fruitful relationships form the core of the gallery’s program. The gallery also assists with founding and expanding private and public collections, as can be seen in its long-term relationships with international collectors and museums.
The gallery’s close collaboration with many artists and collectors is described in more detail in the book Rosemarie Schwarzwälder, Klares Programm – Galerie-Arbeit heute (published in German by Lindinger + Schmid, 1995).