Nischen

in his exhibition Nischen, Nikola Hergovich explores architectural elements of our everyday environment that often go unnoticed and ignored by the human eye. by isolating these seemingly unimportant details of our immediate surroundings in his compositions, Hergovich elevates them from the background to the central character. bricked-up windows. weeds and wildflowers making their way through concrete and asphalt towards the sun. stone walls with patina drawings created by the elements and passage of time. after having spent some time with Nikola Hergovich's photographs, one begins to walk in a different way along the familiar streets we pass every day. the gaze moves up and down, around. we begin to notice, to see. The patches of different plaster on a wall are no longer a messy mistake, but a collage. the marks of a demolished building on the neighbouring house are no longer an unattractive remnant, it's a painting of time.

it's no coincidence that Nikola Hergovich's photographs are displayed in the corridors of the old Augustinian nunnery at Joseph-Haydn-Gasse 1, rather than on the white walls of the Kunstverein Eisenstadt's exhibition space. the urban elements that the artist has brought into the building melt with the architecture of the historic building, transforming every trace of time on its walls into the scenery of a film rather than just an infrastructure.

‍text and curation by: Monika Georgieva
foto credits: Nikola Hergovich und Aaron Amar Bhamra

solo exhibition “Nischen”, Kunstverein Eisenstadt, Joseph-Haydn-Gasse 1, 1st floor, corridor area, 2024;