Kurt Ryslavy was born in Graz in 1961. A conceptual artist and poet, Ryslavy also practises another, somewhat surprising, activity on the side: selling Austrian wine. Indeed, after financially struggling in Belgium for a few years towards the end of the 1980s, the artist began importing and exporting wine from his native country.
Although seemingly completely separate, the artist manages to carry out these activities as complementary elements of his life. Bills and other documents from his business are painted on and used as surfaces, and the artworks created are used to decorate the spaces and events used to present and sell his wines. Radically conceptual, Ryslavy considers his bourgeois activity as an artwork in itself, a ‘bourgeois travesty’ that seeks redefine the artist’s status independently from the constant grind of finding a steady stream of funding and patrons.
Formally versatile, the artist juggles text, video, installation, performance, sculpture, painting and specific (exhibition) concepts in his oeuvre. Deliberately enigmatic, the exhibitions and their scenography elicit curiosity and beholder engagement. During the 2020 lockdowns, Ryslavy discovered the work of the atypical avant-garde artist of the New York scene, Louis Michel Eilshemius (1864–1941), with whom he decided to engage in an aesthetic dialogue, some 110 years later.
A list of Ryslavy’s recent solo exhibitions includes: Angelinna Gallery, Rivoli, Brussels (Belgium), 110 (Franz Schröckenfuchs, etc.) (2021); S.M.A.K. Ghent (Belgium), Sales Catalogue/ Verkaufskatalog (book presentation) (2021); Kunstverein Langenhagen, Hanover (Germany), Olfaktorische Probleme, Probleme der Malerei, Probleme der Wiederholung (2019); Kapelle Eichenpark, Langenhagen, Hanover (Germany), Profanisiertes Gotteshaus, römisch-katholische Entsprechung (2019); Luca Bibliotheek, Sint-Lukas, Brussels (Belgium), Vitrine # 116 relevante installatie, vooral in scholen (2019); Place Van Hoegaerde 22, Brussels (Belgium), Hemiola (Edition) (2019); Vincent Van Gogh Huis, Zundert (Netherlands), nessuna speranza nessuna paura (2018); Galerie Mieke Van Schaijk, ‘s-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands), het is geen kunst FAKE NEWS te maken (2018); Galerie Norbert Arns, Cologne (Germany), Muße ausnahmsweise ausgesetzt (2018); Galerie Saskia Gevaert, Brussels (Belgium), Coming home to Sontag (Edition) (2018); Rue à (la Commune de) Koekelberg, Brussels (Belgium), un Acte de Restitution (2018); Lust-Keller, Haugsdorf (Austria), Von Zülow, Nitsch, Ryslavy! (2018); établissement d’en face, Brussels (Belgium), Viennoiseries (Publikation) (2017); Loods 12, Wetteren (Belgium), High Noon op koophandelsstraat (Publikation) (2016); Cultuurcentrum De Garage, Mechelen (Belgium), tu m’aides à peindre? assistance Walter Swennen (publication, 2016).
