Austrian artist and filmmaker Edgar Honetschläger has been active for years in both Austria and Italy through his initiative GoBugsGo. Founded in 2018, this collective NGO acquires land and establishes Non-Human Zones to preserve the habitat necessary for insects. GoBugsGo represents an expansion of artistic practice in the 21st century. It engages with society by advocating “non-intervention.” The artist does not shape anything; rather, he seeks to dissolve the nature/culture dichotomy and submits to a collective.
Honetschläger has, however, also remained true to the forms of 20th-century art. His new book, Visiting Cy, emerged from a weeks-long, solitary stay in Cy Twombly’s studio in Gaeta, north of Naples. The architecture of the old house, the blue light from the sea, the terraced garden, and the constant presence of the long-deceased artist in his studio are sources of inspiration that Honetschläger slowly begins to draw upon.
The result is over 400 works created using a wide variety of painting and drawing techniques, in which he engages equally with Twombly’s artistic genius and the genius loci. Honetschläger accompanies his selection from this body of work with a highly personal text that observes and reflects on his own creative process. Readers and viewers become witnesses to his inner monologue, addressed to his imaginary host.
Austrian artist and filmmaker Edgar Honetschläger has been active for years in both Austria and Italy through his initiative GoBugsGo. Founded in 2018, this collective NGO acquires land and establishes Non-Human Zones to preserve the habitat necessary for insects. GoBugsGo represents an expansion of artistic practice in the 21st century. It engages with society by advocating “non-intervention.” The artist does not shape anything; rather, he seeks to dissolve the nature/culture dichotomy and submits to a collective.
Honetschläger has, however, also remained true to the forms of 20th-century art. His new book, Visiting Cy, emerged from a weeks-long, solitary stay in Cy Twombly’s studio in Gaeta, north of Naples. The architecture of the old house, the blue light from the sea, the terraced garden, and the constant presence of the long-deceased artist in his studio are sources of inspiration that Honetschläger slowly begins to draw upon.
The result is over 400 works created using a wide variety of painting and drawing techniques, in which he engages equally with Twombly’s artistic genius and the genius loci. Honetschläger accompanies his selection from this body of work with a highly personal text that observes and reflects on his own creative process. Readers and viewers become witnesses to his inner monologue, addressed to his imaginary host.
