Parallel Vienna 2025: A Walkthrough with Munchies Art Club
Inside Parallel Vienna 2025: press day chaos, rehearsal vibes, and the artists who made the fair’s rooms worth returning to.
Parallel Vienna 2025 press day at the Otto Wagner Areal unfolded like rehearsal and revelation, mixing fresh discoveries with artists already on our radar.
The doors opened not to anticipation, but to a building site: unfinished rooms, artists missing or hurriedly installing, fair organizers barely managing to mumble a welcome at the official speech.
The notorious roughness of Parallel Vienna is a draw, Vienna’s annual alternative to the polished white cubes and market glare of other fairs.
But this time, what counted as “charm” was nothing more than a lack of preparation.
Parallel Vienna 2025: Yu Aichinger, one of our featured artists on Munchies Art Club, presented installations of jeans and boots scattered across gravel floors at the Otto Wagner Areal, works evoking presence, absence, and the traces we leave behind.
The deeper failing was asking the press to document the event before many of the artists had even been given a chance to finish, present, or breathe.
Who Pays for Early Exposure? Not the Organizers
Other fairs respect their artists by inviting the press to see finished work, ready for public eyes.
Parallel Vienna 2025: Javier Carro Tempoury, presented in the fair’s curated Artist Statements section, showed wall-hanging ceramic works that splice decorative plates into architectural forms. It was the first time I encountered his practice live, and the material presence of these pieces left a strong impression.
Parallel’s scheduling did the opposite, shining a light on fragile beginnings and incomplete installations, exposing artists to scrutiny before they had the chance to do themselves justice.
Let’s be clear: the visible “chaos” wasn’t on the artists. Bare walls, paintings leaning against bags, and empty rooms were the direct result of a scheduling choice.
Parallel Vienna 2025: Guido Sarti presented paintings that combine intimate interiors and surreal landscapes, blending everyday presence with imagined scenes.
Parallel Vienna 2025, artist Olga Shapovalova turns everyday habits into ritual. Her solo showcase includes “Don’t wave the censer around, smoking cigarettes at my studio!” A ceramic and metal object infused with frankincense. Inspired by Austria’s ingrained smoking culture, the piece transforms the studio into a temple, where cigarette smoke becomes incense and art itself a blessing. Permission and Courtesy of the Artist
Parallel Vienna 2025: Olga Shapovalova, previously featured on Munchies Art Club, appeared in the fair’s Artist Statements section with works full of folklore and imagination, from sculptural forms to uncanny painted figures.
A Dry and Hot Welcome: No Water, No Respite
If the art fair is meant to be a gathering place for creativity, the conditions were surprisingly inhospitable.
No water was provided anywhere, not to press, not to artists. The aging pipes of the Otto Wagner Areal made tap water not even drinkable.
With temperatures rising and multiple floors to navigate, thirst was a relentless companion.
No nearby shops or refreshment stands meant many of us had to brave the heat dehydrated and uncomfortable, an avoidable burden that added indignity to an already fraught day.
Parallel Vienna 2025: Natalia Gurova, previously featured by us, presented in the Artist Statements section a series of ceramic sculptures shaped by her multidisciplinary practice. Fluidly moving between concept and craft, her works balance fragility and strength, unfolding like fragments of speculative storytelling.
Press Day: Performance or Premature Critique?
Press day is supposed to be a privilege, an early pulse-check, a preview of adrenaline.
Can’t wait to see the Artist Statements for Parallel Vienna 2025 by promising artist Li Jun (Instagram), currently studying at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Shown here: (left) Traces (2025), 70 × 60 cm, oil on canvas (right and Spoiler) Inner Chamber Oil on canvas , 110 x 130 cm 43.3 x 51.2 in.. Image and artwork courtesy of the artist.
Parallel Vienna 2025: In the Artist Statements section, Olga Pasteková (left)and Li Jun (right) both recently featured by us, welcomed us into their booths, where conversation and art unfolded side by side.
What we got was something closer to a behind-the-scenes scramble. The organizers’ speech began and petered out, outdone by exhaustion.
Oľga Paštéková: Paintings where nature speaks backSlovak painter Oľga Paštéková turns stains, bleaches, and ghosted lines into wolves, rivers, and lantern-houses, lyrical eco-paintings from Bratislava & Vienna.
Previous years featured drinks, sometimes even food and with that genuine exchanges, a sense of being welcomed into something vital.
Parallel Vienna 2025 Artist Statements: Florian Genzken Studio view + new work from conceptual contemporary painter Florian Genzken. We can’t wait to share his artist statement. Left: Genzken in his studio (photo: Fritz Enzo Kargl). Right: Smooth White (2025) glass, glue, wood, inkjet print, mat, aluminum, 80 × 55 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Today, most conversations were with a handful of artists, some still at work, apologizing for spaces that should have been finished.
The heart of the event, its energy and discovery, was lost to timing.
Young artists, many showing at this scale for the first time, deserved a guiding hand, not the risk of first impressions forged in a pressure cooker.
Parallel Vienna 2025: In the COOP Statements section, Dean Maassen (left) and Michael René Sell (right) presented works that paired playful surrealism with intricate graphic detail.
Why This Hurts: Visibility and Artist Rights
Worse, in Austria, visibility isn’t just about audience, it is about practical support. Thanks to Bildrecht, published press images mean real money, recognition, and opportunity for artists.
But with installations unfinished and spaces in flux, many press outlets skip coverage of anything but the official summary, leaving out the very artists who most need the spotlight.
The Artists: Still the Brightest Thing in the Room
Yet the story is not all misfire. Many artists, and the galleries, met this adversity head-on.
Dominique Catherina Foertig
In rooms where work was ready, and conversations alive, the spark was real.
Parallel Vienna 2025: Anastasia Khoroshilova, represented by Galerie Hilger in the Gallery Statements section, presented poignant large-scale portraits addressing memory and loss.
True discoveries came from those who transformed unfinished spaces into charged encounters, from others still working as the press entered, living proof that art-making is process as much as product, and from those who, with little time left, managed to turn their rooms into genuine sites of exchange and care.
Their effort and resilience deserving of headlines.
Next Time: Give the Artists the Stage
Vienna’s art week moves quickly, with curated by, viennacontemporary, and countless pop-ups all demanding attention.
The artists at Parallel Vienna deserve a fair chance to be seen at their best, and I have no doubt they will shine on opening night.
Sadly, because of scheduling, I will not be there to witness it.
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About Catapult Contemporary - Art Platform Submission
This is a exhibition review published by Catapult — an independent editorial platform for contemporary art, based in Vienna. We publish exhibition reviews, artist features, interviews, and critical context, with a focus on emerging and mid-career practices from Europe and beyond.
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