Vienna Secession

Sofie Thorsen, Henrik Plenge Jakobsen and Vanessa Joan Müller in conversation.

On the occasion of the exhibition Vienna–Copenhagen. Den Frie Udstilling 2026 at the artists’ association Den Frie in Copenhagen, the co-organisers Sofie Thorsen and Henrik Plenge Jakobsen talk with the art historian and curator Vanessa Joan Müller about, among other things, the model of the artists’ association, its historical roots, and the collaborative work and lively exchange leading up to the current exhibition.

For the exhibition, the artists’ association Den Frie Udstilling invited their colleagues from the sister institution, Vienna Secession, to participate as guest exhibitors. 45 artists from Den Frie Udstilling present their work in dialogue with 125 Austrian artist colleagues from Vienna Secession. Like Den Frie, the Secession was founded in the 1890s, and the two institutions remain among the few exhibition venues in Europe still owned and run by artists. As is the case of Den Frie Udstilling, Vienna Secession also counts some of the country’s most prominent artists among its members.

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Photo Sofie Thorsen: Hannes Böck
Photo Henrik Plenge Jakobsen: Anders Sune Berg

`s exhibition Circus. On view through 31.May.
Discover the exhibition now.

video: Max Reinhold

`s exhibition Circus is on view through 31.May.
Discover the exhibition now.

video: Max Reinhold

`s exhibition I Come in Peace is on view through 31.May.
Discover the exhibition now.

video: Max Reinhold

.dike`s exhibition Rare Earth Rare Justice is on view through 31.May.
Discover the exhibition now.

video: Max Reinhold

Listen to Peter Sandbichler in conversation with Angela Stief in our latest podcast episode!

Peter Sandbichler is a conceptual sculptor who combines sociopolitical themes with fundamental questions of sculptural aesthetics, exploring surface, space, and time as well as material, form, and process. Working across various media, he creates expansive objects, installations, and architectural interventions in public space. His artistic practice operates at the intersection of deformation and perfection. He works with structures, ornaments, and grids, dismantling them and generating new systems of order.

Angela Stief, born in 1974 in Augsburg (Germany), is an art historian, curator, and cultural journalist. She studied art history and philosophy. From 2002 to 2013, she worked as a curator at Kunsthalle Wien. In 2020, she assumed a guest professorship for curatorial practice at the University of Linz.
Since 2020, she has been working at the Albertina and was appointed Director of Albertina Modern and Chief Curator for Contemporary Art at the Albertina in 2021. She has authored numerous texts on contemporary art for monographs, exhibition catalogues, and magazines.

Available on our website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Dorotheum is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcasts.

Photo Peter Steinbichler: courtesy of Peter Setinbichler

A new podcast episode with Reba Maybury and Haris Giannouras is out!

For her solo exhibition at Secession Maybury worked on a new body of work that engages directly with the misogynistic histories of the institution, confronting Klimt as a figure entrenched in privilege and power, a classical prototype of male artistic genius. In her practice the artist interrogates the intersections of feminism, s*xuality, and power. Their discussion touches on the new works produced for the exhibition while addressing issues of punk, s*x, labour, and the gendered side of power.

Available on our website, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
is the exclusive sponsor of the Secession Podcast.



Photo: Natascha Unkart