Rainer Ganahl
Rainer Ganahl is an Austrian-American conceptual artist who lives and works in New York. His work has been widely exhibited, including the Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria; The Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York; the Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst, Bremen, Germany; and the 48th Venice Biennale. He is the subject and author of several published catalogues, among them, Reading Karl Marx, Ortsprache—Local Language, and Rainer Ganahl: Educational Complex.
Education
Ganahl received a Master’s degree in Philosophy, History, and Social Sciences from the University of Innsbruck in 1985, with a special focus on Ludwig Wittgenstein, linguistics, the history of economics, technology, and communication, as well as aesthetics shaped by the transformation of media across centuries.Ganahl is a committed autodidact and has made learning a lifelong practice—an ethos that has itself become central to his artistic output. This dedication was on display at the Italian Pavilion of the Venice Biennale curated by Robert Storr, where his project "Basic Linguistics" was featured.
From 1986 to 1990, Ganahl pursued undergraduate studies at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990. There, he studied under Peter Weibel and was influenced by cybernetics and network theory through Roy Ascott. He also engaged with visiting lecturers such as Valie Export, and prominent professors including Hans Hollein, a central figure in postmodern architecture, and Maria Lassnig. The university—renowned for its ties to Jugendstil and historic associations with Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele—was, during Ganahl’s time, also linked to contemporary cultural figures such as Vivienne Westwood.
From 1990 to 1991, Ganahl continued his studies at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, where he studied under Nam June Paik and earned a Master of Fine Arts in 1991. Concurrently, during the 1990/91 academic year, he was a participant in the Whitney [Independent Study Program|Independent Study Program] at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
He is fluent in German, Italian, French, Spanish, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese, with the ability to read and write in each language.
Work
Ganahl started his career exploring computer based art, a pioneering field for its time. His first exhibition in this area was demonstrated at Philomene Magers in 1990.His best known work, S/L , is an ongoing series of photographs, begun in 1995, of well-known cultural critics addressing audiences. The photographs, taken in university class rooms and lecture halls, not only show the lecturer but also the listeners and students in the audience. In a similar way, he documented his own process of learning an "exotic" language into an art project.
In his Imported-Reading Seminars held from 1995 onward, the group study of theoretical works from specific countries were documented on video. His exhibition "El Mundo" at Kai Matsumiya was recently listed as one of the top exhibitions of 2014 by the New York Times, and the film was subsequently acquired in the permanent collections at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Hirshhorn Collection at the Smithsonian.
Besides his photographic work and media art, Ganahl has been painting throughout his career, often integrating current news coverage into his pictures.
Ganahl represented Austria at the 48th Venice Biennale.
In 2013, Ganahl founded the fashion brand Comme des Marxists, which merges fashion, art, and Marxist theory. The brand critiques capitalism and explores class struggles, cultural commentary, and sustainability in the fashion industry. The brand has been exhibited in numerous international galleries and museums, contributing to dialogues on capitalism and sustainability in both fashion and art.