The solo exhibition “Polizeipferde für Österreich” by Jonas Höschl at Bildraum 01 presents a documentation of his performative intervention of the same name, which took place as part of the opening of the Parallel Vienna 2026 art fair.
The work takes as its starting point the plans to introduce a mounted police unit in Vienna. In April 2019, the mounted police were out in the city centre for the first time, training under real life conditions. After costing around 2.5 million euros, the project was shelved in the wake of the Ibiza affair and the subsequent snap elections at the end of 2019.
By re-enacting a real, yet failed, initiative, the work addresses the discrepancy between political symbolism and reality, whilst simultaneously examining the aesthetics and mechanisms of authoritarian politics.
The exhibition curated by Sira-Zoé Schmid, Head of Bildraum 01
About the artist:
Jonas Höschl (*1995, Regensburg) is a conceptual artist and photographer. His multimedia artistic practice has earned him several awards, including the Paula Modersohn-Becker art prize, the Bavarian arts promotion prize for visual arts, and the German photo book award. His work is exhibited internationally at festivals, art fairs, and museums.