Plamen Dejanoff

Plamen Dejanoff first gained notoriety for his collaborations with Swetlana Heger under the slightly variant surname “Dejanov.” Their most notable project together was Quite Normal Luxury, 1999, a piece that consisted largely of a contract with BMW that traded brand exposure for the artists’ use of a new Z3 Roadster. Dejanoff changed his last name after parting ways with Heger, and is now presenting new works both here and in a just-closed exhibition at Galerie Meyer Kainer. A Porsche Cayenne situated in the middle of the museum and surrounded by heavy bronze railings evokes his earlier work, though this time with a slightly different goal. The pieces on view are part of Dejanoff’s latest project: Having purchased seven medieval houses in a small town in Bulgaria, the artist plans to populate these buildings with works from the show, transforming them into an annex of MUMOK. Additionally, small toy figures exhibited in the museum (and at the gallery) are material studies for timber to be used in the artist’s recent real estate acquisitions. Here Dejanoff becomes not only curator and artist but also builder and manager—a fluidity of function made possible through his marriage into an upper-class Viennese family. His future productions, under the series title “Collective wishdream of upperclass possibilities,” will begin a new chapter in the discourse on art and business.

Translated from the German by Jane Brodie.