Mathias Poledna was born in 1965 in Vienna and has lived in Los Angeles since 2000. His work often takes the form of highly sophisticated films that betray a tension between the visuals presented and their cultural and political implications. Entertainment and its production are key subjects for Poledna as he focuses on the forms and materials that capture the imagination and illustrate societies to themselves. In all of his works the detail and precision of the images are seductive as they, in a sense, explore artifice through artifice. Although invariably newly produced, they often create the impression of having been found as they are, seemingly extricated from present-day or historical collective memories.

Poledna studied at the University (then College) of Applied Arts and at the University of Vienna. He has participated internationally in numerous major and group exhibitions, including the 2004 Berlin Biennial, the 2006 Whitney Biennial, the 2008 Yokohama Trienniale, the 2013 Sydney Biennial, the 2018 Liverpool Biennial, and Made in L.A. 2020. In 2013 Poledna represented Austria at the 55th Venice Biennial. Other solo exhibitions include the Grazer Kunstverein, Graz, Austria, in 2001; Museum of Modern Art Foundation Ludwig Vienna, in 2003; Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, Netherlands, in 2006; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, USA, in 2007; Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn, Germany (with Christopher Williams), in 2009; New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City, USA, in 2010; Portikus, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, in 2013; and the Vienna Secession, Austria; The Renaissance Society, Chicago, in 2014; Halle für Kunst, Graz, Austria, in 2024; Central Museum, Utrecht, in 2026, amongst others. In 2009, the artist was awarded the City of Vienna Prize for Visual Arts, and in 2023 the Austrian State Prize for Art.

Wolfgang Koelbl was born in 1965 in Austria. He studied architecture at the Technical University in Vienna, the University of Michigan, and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

After completing his studies, he turned to new media (digital videos) and theoretical work. His interests include mass phenomena such as the Internet and metropolitan environments.

Selected exhibitions include Tokyo Superdichte (audiovisual installation, Podroom, Vienna, 2000), Superheroes (video projection, Podroom, Vienna, 2000), and Total Control, 24 Hours Video Supervision (Cochran Ave, Los Angeles).

Awards include a purchase prize from the Membrane Design Competition (Japan, 1997) and a purchase prize from WBW Traumhäuser heute (Germany, 1996).

Judith Ammann was born in 1954 in the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland. From 1970 to 1976, she studied Graphic Design at the Lucerne School of Design. Between 1988 and 1997, she pursued studies in Film and New Media in Frankfurt and Offenbach am Main, Germany. She lives in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.

Michael Wallraff studied scenery design at the Academy of Fine Arts and architecture at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, as well as at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. Since 1997, he has worked independently in Vienna, Munich, and Los Angeles. His Vienna-based architecture office, established in 2004, has been active in a wide range of fields—including urban planning, adaptations, conversions, extensions, new buildings, stage design, exhibitions, furniture, and everyday cultural objects.

In addition to receiving the Schütte-Lihotzky Fellowship (1998) and the Schindler Fellowship (1999), Wallraff was awarded funding from the City of Vienna’s “departure” program in 2009. He has also received numerous competition prizes, including first prize in the EU-wide, two-stage open competition for the State Vocational School Center Graz-St. Peter (2007). A solo exhibition of his work opened in October 2011 at the MAK – Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art in Vienna.

Carl Schaeffer was born in 1973 in Mittersill, Austria. From 1988 to 1993, he attended high school for fashion design. He studied architecture at the Technical University of Vienna from 1993 to 1995 and continued his architecture studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna from 1995 to 1998.

Walter Kraeutler was born in 1974 in Hohenems, Austria. From 1992 to 1995, he studied architecture at the Technical University of Vienna. From 1995 to 1998, he continued his studies in architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under Prof. Fuksas and Prof. Penttilä.

Tobias Urban was born in 1966 and lives and works in Vienna, Austria. He is a member of Gelitin, a collective consisting of artists Ali Janka, Florian Reither, Tobias Urban, and Wolfgang Gantner, who first met at summer camp in 1978. They formed Gelitin in the mid-1990s in Vienna and began exhibiting internationally in 1993.

Ali Janka was born in 1970 and lives and works in Vienna, Austria. He is a member of Gelitin, a collective consisting of artists Ali Janka, Florian Reither, Tobias Urban, and Wolfgang Gantner, who first met at summer camp in 1978. They formed Gelitin in the mid-1990s in Vienna and began exhibiting internationally in 1993.

Johan Frid was born in 1971 in Malmoe, Sweden, and lives in Sandviken, Sweden. He received an MFA in Visual Art from Umea University, Sweden, in 1997.

Åse Frid (b. 1969, Uppsala, Sweden) holds an MFA from Umea Art Academy, Umea University, Sweden (1995-2000). Lives and works at Stockholm archipelago 1 hour north of Stockholm. She works with text-based watercolor and ink, film installations and poetry. Her work investigates relations between language, image, dream, humour and contemplation.

The white of the paper is saved out inside the little marker-written letters, the warp of the painting, to which she relates in time and with watercolor around the text. This way of writing and painting started in Los Angeles in 1997 where she started making meticulously painted travel letters to the king of Sweden and to Iggy Pop. Recently she has been copying letters and writings from Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) and other artists and writers and made watercolors starting from the quotations. She has also made works that starts with ”false friends”, a linguistic term for words from different languages that look the same but have different meanings, such as ”barn”; meaning child in Swedish, but something else in English. She encircles these words in repetitive painting.

She has made a film projected on a 10 meter watercolor paper roll, with text and painting.

Ase Frid describes her work as connected to the holy work of medieval monks, illuminating holy scriptures. The concentration and the endless work creates a dreamlike state, and merges with the chance of color spread on the paper. Her work involves her own writings and poetry, qoutations from books or newspapers and surrealistic writings.