Vienna Actionism Museum Faces Backlash Over Otto Muehl Retrospective

Key facts

• The Vienna Actionism Museum (WAM) is holding a retrospective on Otto Muehl titled 'Otto Muehl: Art on the Precipice' from September 10 to January 10, 2027.
• The exhibition features over 150 works including paintings, objects, films, and prints from the museum's collection and private loans.
• Otto Muehl was a co-founder of Viennese Actionism and was convicted in 1991 for sexual offenses against minors, rape, and drug use, serving seven years in prison.
• Former members of the Friedrichshof commune, active in the 1970s and 1980s, criticize the museum for minimizing Muehl's crimes.
• Der Standard published articles questioning the ethics of the exhibition and its potential to increase the market value of Muehl's works.
• The museum excludes images of abuse and the series 'Accidents in the Home' (1986) from the exhibition.
• The museum claims recognizable subjects gave permission, but Der Standard doubts that heirs consented.
• Klaus Albrecht Schröder, WAM director and former Albertina director, hopes visitors will form their own judgment about Muehl's art.
• The WAM opened in March 2024 and has been controversial since its inception.
• The controversy parallels the case of John Galliano, who withdrew from a MET event due to past antisemitic remarks.