Eliasson states, the boundaries between models of reality and, simply, reality. The presentation of my works at the Winter Palace is based on trust in the possibility of constructing reality according to our shared dreams and desires and on faith in the idea that constructions and models are as real of the Winter Palace. His fascination with the phenomena of nature can be compared with Prince Eugene, who commissioned this unique architectural gem and who held the sciences and technological progress in high regard. This frame of mind becomes tangible - indeed, it seems to come alive - in the exhibition and changes our perception. Arco, Director of the Belvedere and 21er Haus. 

TBA21 Founder, Francesca von Habsburg says: elements that I think support the vision of collectors and their responsibility as well as their ability to create art projects that defies traditional categorization. Both Patricia and Juan Vergez and I have been collecting and supporting Olafur Eliasson for many years with great enthusiasm, as he is indeed a renaissance man of many talents! In this presentation we wanted to introduce a parallel that Olafur himself has mirrored in the exhibition rooms, that juxtaposes the precious Baroque cultural heritage of Vienna with the work of an artist that I

"When Francesca came up with this brilliant project at the Winterpalais, we loved it and it was a dream to us which now has come true. We hope the viewer will be able to let go of himself by transforming his way to see reality, opening up new worlds of sensations and perceptions," says Patricia Vergez. "We also hope that people during this exhibition will enjoy challenging their limits of imagination just as Francesca and we have been doing since we discovered Olafur's work." 

"When Francesca came up with this brilliant project at the Winterpalais, we loved it and it was a dream to us which now has come true. We hope the viewer will be able to let go of himself by transforming his way to see reality, opening up new worlds of sensations and perceptions," says Patricia Vergez. "We also hope that people during this exhibition will enjoy challenging their limits of imagination just as Francesca and we have been doing since we discovered Olafur's work."
In the entrance Vestibule, the light installation Die organische und kristalline Beschreibung (The organic and crystalline description) (1996) floods the walls, floor, and ceiling with swelling washes of blue and stability of her environment. In Yellow corridor (1997), monofrequency light is used to heighten the precariousness of our relationship to visible space. Eliasson’s optical machines and installations –installations such as Kaleidoscope (2001), New Berlin Sphere (2009), Your welcome reflected (2003), and Seu planeta compartilhado (Your shared planet), (2011) ongoing investigations of color, perception, transformation, and deconstruction, an inquiry that is particularly interesting in relation to the baroque context. A site-specific intervention in the form of a continuous mirror traversing the enfilade of grand rooms further disorients the viewer by folding and re-folding the complex spaces it produces. Wishes versus wonders (2015), a steel half-ring mounted to the mirror wall in the Hall of Battle Paintings, stages an encounter between reality, illusion, and the elaborate artifice of the surroundings, simultaneously multiplying lines of potentiality. 

Within this terrain of doubling and paradox, Eliasson calls into question our received habits of seeing and experiencing space. His artworks make us wonder and reconsider, giving meaning to the enigmatic doubling inherent in BAROQUE BAROQUE. 

About the artist
The Danish Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson (born 1967) works in a wide variety of mediums, including installation, painting, sculpture, photography, and film. Since 1997 his critically acclaimed solo shows have appeared in major museums around the world, such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and Tate Modern, London, and in major international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale. In 2003 The weather project, installed in the Turbine spaces include Camera obscura für die Donau, Austria (2004); Your black horizon, commissioned by TBA21 and installed in a pavilion designed by David Adjaye at Lopud, Croatia (2005); The New York City Waterfalls (2008); Your rainbow panorama, a 150-meter circular colored-glass walkway situated on top of ARoS Museum in Aarhus, Denmark (200611); and Cirkelbroen (The circle bridge), Copenhagen (2015). In 2006 Eliasson was awarded the Austrian Frederick and Lillian Kiesler Prize for Architecture and Art. 

About TBA21
Founded in 2002 by Francesca von Habsburg in Vienna, Thyssen-Bornemisza Art to the arts. The foundation is dedicated primarily to the commissioning and dissemination of ambitious, experimental, and unconventional projects that defy traditional categorizations. This approach has gained the collection a pioneering reputation throughout the world. The are architectural, context- and site-specific, performative, and often informed by an interest in social aesthetics and environmental concerns. Many of the projects reflect the shift to transdisciplinary practices embracing architecture, sound, music, and science. 

About the Juan & Patricia Vergez Collection
The Juan & Patricia Vergez Collection in Buenos Aires, Argentina was developed by Juan Vergez and Patricia Pearson-Vergez in the late 1980s. The collection initially focused on Argentinian artists of the 1960s and 1970s, and after many trips to Brazil and Europe it expanded its international focus. In 2006 they opened Tacuarí, a four-story building which used to be a former traditional ink factory in the center of Buenos Aires. Many Latin American and post-Wall European art as well as commissioned pieces from Argentine artists are shown emerging Buenos Aires talents and well-known artist from around the world. In 1999 Juan and Patricia Vergez purchased their first artwork by Olafur Eliasson, Yellow corridor (1997) at Tanya Bonakdar Gallery. 

CATALOGUE
OLAFUR ELIASSON: BAROQUE BAROQUE
Published on the occasion of the exhibition significant works from the holdings of TBA21 and the Juan and Patricia Vergez Collection. The Palace of Prince Eugene of Savoy in Vienna.
Accompanying the ambitious exhibition at the Winter Palace, the catalogue examines some of temporary baroque housing how transformations of space, perception and cognition reflect the realms of ontology, politics, technology, and the Anthropocene.
With contributions by Mario Codognato, Irmgard Emmelhainz, Paul Feigelfeld, Georg Lechner, Sandra Noeth, Mirjam Schaub, and Daniela Zyman
Edited by Belvedere and TBA21
Design by John McCusker
Published by Sternberg Press, Berlin
Publication date: December 2015 
Price: Euro 35,--