http://www.kikikogelnikfoundation.org/

Kiki Kogelnik Foundation, 300 W 41st St, Miami Beach, FL (2026)

06/01/2026

Marilyn Monroe appeared to Kiki Kogelnik an exemplar of a woman who had achieved a balance between dependency on men and independent self-determination. She painted three paintings with the title "Marilyn" as homages to her idol. Following the unexpected death of Monroe, she wrote in a letter to her mother on August 15, 1962: “I am really very sad about Marilyn – she died not far away from here – and on this night at about 1 till 4, I could not sleep and was very depressed. When I told this to Sam [Francis] the next day, he told me Marilyn killed herself. It is dreadful what they do with dead people in this country – her belly was opened and they put her into a city Frigidaire for co**se storing – Nr. 33. Well, poor Marilyn – I collect all the papers – and I have to paint to her glory.” Made at the end of 1962, her tribute to Monroe depicts a curvaceous figure dressed in lacey underwear cruelly decapitated, the head replaced with a line of sutures, her green stilettos discarded on the floor and a large pink heart with a silver center floating upwards as if departing.

Images:
1. Kiki Kogelnik with her unfinished painting “Marilyn”, 1962 in her studio at 940 Broadway, New York, 1962 © Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. All Rights Reserved
2. Kiki Kogelnik, “Marilyn”, 1962, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 89 3/4 x 59 3/4 inches (228 x 151.8cm) © 1962 Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. All Rights Reserved

04/24/2026

Kiki Kogelnik’s “Rainy”, 1973, is included in the exhibition “Sea, Pop & Sun” at the Villa Carmignac from April 25, 2026.

The exhibition reflects on a historical moment in which new social movements, changing moral frameworks, and the rise of the leisure society reshaped everyday life and visual culture in an ode to the freedom and vitality of the 1960s and 1970s that summons the Pop spirit. It recreates a dreamworld of a seaside escape and echoes a time when the sexual revolution was overturning conventions, morals were shifting, and everything seemed possible. The South of France and its beaches were more than mere holiday postcards; they were gateways to new horizons of freedom and transgression.

Situated on the îles de Porquerolles, in the region of the French Riviera, far from the cities and bathed in the light, colors and scents of the Mediterranean, Pop Art reveals unexpected facets. No longer drawing on everyday objects or urban advertising, it turns instead to new motifs: the sky, the sea, the sun and the spirit of summer. While acknowledging its roots in the consumer society, Pop Art here acquires a renewed sensuality and intensity, at times verging on the cosmic, from these shores and summer scenes.

Bringing together more than 80 works of art, “Sea, Pop & Sun” is presented by the Foundation Carmignac and curated by Dr. Dieter Buchhart and Dr. Anna Karina Hofbauer, it places icons of Pop Art such as Evelyne Axell, Kiki Kogelnik, Roy Lichtenstein, Martial Raysse and Andy Warhol, in dialogue with contemporary artists who extend or interrogate the movement, including Derrick Adams, Cosima von Bonin, Judy Chicago, and Théo Mercier. The exhibition continues until November 1, 2026

Kiki Kogelnik, Rainy, 1973, oil and acrylic on canvas, 79 7/8 x 59 7/8 in, (203 x 152cm)
©1974 Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. All Rights Reserved

popart

03/20/2026

Opening from March 21, 2026, the exhibition “New Humans: Memories of the Future”, is the inaugural exhibition of the newly expanded New Museum, New York.

The exhibition, which includes eight Kiki Kogelnik “Robot” drawings from the 1960s, is exploration of artists’ enduring preoccupation with what it means to be human in the face of sweeping technological changes “New Humans” will trace a diagonal history of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries through the work of more than 150 international artists, writers, scientists, architects, and filmmakers, highlighting key moments when dramatic technological and social changes spurred new conceptions of humanity and new visions for its possible futures.

Kogelnik’s “Robot” drawings were primarily made in London in 1966-67 during her pregnancy. They are distinguished in the use of anatomical rubber stamps that doctors would use to record their observations and diagnosis in their notes. Kogelnik combined them to create whole and partial bodies and suggest narratives that trace construction, ascension into space, interaction, reproduction and destruction

Curated by Massimiliano Gioni; Gary Carrion-Murayari; Vivian Crockett; and Madeline Weisburg, the exhibition surveys the myriad shapes that humanity might take, from robots and cyborgs to haunting, seemingly alien life forms, and moves beyond the field of art by bringing together utopian architects, sci-fi filmmakers, and eccentric writers who imagine physical, virtual, and even post-human worlds.

Images:
1. Kiki Kogelnik, Robots, 1966, Acrylic, ink, fluorescent ink and color pencil on paper, 18 7/8 x 13 3/8 in. (48 x 34.4 cm). © 1966 Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. All rights reserved.
2. Kiki Kogelnik, Untitled (Robots), c. 1967, 23 x 29 in. (58.4 x 73.7 cm). © 1967 Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. All rights reserved.

03/17/2026

On St. Patrick’s Day, we celebrate Kiki Kogelnik’s relationship to the Emerald Isle with her painting: “Dublin”, 1960.

In late October 1959 she visited Glasgow, Scotland, traveling from Bergen in Norway; and then in early November 1959 onto Belfast and Killeen (Newry) in Northern Ireland, before heading down to Dundalk and Dublin in Ireland. She made spiky acrylic impressionistic paintings on paper along the way, sometimes titling them after the location she was visiting. “Dublin”, 1959, is painted in tones of browns and black.

Included in her first solo exhibition at Galerie St. Stephan, Vienna, in the fall of 1961, the painting “Dublin”, 1960, transcribes the frenetic energy of these marks into broad brushstrokes in rich burgundy, blues and pinks that drip down the vertical canvases., which are joined by curvaceous arcs more reminiscent of the body.

Images:
Dublin, 1960, Oil on canvas, 39 ¼ x 46 ½ in. (99.7 x 118.3 cm)
Dublin, 1959, Acrylic on paper, 11 x 17 ¾ in. (28 x 45cm)
© Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. All rights reserved.

03/08/2026

International Women’s Day 2026

Kiki Kogelnik
Untitled (Robots), 1969
ink and collage on paper
22 7/8 x 28 7/8 in. (58.3 x 73.4cm)
© 1969 Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. All rights reserved.

01/22/2026

Today, January 22, on the anniversary of what would have been Kiki Kogelnik’s 91st birthday, we take the opportunity to look back at the final exhibition realized during her lifetime. “Hangings” took place at the MAK — Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna from November 21, 1996 to January 19, 1997. The exhibition was organized by the institution’s director, Peter Noever, who Kogelnik had been friends with since the late 60s and who had helped her stage her “Moonhappening” event at Galerie nächst St. Stephan in 1969.

“Hangings”, curated by Verena Formanek, was an opportunity to survey a sequence of works that started in 1968, and ended with “Broadway Windows”, 1986, consisting of figures and body parts cut from brightly colored flat vinyl. Noever writes in his preface to the exhibition catalogue: "[T]his important sequence of her work has never been shown here in its entirety. I think that it is precisely this relatively closed cycle which exemplarily clarifies the aspects characterizing Kiki Kogelnik’s art: ironic subjectivity, enigmatic impertinence, and a completely independent approach towards the utilization of space, materials and symbols.”

Kogelnik, after an intensive year of exhibitions and treatment for cancer, arrived in Vienna from New York on November 16 to be at the opening of the exhibition on November 20, but was too ill to attend. She eventually succumbed to her illness on February 1, 1997 in Vienna.

Images:
1. Cover of catalogue for "Kiki Kogelnik — Hangings", MAK — Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna, 1996.
2. Exhibition views of “Kiki Kogelnik — Hangings”, November 21, 1996, to January 19, 1997, MAK — Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna. Photographer: Gerhard Koller. © Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. All rights reserved.
3. Kiki Kogelnik and Peter Noever, Bleiburg, 1981. Photographer: Mono Schwarz-Kogelnik. Archives of the Kiki Kogelnik Foundation, New York/Vienna. © Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. All rights reserved.

01/15/2026

Last Monday, January 12, was the centenary of the American composer’s Morton Feldman’s birth. During the 1960s, he became a close friend of Kiki Kogelnik. His silhouette formed the basis for some of her paintings, including “Robot Couple”, 1964, seen here hanging just inside the doorway to her studio at 42 West 29th Street, New York. On October 11, 1963, she attended a concert of Feldman’s and Earl Brown’s orchestral music at the Town Hall which she described in a letter to her younger brother as “beautiful”.

This stencil, with its distinctive head shape, determined by Feldman’s haircut, is held within the Kiki Kogelnik Foundation’s archive – his name clearly written on the brown paper. This form was also used to make the golden vinyl "Hanging" from 1970, whose body and limbs curl inwards. On March 18, 1964, Kogelnik wrote in her diary notes the following about Feldman: “He is intelligent and sensitive and above all socially very conscious with whom he deals. I really had to laugh when he told me yesterday that his music puts him to sleep. That is funny. He wants to change his life. Can he really do it so easily?”

In 1964, he joined others in contributing comments to the brochure that accompanied Kogelnik's first North American solo exhibition at Jerrold Morris International Gallery, Toronto. His reads: “Kiki is the love goddess of popart…..her paintings continue the legacy of a 'Marilyn Monroe'”.

1. Kiki Kogelnik, Robot Couple, 1964, Oil and acrylic on canvas, 48 x 40 ¼ in (112 x 102 cm). Here in Kogelnik's studio, 42 West 29th Street, New York, 1964.
2. Morton Feldman at Kogelnik’s studio party, December 1969. Archives of the Kiki Kogelnik Foundation, New York.
3. The New York Times review “The Music of Morton Feldman and Earl Brown Is Presented” by Theodore Strongin, October 12, 1963.
4. Stencil using Morton Feldman's outline with "Morty Feldman" written on it by Kogelnik. Archives of the Kiki Kogelnik Foundation, New York.
5. Kiki Kogelnik, Hanging, 1970, vinyl with chromed steel hanger, 55 x 15 5/8 x 5 7/8 in (140 x 40 x 15 cm).
6. Detail of brochure accompanying Kiki Kogelnik's solo exhibition at Jerrold Morris International Gallery, Toronto, 1964.

01/13/2026

As we move into 2026, it is perhaps an opportune moment to look backwards through the prism of a selection of the publications we received in 2025.

1. “Pom Pom Pidou. Shaking Up the Museum”; Tripostal, Lille, France. Publ. Éditions du Centre Pompidou, Paris.
2. “Les yeux dans les yeux. Portraits de la Collection Pinault”; Couvent des Jacobins, Rennes, France. Publ. Éditions Dilecta, Paris.
3. “Pop Models: Women in European Pop Art”; Museum MORE, Gorssel, Netherlands. Publ. W Books, Zwolle.
4. “It Hurts! Violence against Women in Art and Psychoanalysis”, ed. by Elana Shapira and Daniela Finzi; with the text “It Hurts! Depiction of Violence and Defense in the Work of Kiki Kogelnik” by Lisa Ortner-Kreil. Publ. De Gruyter, Berlin/Boston.
5. “To Open Eyes: Artists’ Gaze”; Centre Pompidou Málaga, Spain. Publ. by Éditions du Centre Pompidou, Paris.
6. “Les Cahiers du Musée national d’art moderne n°172”, ed. by Jean-Pierre Criqui; with the text “North ‘Kiki’ America. Kiki Kogelnik and Her Network” by Guillaume Leingre. Publ. Éditions du Centre Pompidou, Paris.
7. “The Rose: A Circular Genealogy of Collage”; lumber room, Portland, USA. Publ. lumber room.
8. “Sixties Surreal”; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, USA. Publ. Whitney Museum of American Art.
9. “Marisol”; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark. Publ. Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

therose

12/22/2025

It is with sadness that we note the passing of Arnulf Rainer (1929–2025).

Kiki Kogelnik was good friends with Rainer from the mid-1950s brought together in Vienna by the intellectually ferocious community of artists that gathered around Galerie St. Stephan, which was founded by Monsignore Otto Mauer (later Galerie nächst St. Stephan) and where Kogelnik would have her first solo exhibition in 1961.

In spring 1956, they were both included in a group exhibition at the Kärntner Landesmuseum, Klagenfurt — “Junge Talente stellen sich vor” (“Young Talents Introduce Themselves”). They were briefly engaged from July to August 1956, before Kogelnik decided to suddenly break it off. In the Foundation’s collection is one of his 'overpaintings' which he gave Kogelnik as a gift. The back is inscribed: “Der lieben Kiki zur Verlobung nachträglich geschenkt” ("To Dear Kiki on the Occasion of the Engagement Given Afterwards"), dated 1956/57.

In the interview that Rainer contributed to the catalogue of Kogelnik’s posthumous retrospective at the Belvedere in 1998, he described her as “a spot of color, a cheerful mosaic tile in the Austrian art scene”. Remaining close, he “visited her in New York and met her repeatedly”. The interview is accompanied by this photograph of the two of them together in Bleiburg, when he went to meet her parents.

Images:
1. Photograph of Arnulf Rainer and Kiki Kogelnik at Kogelnik’s family home, Bleiburg, Carinthia, 1956. Photographer unknown.
2.-3. Arnulf Rainer, Der lieben Kiki zur Verlobung nachträglich geschenkt [To Dear Kiki on the Occasion of the Engagement Given Afterwards], Oil on wood, 1956/57 (front and back of work)

.rainer.official

12/03/2025

Kiki Kogelnik’s “Tipsy Lady”, 1974, is part of Pace’s presentation at Art Basel Miami Beach 2025 to be found on Booth F9 from Wednesday, December 3, through Sunday, December 7.

“Tipsy Lady”, 1974, continues Kogelnik’s series of paintings focused on the portrayal of women, as they appeared within the pages of fashion magazines, that showed them as both empowered and absurd. It marks the further evolution of Kogelnik’s approach to painting as she moved away from the sprayed colored grounds of the earlier 1970s to more consciously painted ones; in this case the earthen finish of adobe houses which she had seen during her visits to Mexico. For the clothing she appears to sample patterns used in Vienna Secession era posters; and Maurice Guiraud-Rivière’s French Art Deco sculpture "Le Comete", 1925, might have been an inspiration for her hair. The skin is painted in greens and blues giving form to her face and hands in contrast to the paper doll flatness of the clothes. -- In a letter in 1965, Kogelnik refers to green as "the color of seduction". -- The depicted woman appears exotic yet alien, caught in a moment of revelry, as she tilts towards the seemingly waiting, highly sexualized anthuriums.

“Tipsy Lady” was first exhibited in 1977, in Kogelnik’s first commercial gallery show in New York at the Jack Gallery in Soho. She would also have solo exhibitions there in 1979 and 1981.

Kiki Kogelnik, Tipsy Lady, 1974
Oil and acrylic on canvas
183.5 x 122.3 cm (72 1/4 x 48 1/8 in.)
© 1974 Kiki Kogelnik Foundation. All rights reserved.

Kiki Kogelnik Foundation

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