OPENING: Fr 26.09.2025, 18:30 h, QUEER MUSEUM VIENNA
with DJ JOIE DE F:LLE
What’s classy if you’re rich but trashy if you’re poor?
This is one possible translation of the title into meme-fied language.
Ugly Things_Unlearning Beauty walks the fine line that distinguishes the affinity for cheap trash from expensive taste, while simultaneously undermining that very dichotomy. We closely examine the authority that decides who and what has a place in the museum and is thus deemed valuable enough to gain entrance, visibility and longevity.
Queer is a term that is still frequently used to devalue someone or something, to label them as deviant, perverse or disgusting – perhaps even ugly. In a similar way, some people use the expression “ugly thing” to objectify and dehumanize — when applied to a person. This exhibition draws parallels between the two labels and interrogates the motives and mechanisms behind such denominations — with the goal of exposing and dismantling them.
A joyful reminder: punch up, don’t kick down!
Curated by Thomas Trabitsch
Artists:
Ju Aichinger
Rawan Almukhtar
Tatsiana Karpachova
Mai Ling
Kenneth Constance Loe
Michèle Pagel
Daniel Rajcsanyi
João Pedro Vale & Nuno Alexandre Ferreira
Chris E. Vargas
Free entry