Austrian artist Caroline, who turned 85 on November 4th, is celebrating her milestone birthday with a comprehensive exhibition at the Freihausgasse Gallery in Villach. The exhibition features her latest works, including striking reinterpretations of goddesses that showcase her characteristically critical perspective and mischievous wit.
Despite her advanced age, Caroline maintains that the exhibition is more important to her than her birthday celebration. She continues to work every day, her mind overflowing with new ideas and concepts. Retirement is not a word that exists in her vocabulary, as she believes that artistic work never truly ends. "You can never implement as much as you plan or set out to do. Everything goes slower now, it doesn't work the same way as it used to when I had a family to care for. The house and household still need to be managed," the artist explained.
The exhibition immediately reveals Caroline's uncompromising artistic vision through the works displayed in the gallery's storefront windows. Visitors are confronted with powerful imagery: massive fires burning, people desperately trying to escape from giant saw blades, and rockets dominating the compositions. Caroline's worldview remains alert and critical, particularly evident in her work "Shadow Man," which addresses the world's most powerful men. "You know who that could be: East or West, whoever holds the bomb in their hand and instead of any peace story, everything negative that could be around," she explains.
Among her newest creations are two large paintings featuring goddesses that demonstrate her ability to reimagine classical themes. The paintings depict Kali, the goddess of destruction and renewal, and Irene, the goddess of peace, reaching out their hands toward each other. This composition deliberately evokes Michelangelo's famous Sistine Chapel fresco where God extends his finger to bring Adam to life. Caroline has also created her own interpretation of Aurora, the goddess of dawn, explaining, "Every time she wakes up, she has to go hunting for men. I found that incredibly brilliant. Then we saw that this time I made couples for the first time. I didn't know that. Such things happen constantly." In this painting, Aurora stands dark in the center while couples surround her like a ring of lights.
Small figures appear throughout most of Caroline's paintings, emerging from her subconscious and demanding to be drawn. Drawing has been Caroline's companion since childhood, and she recalls how during wartime, she supplied her elementary school classmates with self-painted pictures in exchange for candy. "I already made a good deal back then. Later, I had to draw for autograph books. When Walt Disney characters finally became available, I got a sausage roll for drawing Bambi," she reminisced.
Born in 1940, Caroline belongs to a generation of female artists who faced particular challenges in establishing their careers. "You were really always placed behind the men and didn't have a fair position. You had to work three times as hard to achieve anything at all. You were happy when that happened at all," she reflected on the gender barriers of her era.
This resilient artist never gave up and continued creating art throughout her career. Her exhibition "Caroline, Shadows and Longing" will be on display at the Freihausgasse Gallery in Villach until December 20th, offering visitors a comprehensive look at her decades-spanning artistic journey and her continued creative vitality at age 85.
