Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski
Austrian Cultural Forum
28 Rutland Gate, London SW7 1PQ
Wilhelm Traeger, Gray Wielebinski
Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski brought together the works of Wilhelm Traeger (1907 - 1980) and Gray Wielebinski (b. 1991) in a unique artistic dialogue and a site-specific, collaborative exercise in temporal contextualisation. 13 large-scale collages by Traeger were presented for the first time in the UK alongside new site-specific commissions by London-based contemporary multimedia artist Gray Wielebinski. Representing a generation of Austrian artists who were unable to establish international careers during their lifetime, Traeger’s work encountered that of Wielebinski, which, in contrast, is formed in a globalised and hyperconnected world. Alongside each other, Traeger and Wielebinski demarcated a time where one artist’s tomorrow is the other’s present-day, a moment after the fall and, at once, on the edge of the next.
As a conversation between two artists who have never met, Of course I know eternity defied distance – physical, temporal, geographical and that of a lifetime – through Traeger’s and Wielebinski’s shared fascination with collage, both as a medium and a methodology. Together, Traeger’s collages-on-paper dating between 1961 and 1969 and Wielebinski’s site-specific installations interrogated the ways in which time is felt and contextualised. The resulting visual kaleidoscope joined fragments, forms and nuances across the two floors and corridors of the Austrian Cultural Forum. Here, collage became a totalising force that extended beyond the edges of a given artwork, implicating the very walls and stairways of the building they occupy.
This artistic and intergenerational exchange explored the intellectual and artistic legacy of the Austrian post-war avant-garde, their questions reverberating in the present moment. Opening on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, Of course I know eternity examined the nonlinearity of history, collaging together the conflicting relationship of hope and fear as it was felt then, as it is felt now.
For enquiries, contact us at info@kollektivcollective.com.
Austrian Cultural Forum
28 Rutland Gate, London SW7 1PQ
Wilhelm Traeger, Gray Wielebinski
Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski brought together the works of Wilhelm Traeger (1907 - 1980) and Gray Wielebinski (b. 1991) in a unique artistic dialogue and a site-specific, collaborative exercise in temporal contextualisation. 13 large-scale collages by Traeger were presented for the first time in the UK alongside new site-specific commissions by London-based contemporary multimedia artist Gray Wielebinski. Representing a generation of Austrian artists who were unable to establish international careers during their lifetime, Traeger’s work encountered that of Wielebinski, which, in contrast, is formed in a globalised and hyperconnected world. Alongside each other, Traeger and Wielebinski demarcated a time where one artist’s tomorrow is the other’s present-day, a moment after the fall and, at once, on the edge of the next.
As a conversation between two artists who have never met, Of course I know eternity defied distance – physical, temporal, geographical and that of a lifetime – through Traeger’s and Wielebinski’s shared fascination with collage, both as a medium and a methodology. Together, Traeger’s collages-on-paper dating between 1961 and 1969 and Wielebinski’s site-specific installations interrogated the ways in which time is felt and contextualised. The resulting visual kaleidoscope joined fragments, forms and nuances across the two floors and corridors of the Austrian Cultural Forum. Here, collage became a totalising force that extended beyond the edges of a given artwork, implicating the very walls and stairways of the building they occupy.
This artistic and intergenerational exchange explored the intellectual and artistic legacy of the Austrian post-war avant-garde, their questions reverberating in the present moment. Opening on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII, Of course I know eternity examined the nonlinearity of history, collaging together the conflicting relationship of hope and fear as it was felt then, as it is felt now.
For enquiries, contact us at info@kollektivcollective.com.
9 May - 18 July 2025
Installation view: Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski (8 May – 18 July 2025), curated by Kollektiv Collective at the Austrian Cultural Forum London. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Installation view: Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski (8 May – 18 July 2025), curated by Kollektiv Collective at the Austrian Cultural Forum London. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Installation view: Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski (8 May – 18 July 2025), curated by Kollektiv Collective at the Austrian Cultural Forum London. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Gray Wielebinski, Subject (2025), UV print and lacquer on wooden paddles. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple.
Installation view: Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski (8 May – 18 July 2025), curated by Kollektiv Collective at the Austrian Cultural Forum London. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Gray Wielebinski, Self Healing (Wall drawing six and five) (2025), Self Healing (Wall drawing two and two) (2025). Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Gray Wielebinski, Self Healing (Wall drawing five) (2025). Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Installation view: Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski (8 May – 18 July 2025), curated by Kollektiv Collective at the Austrian Cultural Forum London. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Gray Wielebinski, Self Healing (Wall drawing four and four) (2025), Self Healing (Wall drawing one and three with star) (2025). Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple.
Installation view: Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski (8 May – 18 July 2025), curated by Kollektiv Collective at the Austrian Cultural Forum London. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Wilhelm Traeger, (left) Design of a traffic memorial in New Sansara (1963), (right) Spectrum MCMLXIII (1963). Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Wilhelm Traeger, Dream path to eternity (1961), collage. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple.
Gray Wielebinski, Holster (#193), Holster (#394), Holster (#49), Holster (#192), Holster (#179), Holster (#390), all 2025. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple.
Installation view: Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski (8 May – 18 July 2025), curated by Kollektiv Collective at the Austrian Cultural Forum London. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Gray Wielebinski, Safe (2025). Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple.
Installation view: Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski (8 May – 18 July 2025), curated by Kollektiv Collective at the Austrian Cultural Forum London. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Wilhelm Traeger, (left) Council (1964), (right) Titan IV Bureaucracy (1964). Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Installation view: Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski (8 May – 18 July 2025), curated by Kollektiv Collective at the Austrian Cultural Forum London. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple. 
Installation view: Of course I know eternity: Wilhelm Traeger + Gray Wielebinski (8 May – 18 July 2025), curated by Kollektiv Collective at the Austrian Cultural Forum London. Photography by Gillies Adamson Semple.