Luciano Pecoits. Leidenschaftslose Mechaniken
20.2. – 25.5.2026

1946: Still scarred by the destruction of World War II, Haus am Waldsee was established in the villa built in 1922 for the Jewish textile manufacturer Hermann Knobloch. Over the following decades, it would go on to forge an acclaimed exhibition history. In 2026, on the occasion of its 80th anniversary, the institution looks back on its founding years: from its structural conditions, the transformation from a private residence to an exhibition venue, to the ruptures and continuities of the post-war period, and the traces these events have left in the institution’s understanding of itself.

The exhibition Leidenschaftslose Mechaniken by Luciano Pecoits (lives and works between Munich and Vienna) is the first chapter in the exhibition series Since…, developed to mark the anniversary of Haus am Waldsee.

In his practice, the artist uses archival materials and photographic processes to draw conclusions about the conditions of the material’s original context, and how these conditions continue to have an impact on our present. In doing so, he places particular emphasis on provenance research as a method of examining art and the origins and self-images of its institutions.

Pecoits’s newly commissioned works are the result of more than two years of research into the history of the Haus am Waldsee building. Based on administrative documents from the post-war years, such as files from restitution and denazification proceedings, the works trace a fine web of key figures and change of ownership. Accompanied by reproductions of the few preserved photographs of the building as a private residence, the artist reveals the extent to which the house was involved in political power structures and National Socialist networks, and how these connections remained influential throughout the post-war period and beyond.

The exhibition is presented in the café, the villa’s former garage, on a display architecture designed by Georgian curator and archivist Nina Akhvlediani (lives and works in Tbilisi), which allows for flexible forms of presentation. Leidenschaftslose Mechaniken is the first of three exhibition chapters that will be showcased on the display structure throughout the year. Developed by different artists, the exhibitions in the series highlight new perspectives on the history of the institution.