Author(s): Sigmund Freud; Daniela Finzi (Editor); Monika Pessler (Editor); Siri Hustvedt (Introduction by)

CONTEMPORARY ART | HATJE CANTZ

Responses to psychoanalysis through selections from the Sigmund Freud Museum’s contemporary art collection In the Alsergrund district of Vienna at the turn of the 20th century, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) developed a new conception of the human mind that would forever change the way people looked at art, psychology and interpersonal relationships. Today, the building at Berggasse 19 where Freud established his theory of the subconscious serves as a museum dedicated to the founder of psychoanalysis and his thought. This publication focuses on the Sigmund Freud Museum’s contemporary art collection, which was initiated by American conceptualist Joseph Kosuth in 1989 after the success of his installation Zero & Not, which drew inspiration from psychoanalytic texts. John Baldessari, Pierpaolo Calzolari, Georg Herold, Jenny Holzer, Ilya Kabakov, Franz West, Clegg & Guttmann, Jessica Diamond, Marc Goethals, Sherrie Levine, Haim Steinbach and Heimo Zobernig all donated works to the museum. Acclaimed author Siri Hustvedt provides the book’s introduction.