Nikolaus Eberstaller (*1968 in Klosterneuburg/AT) is a multimedia artist who was often awarded. Exhibitions took him throughout Europe and the USA. His multifaceted work encircles the Big Five of his world theatre: dream, our so called reality, social criticism, beauty and ugliness.
The Austrian artist denounces the exciting and fascinating way to social ills and to show the fatal consequences of poverty, suffering and destruction caused by the abuse of power. The statements of the artworks are bipolar, they live from the tension of opposites that are not incompatible, but to make clear that every aspect includes a positive and a negative side. In the monumental BATTLEFIELD you can perceive at first only the letters of the plastic protruding LOVE, which is the sweet pink color uniformly blended with. On closer inspection, you realize that the letters are made from countless toy soldiers and tanks. They stand in rows and are forced into subordinate formations attracted to the color as a standard sauce, so that the actors remain nameless, they deserve no more individuality. At the same time, the color of vulnerable human skin of the soldiers return to our flesh and blood. The pink color is caused by the mixture of red, which stands for blood, and white symbolizing the purity. In a subtle way the artwork brings to express that irresolvable opposites seemingly can arise from one another, that love can develop from a battlefield and a battlefield from love.
Also invented by Eberstaller the currency HONEY juxtaposes opposites. It shows that money has a hand of peace and another full of destructive consequences, depending on how it is used. On the back of each certificate a baroque castle appears in a park, a sunny idyll that symbolizes prosperity and peace as a result of meaningful invested money. However, on the other side allegorical representations of the seven deadly sins - Acedia, Luxuria, Gula, Invidia, Avaritia, Ira and Superbia. Eberstaller draws on these pictures from his rich knowledge of the compositions of old masters like Hieronymus Bosch and Marcantonio Raimondi, which he often subtly alienates with a humorous undertone. In addition, the artists also used to hold photographs, current events such as the measurement of radiation exposure of children after the Chernobyl or the disaster of Fukushima. The images are accompanied by animals, which symbolize the respective mortal sins according to medieval tradition. Besides logos of large international corporations appear such as Smith & Wesson or IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), showing exert negative effects on such industries, social life and the environment and ultimately hate and discord. Finally, hiding behind the serial numbers on the right edge of the bills, the exact dates of those wars, from the beginning of the second world war, to the most devastating consequences. The inscription "Worthless unless transformed" calls to mind that the existence of money in itself has no effect, but only when it is used, it is only when claiming a counter value. This exchange may have meaningful consequences or objectionable, which call the impressive pictures on the notes in memory. As the saying goes, they are the two sides of a coin. The allegorical images provide a wealth of suggestions to further reflect on the consequences of the money that is worthless in itself and yet exerts such a lasting impact by affecting the flow of the entire life.  Dr. Achim Gnann/ Curator Albertina, Vienna/AT

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