With her live performance, the exhibition, and an intervention in public space, Merklein not only shows the daily discrimination against overweight people but also humorously encourages pleasure-friendliness. Aesthetically and linguistically, the performative installation refers, among other things, to ‘life-long learning’ as a measure of a requirement for ‘life-long flexibility’, which necessarily goes hand in hand with a systematic devaluation of acquired knowledge. This constant lack of attention and at the same time breathlessness is also expressed by the character of the fictional beauty contest, which, on the level of the desire for recognition, expresses the hopes of artists for a position in the art world, which thus demands constant renewal and presence from them.

As an artist, Veronika Merklein navigates between social, psychological, historical and philosophical reference systems. Within her artistic way of working, Veronika Merklein steers precisely to the respective media coordinate after lengthy artistic (field) research. This precise landing succeeds because the explosive content of the works finds its master in its formal aesthetic implementation. These impressive coordinates, their materialized markings, be it performances, texts, photographs, installations, or objects, allow questions about ‘being human’ on a visually pleasing level that, together with irony and humor, leave no doubt as to the urgency and effectiveness of the statement.

In the solo show ‘Life-Long Weight-Gaining’ at the Neuer Kunstverein Vienna, the body as a socially deformed fact is at the center of Merklein’s artistic engagement. The show can be seen in a complex installation setting of performance, objects, photographs, and screening in a public space.