Florentina Holzinger's 'A Year without Summer' Draws Sensation at Venice Biennale
On July 8, 2026, Thaddaeus Ropac gallery detailed the impact of choreographer and performance artist Florentina Holzinger’s work at the Venice Biennale. Her piece 'A Year without Summer' (2025), staged at the Volksbühne, features a narrator explaining how the 1815 volcanic eruption inspired Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein,' before performers disrobe, engage in simulated sexual acts, and scenes of vomiting and excrement. The New York Times, Süddeutsche Zeitung, and Le Monde have covered the performance, which has sparked both scandal and acclaim across social media.
The Signal
Holzinger’s radical physicality and explicit content align with a growing trend in contemporary performance art that pushes boundaries of embodiment and audience discomfort, signaling her rising market position. The collaboration with Juergen Teller for a shoot at Volksbühne underscores her crossover appeal from avant-garde theater to fine art photography, potentially elevating her collectibility among performance art and photography buyers.
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