At a glance
A look into the uncomfortable, symmetrical, and profoundly human world of the Austrian director, where clinical film scenes become immersive, large-scale gallery installations.
Why go
Early, lesser-known films alongside newly commissioned works. Carefully staged, frontal images of apparently ordinary people and domestic spaces. Material connected to films including Good News, Losses to Be Expected, Animal Love and Models.
You'll see
Multi-screen video installations · Symmetrical tableaux vivants · Documentary fragments · Unfiltered portraits · Elements of the Paradise Trilogy
Pace of visit
Exhibition only: 75–90 minutes With a film screening: 3–4 hours
Don't miss
The large-scale projections of Seidl's signature static portraits, where the boundary between documentary realism and staged fiction completely dissolves.
Artlovers Tip
Worth the trip for adventurous film and moving-image audiences. This is a rare chance to experience Seidl’s complete body of work across gallery and cinema formats. Check Eye’s cinema schedule before choosing your exhibition date. Seeing one complete film after the gallery visit will make Seidl’s static framing, long takes and use of non-professional performers much easier to understand.
Inside the exhibition
Meet the artist
Description
On Life, Love and Death presents Ulrich Seidl’s work as an extended investigation into the human condition. His subjects are often people living outside accepted ideas of beauty, success or respectable behaviour: immigrants, tourists, religious believers, ageing performers and individuals searching for affection or security.
Born in Vienna in 1952, Ulrich Seidl is an Austrian filmmaker, photographer, writer and theatre director. He emerged internationally through documentaries including Good News (1990), Losses to Be Expected (1992), Animal Love (1995) and Models (1998).
His first fiction feature, Dog Days, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival in 2001.
Experience as an Artlover
Check Eye’s cinema schedule before choosing your exhibition date. Seeing one complete film after the gallery visit will make Seidl’s static framing, long takes and use of non-professional performers much easier to understand.
Afterwards, take a pause in Eye’s waterfront restaurant. This is an exhibition that benefits from conversation—and perhaps a little distance.
Ulrich Seidl – On Life, Love and Death
Artlovers relevance
Plan your visit
Eye Filmmuseum Amsterdam
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
