Astoria Artshow, Vienna’s new art fair, opens its doors from 10 to 13 September 2026. It takes place in the historic Astoria Garage in Vienna, used for a major cultural event for the first time. Across four floors and more than 10,000 square metres of exhibition space, 70 Austrian and international galleries will each present one highlight from their programme.
Why now
Astoria Artshow is founded by the association VAU Vienna Art United, a coalition of 35 leading Viennese galleries. Their goal is to jointly build a contemporary art fair with international standing. This year marks the preview edition, meant to lay the groundwork for a full-scale fair starting in 2027.
The initiative emerged as a direct response to the closure of viennacontemporary and this year’s cancellation of SPARK Art Fair Vienna. A gap opened up in Vienna’s gallery scene, one that Astoria Artshow is now trying to fill. The fair is also supported by the City of Vienna and the Austrian Federal Ministry for Housing, Art, Culture, Media and Sport.
An interesting feature is the so-called solidarity participation model. Fees are not based on the size of the exhibition space, but on each gallery’s economic capacity, according to revenue and company size. This allows smaller galleries to take part fairly alongside the largest ones.
Besides Markus Peichl (Galerie Crone Wien), the board of VAU Vienna Art United includes Thomas Krinzinger (Galerie Krinzinger), Maximilian Thoman (Galerie Elisabeth und Klaus Thoman), Karoline Bartosch-Hilger (Galerie Hilger), Antonia Lia Orsi (City Galerie Wien) and Isabell Kisling-Steynek (Galerie Steinek).
The building takes the spotlight
Astoria Garage was built in 1918 on the site of the former riding hall of the Auersperg Palace. Between 1935 and 1938, architects Franz Mörtinger Jr. and Cesar Karrer rebuilt it into a tower garage with six floors and a distinctive glass dome. It has survived largely unchanged. Until recently, it functioned purely as a parking garage, where drivers could also refuel, wash their cars or get bodywork repaired. It ranks among the oldest and largest garages of its kind in Europe. The central glass dome and bright atrium with wrought industrial windows create ideal conditions for displaying art. Six spacious, light-filled floors provide the space and atmosphere for works from more than 80 contemporary galleries and around 20 art and educational institutions.
Works without hierarchy
The works are not displayed in conventional booths. Instead, they stand on open floor areas and freestanding walls throughout the building. Their placement follows no gallery hierarchy. It is guided purely by the aesthetic relationships between individual works.
The custom exhibition and display architecture was designed by the Berlin-based studio Kuehn Malvezzi, led by Johannes Kuehn, Wilfried Kuehn and Simona Malvezzi. They call their approach invisible architecture. The space is meant to be so refined that visitors barely notice it, leaving all attention for the works themselves. As Simona Malvezzi put it: “Architecture is like psychoanalysis.” The studio built this reputation through Documenta 11 in Kassel and the Berlinische Galerie in Berlin. They have also worked directly for the Venice Biennale. In Austria, they have designed for Vienna’s Belvedere, at both the Upper and Lower Belvedere.
The result is a striking overall composition, one that also invites visitors to purchase individual works.
Markus Peichl, chairman of organiser VAU Vienna Art United, says the traditional art fair model has reached its limits and needs rethinking. Astoria Artshow, he says, marks a modest beginning to an ambitious project. Next year, it should grow into a major, centrally located international art fair in Vienna.
A neighbourhood that strengthens the fair
Astoria Garage stands right next to Vienna’s City Hall, the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the Museumsquartier. The fair thus finds itself right at the centre of the city’s dense cultural map.
Where and when
Astoria Garage, Trautsongasse 4, 1080 Vienna. 10 to 13 September 2026.
