IRINA DANIELI

Since 2020, Irina Danieli has been researching the paintings of Maria Lassnig, with a particular focus on depictions of animals and the complex relationships between humans, animals, machines, and organisms, approached from both an art-theoretical and phenomenological perspective. Her dissertation examines Lassnig’s work through the framework of Human-Animal Studies and analyzes how her paintings reflect contemporary discourses on the human-animal relationship. The objective is to offer new insights into Lassnig’s concept of the body, her artistic practice, and the human-animal dynamic in her work.

Her dissertation is supported by the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW, 2023–25) and the International Research Institute for Cultural Studies (IFK) in Vienna, where she served as a Junior Fellow in 2021–22. Through the IFK’s Junior Fellow Abroad program, she furthered her research at the German Forum for Art History (DFK, 2022–23) in Paris.

Previously, she studied Theatre, Film and Media Studies as well as Art History at the University of Vienna. She gained practical experience at the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, where she contributed to the inventory catalog of Titian's works. Her master's thesis on Tintoretto's Susanna and the Elders (1555/56, KHM) combines art-historical narratology with gender studies and analyzes the narrative techniques used in Venetian painting of the 16th century.