When Georg Kargl set up shop in Schleifmühlgasse 10 years ago, the Freihausviertel (literally “free house quarter”) wasn’t much more than a tired old neighborhood with more than its fair share of closed-up storefronts and run-down real estate. Today, the area next to Naschmarkt is jam-packed with contemporary art galleries, small boutiques, retro design stores and coffee shops teeming with Vienna’s “in”-crowd. Comfortably close to the city center but well off the beaten path, this is a place the locals love for its casual chic.

Georgl Kargl Fine Arts and Kargl’s “Box”, the gallery’s annex that was added in 2005 by American pop artist Richard Artschwager, preside over this diverse jumble of bohemian bourgeois and artsy types as the undisputed stars of Vienna’s contemporary art scene. Boasting 350 square meters of exhibition space on three levels, the gallery’s impressive line-up of international and local artists includes Marc Dion, Thomas Locher, Matt Mullican, Herwig Kempinger, Elke Krystufek, Gerwald Rockenschraub and Marcus Schinwald.