Josef Hofer, nouvelle parution
new release
An unpublished publication based on the work of Pepi, alias Josef Hofer.
This catalogue, illustrated with personal photographs of the artist, and accompanying 150 drawings from the period 1995-2013, offers a glimpse of a grandiose and prolific work of about 1500 drawings, enriched by an interview between Josef Hofer’s cousin, Renate Sager, and Elisabeth Telsnig, editor of this book. Pepi’s childhood and family atmosphere is retraced here, as well as the political context of Austria in recent years.
Text in French, English and German, written by Elisabeth Telsnig.
Photographer: Franz Murauer
Dimensions: 24.5/30.5cm; 280 pages
Josef Hofer, who has been a resident of an Austrian institution for more than 30 years, does not speak. He draws. Tirelessly. In the metaphoric mirror that he uses and reaches out to us, people attempt to flee from the straitjacket of the frame with eroticized and untamed grace. His works - to which Michel Thévoz has devoted several essays - depict a founding duality between body and psyche. Present in numerous museum collections, he is also part of great private collections: A. de Galbert (France), A. Shaker (Switzerland) and even in the collection of A. Rainer (Austria), who considers him “one of the greatest of the brut contemporary artists.” A significant number of his works was donated to the Centre Pompidou collection in 2021 while the gallery became the owner of his estate in 2022.