Josef Hofer in
“Art is a seismograph of society”
The gallery has loaned four artworks by Josef Hofer - selected by Arnulf Rainer - for the group exhibition art is a seimograph of society, from January 14 to February 13, 2022 at the Center for Contemporary Art in the Glass Palace (Augsburg, Germany).
In the 20 years of its existence, the Zeitsicht Art Award has proven to be a career booster for young artists. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of this art prize, the Augsburg Glass Palace is showing works by the prizewinners. The anniversary show “Seismograph of our time. 20 Years Zeitsicht Art Award” is both a retrospect and an inventory.
The laureates are selected by internationally recognized artists : Marina Abramovic, Neo Rauch, Katharina Sieverding, Daniel Richter, Arnulf Rainer and Markus Lüpertz.
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.