Aktuális időszaki kiállítások

The travelling exhibition of Austrian Art Brut was commissioned by the Ministry of European and International Affairs. The full selection, from which the hundred and ten pieces are on display here, presents the work of 103 artists. The material includes works from the psycho-social institutions of all Austrian provinces, where unprecedented development has taken place in recent years.

The experiences of the psychiatrist Leo Navratil in Gugging, the development of the Haus der Künstler and the "artistic merit" of the works produced here prompted other institutions to make it possible for their patients to draw and paint. Numerous talents were discovered in the course of the work done at these workshops, who, having received adequate professional support, could develop their abilities in several areas of the fine arts. Their achievements have been recognized, now it is time for them to be introduced to the public at large.

Some institutions have had the opportunity to exhibit their work in both Austria and abroad; moreover, several Austrian artists have been awarded prizes - e.g. Josef Hofer (Reid) won the EUWARD prize for mentally handicapped artists in 2004, and five Austrians were nominated for the same prize the last time. Nevertheless, this is the first exhibition where artists from all round the country could present their work in all hues. The artists Arnulf Rainer and Peter Pongratz, the curator of the exhibition Angelica Bäumer and the cultural historian Peter Gorsen took part in the selection of the material. All of them are experts who have been involved in supporting handicapped persons with artistic talents and collecting their works of art from the 1960s.

The pictures from 25 institutions in Voralberg, Tyrol, Salzburg, Upper and Lower Austria, Vienna, Burgenland, Styria, and Carinthia were selected on the basis of not therapeutic but artistic merit, and the fact that creators had had professional artistic support at the various studios and workshops was especially emphasized. It is of decisive importance with respect to the whole project that the travelling exhibitions will be followed by conferences, lectures and public debates. It is hoped that as a result a most interesting and lively segment of contemporary art will receive the recognition it merits. On the basis of several decades of collecting, Arnulf Rainer is convinced that newer and newer talents are going to turn up, whose work will be worth supporting and exhibiting. In recent years, Art Brut, or, Outsider Art, has been the subject of both heated debate and intensive collecting activity, and has thus become part and parcel of the current artistic scene.

Professor Angelica Bäumer
Curator of the Austrian exhibition