From autumn 2019, a visionary approach will be on display at the Belvedere 21 that has been previously underrated in the Austrian art world. Josef Bauer is one of the most significant figures in post-1960s conceptual art in Austria. Even before Franz West, this Upper Austrian artist invites his public to explore amorphous constructs and redefines the relationship between body and sculpture.

Affiliated with the Wiener Gruppe including the poets Gerhard Rühm, Friedrich Achleitner and Oswald Wiener, the concept artist – in the truest sense of the word – develops a sculptural language that establishes a connection between the body and objects. Bauer describes his work as ‘tactile poetry’, tangible poetry.

His installations, paintings, objects and performance photographs always investigate the question of what can be articulated using art and how. The Belvedere is the first Austrian federal museum to dedicate a comprehensive monographic show to Josef Bauer.