Outsider Artist Josef Hofer, Hidden From Nazis, Dies At 80

(MENAFN- USA Art News) Josef Hofer, an Austrian outsider artist whose developmental disability led his parents to conceal him from Nazi forces during childhood, has died at the age of 80. Paris's Galerie Christian Berst, which hosted his final exhibition this fall, reported that Hofer passed away on Friday, October 23, in Ried im Innkreis, a town in western Upper Austria. His death occurred shortly after he was admitted to the hospital due to complications from a pulmonary infection, according to Le Quotidien de l'Art.

Known for signing his works“Pepi,” Hofer communicated primarily through raw, figurative drawings, reflecting his life and observations, as he rarely spoke and had hearing difficulties. These artworks often featured erotic nudes enclosed within his distinctive red, yellow, and orange frames, evoking a sense of being trapped. Christian Berst told ARTnews via email,“He was one of those artists for whom creating was not a choice but a vital necessity. Drawing, for him, was a way of inhabiting the world, of making a mark in it and, perhaps, of inventing a place for himself there. His work, of rare intensity and humanity, will long continue to move us deeply.”

Hofer's artistic journey began in 1985 when he discovered drawing, producing thousands of colored pencil works on paper. His subjects evolved from farm life to explicit nudes, influenced in part by Egon Schiele. Art historian Elisabeth Telsnig discovered him in 1997 at an Austrian drawing class he attended. Telsnig, who later connected him with institutions, wrote in a catalog for his last exhibition that his drawings“represented a total break from anything I had been given to see until then.”

Born on March 17, 1945, in Upper Austria, Hofer was raised in rural isolation alongside his brother, who also had similar mental and physical disabilities. This isolation continued after World War II, as his parents feared contact with the invading Soviet army. Following his father's death in 1977, the family relocated to Kirschlag. There, Hofer began engaging with others and was admitted as an inpatient to a psychiatric clinic in Ried.

His work has been featured in several European exhibitions, including a 2003 show at the Collection de l'art brut in Lausanne, a 2010 retrospective at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Prague, and a major 2022 exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Thurgau/Ittinger Museum in Warth, Switzerland. The Centre Pompidou and prominent collectors such as Antoine de Galbert, Bruno Decharme, and Arnulf Rainer now hold his works. Furthermore, Mo, Montpellier's contemporary art center, is presenting an art brut exhibition titled“I Am the Phantom of My Own Opera,” featuring Hofer's works, on view from December 5 through May 2, 2027.

We previously reported:

Rudi Fuchs, the acclaimed Dutch art historian and curator who directed Documenta 7 and the Stedelijk Museum, has died at age 84 in Amsterdam.

Source: ARTnews

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