Austrian painter Tobias Pils is finally getting his major institutional debut in Vienna with a comprehensive exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation (Mumok), despite being a well-established name in international art circles. The Linz-born artist, known primarily to art insiders and collectors, is presenting his work on two full floors of the prestigious museum in what outgoing Mumok director Karola Kraus calls her "farewell gift" to Vienna.
The exhibition, titled "Shh," immediately confronts visitors with a monumental work called "Blindensturz" (Fall of the Blind), measuring approximately six by nine feet. The painting features three figures - one standing, one falling, and one lying down - rendered in sickly green tones against a raw, untreated canvas. The work directly references Pieter Bruegel the Elder's famous painting of the same subject, though Pils draws inspiration from the version housed in Naples' Capodimonte Museum rather than Vienna's Art History Museum.
Pils, born in 1971, has built a substantial international reputation despite remaining relatively unknown to the broader Austrian public. He is represented by prominent German and Swiss galleries including Gisela Capitain and Eva Presenhuber, and counts influential collectors like Eva Dichand among his patrons. His late arrival to major institutional recognition in Vienna places him in select company - the Mumok has rarely awarded such comprehensive solo exhibitions to Austrian artists, with previous recipients including Franz West, Heimo Zobernig, and Josef Dabernig.
The artist's unique approach to painting has evolved significantly over his career. For most of his artistic life, Pils worked in grisaille - painting exclusively in shades of gray. His transition to color came about in an almost blind manner, as he explains, literally closing his eyes while selecting paint tubes in art supply stores. This shift from monochrome to color parallels his broader artistic evolution from drawing to painting, from working on paper to canvas, and eventually to using an easel.
Pils' work is deeply rooted in art history, with clear influences from Picasso and both Italian and German Neo-Expressionism. His paintings blend archaic elements with modernist techniques and biographical content, creating what critics describe as a dreamlike, surreal universe. The themes consistently revolve around birth and death, becoming and decay, intermediate worlds, pain, and the aging process - universal concerns that give his work its serious, contemplative character.
Throughout the exhibition, a recurring figure appears: a small, bearded man with a walking stick who represents the artist's literal alter ego. This character began appearing more frequently in Pils' recent works following a severe shoulder injury that forced him to confront his own physical limitations and mortality. The figure serves as a constant reminder of the memento mori tradition in art - the artistic meditation on death and the transience of life.
The exhibition's strength lies particularly in Pils' large-format works, which achieve truly monumental presence. The "Bonner Raum" (Bonn Room) features five canvases, each standing over 13 feet tall, demonstrating the artist's architectural and abstract capabilities. One of Pils' most convincing qualities as a painter is that he remains fundamentally a draftsman, leaving areas of unpainted canvas that give his figures breathing room, white space, and a sense of transience.
A special highlight of the exhibition is a dedicated room featuring early collaborative works with the late Austrian poet Friederike Mayröcker, as well as a wall painting created specifically for the Mumok. This site-specific work depicts a large reclining figure with an alien-like face, struggling with bodily existence. Limbs appear where they don't belong, and a detached arm hangs beside the figure like a pinned specimen from a bronze sun sculpture, with closed eyes suggesting resignation or peaceful acceptance.
While the exhibition demonstrates Pils' serious engagement with art history and existential themes, critics note that it might benefit from some editing. The entrance level proves fully convincing, but the second floor perhaps offers too much of the same thematic material. The work, while deeply earnest and unusually serious compared to the often ironic painting of recent decades, doesn't always surprise or provoke new thoughts, though few artists achieve such consistent excellence.
The exhibition runs until April 12, with the museum open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM. This comprehensive presentation finally gives Vienna audiences the opportunity to assess whether Pils deserves his international reputation and place among Austria's significant contemporary artists.
