Josef Hofer might not speak, but he draws constantly. He was born in 1945 and spent his early life on a farm in Upper Austria. The family lived in isolation since Josef and his brother both suffered from learning difficulties and hearing and speech problems – Joseph also had impaired mobility – and his father wished to spare them from being teased by the locals and, more importantly, to protect them from the Nazis and, later, the Soviets. When Josef’s father died in 1982, his mother took him and his brother to live in Kirschlag, giving him the chance for some social contact and the opportunity to attend a day clinic. These changes proved beneficial, and Josef even spoke a few words. He later became an inpatient at an institution in Ried, where Elisabeth Telsnig spotted his love of drawing and encouraged his creativity. Pepi, as he signs his works, observed and narrated his own life. His works are a mirror reflecting himself and the spectator and revealing the hypnotic infancy of art. As Michel Thévoz writes, “Josef Hofer is in a state of grace” – an erotic, untrammelled form of grace where the body strives to break free from the prison of the frame. The sensual, raw nudity shines through the confident, unpolished lines in warm hues.

Numerous exhibitions and publications have been devoted to Josef’s art since the retrospective held by the Collection de l'Art Brut in 2003. His drawings – shown at our gallery in 2008, at Drawing Now Paris in 2009 and 2010, and at Art Paris 2010 – are now featured in all the major Art Brut collections world-wide. His work was shown at Turin 2010 by the Museum of Everything, while 2011 will see a retrospective of his work, together with a catalogue, in Prague. Later this year, he will also become the first artist to have a second retrospective devoted to his work at the Collection de l’Art Brut, accompanied by a major book-length study.

• Collection de l'Art brut, Lausanne (Suisse)
• Arnulf Rainer Collection, Vienne (Autriche)
• abcd Collection, Montreuil (France)
• The Museum of Everything, Londres (Angleterre)
• art)&(marges Collection, Bruxelles (Belgique)
• Treger Saint Silvestre Collection (Portugal)

• Lucienne Peiry, Collection de l’Art Brut. Lausanne, co-édition Collection de l'Art Brut et Skira-Flammarion, Paris, 2012.

• Arte bruta, terra incognita, catalogue d’exposition, (collection Treger-Saint Silvestre Lisbonne, 20 Avril 2012 au 23 Septembre 2012 à la Fondation Arpad-Szenses – Viera Da Silva), textes de Christian Berst, Marina Bairrao Ruivo, Antonio Saint Silvestre, Paris, lelivredart, 2012.

• "Zwischen Playmobil und Selbstbetrachtung, Die auBergewöhnliche Welt des Josef Hofer", in AQ, winter 2012.
  
  
• Everything # 4, catalogue d’exposition (2 septembre-25 octobre 2011) Londres, The Museum of Everything, 2011.

• Josef Hofer , Katalog zur Ausstellung « Josef Hofer » in der Galerie am Stein in Schärding, (7 OCT. > 30 DEC. 2011).

• Le figaro BeauxArts, hors série 2011, Le Guide du Marché de l’Art 2011.

• Art Brut – Josef Hofer, Katalog zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung, (Galerie des Österreichischen Kulturforums in Prag, 16 NOV. 2010 > 5 JAN. 2011).

• « L'Art Brut aujourd'hui », Artension, Hors Série n°4, septembre 2010.

• Ceres Hülter-Hassler, Art Brut und Art Culturel – Einheit in der Differenz, travail universitaire, mars 2010.

• The Museum of Everything, catalogue d'exposition (1 AVR. > 29 AOÛT 2010, Pinacoteca Agnelli - Turin - Italie ), Milan, Electa, 2010.

• Qixin, "They are no.1" in Beautiful Heart, Surface n°21, août 2010.

• Elisabeth Telsnig, “Josef Hofer – Zwischen Kunstgeschichte une Kunstmark” in Zwischen den Welten. Bildnerisches Arbeiten von Menschen mit intellektueller Behinderung oder psychischer Erkrankung, Caritas der Erzdiözese Wien, 2010.

• Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse, programme de la saison 2010/ 2011, Mairie de Toulouse, 2010.

• Arte, genio, follia, Il giorno e la notte dell’artista, Siena, Complesso Museale Santa Maria della Scala (31 JAN.>25 MARS 2009), Edizioni Antonio Mazzotta, 2009.

• Lechner Florian, Josef Hofer: Untersuchungen zum Selbstverständnis Künstlerischen Schaffens zwischen Außenseitertum und Art-Brut, travail de master, université de Passau, mars 2009.

• Ulrike Guggenberger, “Josef Hofer, Art Brut und Outsider-Kunst”, in Parnass, février 2009.

• David Maclagan, Outsider Art, From the Margins to the Marketplace, London, Reaktion books, 2009.

• Elisabeth Telsnig, "Josef Hofer, zwischen Kunstgeschichte und Kunstmarkt" in Zwichen den Welten, 23 octobre 2009.

• Josef Hofer, catalogue d’exposition, Galerie am Stein, Monika Perzl, Schärding (30 MAI > 15 JUIL. 2008)

• The world of Outsider Art : Art Brut in the East and the West, Catalogue d’exposition édité à l’occasion de : Art Brut/Crossing Spirit. The Encounter between the East und West : Collection de l’Art Brut and Japanese Outsider Art, (Hokkaido Asahikawa Museum of Art, Asahikawa, 16 JAN. > 17 FEV. 2008; Borderless Art Museum NO-MA, Omihachiman, 28 FEV. > 11 MAI 2008; Matsushita Electric Works Shiodome Museum, Tokyo, 20 MAI > 20 JUIL. 2008) Préface de Kengo Kitaoka, textes de Yoshiko Hata, Lucienne Peiry, Sarah Lombardi, Kyoichi Tsuzuki, Seizo Tashima, Tamaki Saito, Photographies de Mario del Curto, Tokyo, Kinokuniya, 2008.

• Josef Hofer, Karel Laenen, catalogue, Art en Marge Bulletin n°86, Bruxelles, Art en Marge, 2007.

• Kunst von Innen Art Brut in Austria, Wien, Angelica Bäumer Verlag Holzhausen, 2007.

• Arnulf Rainer meets Josef Hofer, Zeitsicht 17, Mappe anlässlich der Preisverleihung des Kunstpreises Zeitsicht 2007 durch dir Hauser Consulting Management Consultants, Augsburg. Limitierte Auflage. Augsburg, Hauser Consulting, 2007.

• Elisabeth Telsnig, Die erotischen Zeichnungen des Art Brut Künstlers Josef Hofer im Kontext mit dem Männlichen Akt des 20. Jahrhunderts. Aufgezeigt an Hand einiger Beispiele. 2007, article inédit.

• Michel Thévoz, « Josef Hofer, », in Fascicule de l’Art Brut n°22, Lausanne, Collection de l’Art Brut, 2007.

• Art Brut genio y delirio, Collecciòn de Art Brut de Lausana, Cìrculo de bellas artes, Madrid, catalogue, Madrid, Comunidad de Madrid, 2006.

• Collection Josef Hofer, Mappe mit 10 Arbeiten von Josef Hofer in Originalgröße, auf Originalpapier, limitierte auflage, Ried/l., Lebenshilfe Oberösterreich, Tageswerkstätte Ried/l., Elisabeth Telsnig, 2006.

• Elisabeth Telsnig, “Unlocking the human form”, in Raw vision n°55, 2006.

• Arnulf Rainer et sa collection de l'Art Brut à la Maison Rouge-fondation Antoine de Galbert, catalogue, Paris, La maison rouge, 2005

• Euward 2004: Josef Hofer, Robert Burda, Florival Candeias, München, Augustinum Stiftung, 2004.

• Heliodor Doblinger, Josef Hofer, Kunst Formen Hartheim 001, catalogue, Linz, KUNST FORMEN HARTHEIM, 2004.

• OUTSIDER ART, Outsider Art Auktion, Versteigerung zur Förderung von Künstlern mit geistiger Behinderung, catalogue, München, Munich Business School, 2004.

• Art brut for ort, art brut in und um Salzburg, Katalog Museum der Moderne Salzburg Rupertimun edition rupertinum 010, Salzburg, Agnes Husslein-Arco, 2003.

• Philippe Dagen, "L'Art brut et libre sur les ailes de la folie, Le Cas sidérant de Josef Hofer, génie révélé de l'autoportait", in Le Monde, 25 juillet 2003.

• Josef Hofer, catalogue d'exposition (6 JUIN > 24 AOÛT 2003, Collection de l'Art Brut), textes de Lucienne Peiry, Elisabeth Telsnig, Michel Thévoz, Lausanne, Collection de l'Art Brut, 2003.

• Brigitte Ollier, « La ferveur d’Hofer », in Libération, 29 juin 2003.

• A voir :

• DVD : Reflections from the outside pour www.journeyman.tv. Référence 2918.