“More Innviertel is not possible!”

The Innviertel artist Josef Brescher is showing 126 drawings with motifs from the Innviertel in the Kunsthaus Obernberg from today. “More Innviertel is not possible,” he says. And anyone who walks along the almost endless series of ink drawings and graphics and looks at the exhibition will agree with him. The exhibition entitled “No beautiful country” is a focused look at distinctive and formative elements of the region that are in danger of being endangered. “I trace the magic of former splendor that is quietly disappearing,” says Brescher.

“No old peasant glory”

There are old houses, old courtyards, relics of earlier years that Josef Brescher has depicted in ink drawings, colored with self-made sepia. “This retro charm has a special appeal, but is not intended to emphasize old peasant grandeur,” says Brescher. He is much more interested in showing the history of these houses, which in many cases has already ended. “Some of these buildings are no longer standing, they have collapsed or been demolished.”

The cultural treasure on the meadow

The drawings are based on sketches that Josef Brescher made on the spot of these houses, barns or courtyards. “They are deliberately sketch-like, technically reduced, but still rich in detail. I didn’t want to slip into the abstract. The works are like drawn impressionism,” says Brescher.
It is “the immediacy of the drawing” that made this artistic work so appealing to him, says Brescher and explains: “Landscape, object and artist enter into a relationship when drawing. The art has the task of bringing out the character of each one in a concentrated way.” The choice of his motifs is “an appreciation for all these houses”. “It’s a state-of-the-art of things that make up the area. I show cultural treasures that are in the meadow.” The question arises: “What are we going to do with this, our country? Is it just a resource to produce energy or food?”

• Exhibition: “No beautiful country”, ink drawings of endangered beauty in the Innviertel, by Josef Brescher. Opening of the exhibition: Friday, March 3rd, 7.30 p.m. On view until April 2nd. Open Saturday and Sunday from 2pm to 6pm, March 25 from 10am to 6pm.