Les Couleurs du silence

The Artists’ House accomodates 14 residents – 12 painters and 2 poets. Some of them like Hauser, Walla and Tschirtner are well-known. Their paintings travel the world and fetch a reasonable price in the art market, but this success leaves their creators cold. The human world is no longer of any value to them and all they follow are the dictates of their “inner necessity”. With no formal art training and driven by an overwhelming urge, they cast their cry indiscriminately to the trees, the walls and their canvasses. We soon realize, of course, that these inmates are schizophrenics, yet their presence in this pavilion, built in 1981 within the walls of Klosterneuburg pyschiatric hospital near Vienna, is because they are above all else artists. Since they took up residence here, their condition has stabilised but will likely undergo no further change. The only thing that can still evolve is their art.