Tobias Pils's exhibition "Shh" at mumok in Vienna presents a decade-spanning survey of his work, marking his first major institutional show since 2013. The exhibition charts his evolution from abstraction to figuration and a broader color palette, centered on recurring motifs of fractured bodies and archetypal figures that explore the structure of pictorial language itself.
The show's ambiguous title and atmosphere of charged silence invite viewers to consider the works in the context of contemporary global violence and the political neutrality of cultural institutions. Pils's paintings resist clear narrative or political positioning, instead operating in a space between intimacy and threat, drawing connections to artistic traditions from Picasso to Paula Rego while prompting reflection on the role of art in times of conflict.