Without mindfulness I pay attention to everything

Robert Walser (1878-1956) is considered one of the most important authors of literary modernism. His extensive oeuvre, but also his life as an outsider, fascinate not only readers and writers all over the world, but increasingly also visual artists. The current positions of Thomas Hirschhorn, Markus Raetz, Thomas Schütte, Rosemarie Trockel, Mark Wallinger, and others demonstrate Walser's inspirational power and the diversity of the works that spring from it. Robert Walser, for his part, was strongly influenced by the art of his time. It reflects the conflicts of the early 20th century between city and country and between tradition and modernity, which are given a moving portrayal in Walser's writing. The exhibition at the Aargauer Kunsthaus and the accompanying catalog combine the historical and contemporary visual worlds into a field of tension that brings Robert Walser to the fore in entirely new contexts.