Published to accompany a solo exhibition to Otto Zitko at Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz, from 7 June to 15 September 2019

Otto Zitko is known for his concept of drawing executed from a painter’s perspective. The seemingly endless continuous line he applies to large-scale canvases, sheets of paper, and walls has established itself as a recurring constant which sometimes dissolves into pure painterly arrangements.

This publication collects not only Zitko’s early oil paintings on canvas, carbon reverse glass paintings, large-format aluminum panels, and current works, but also his many space and wall installations, created in situ in different locations since the early 1990s. Richly illustrated and supplemented with a contribution by Ulrich Loock and a foreword by Hemma Schmutz, the book traces Zitko’s artistic development and documents the changes in medium, as well as in drawing and painting materials, across his oeuvre.

Otto Zitko lives and works in Vienna and was recently awarded the Cultural Prize for the province of Upper Austria. In 2019, the Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz will dedicate a solo exhibition to Otto Zitko. Retroprospektiv represents a forward-looking view that also incorporates the past.